TV presenter-turned-farmer Jeremy Clarkson’s latest venture sees him enter into the world of brewing. Within hours after its release, the former Top Gear star’s beer has shot up to the top of Amazon’s online charts.
Hawkstone Lager was created by Jeremy Clarkson with the help of Cotswold Brew Co. The beer is named after a Neolithic standing stone located close to his farm in Gloucestershire.
The 61-year-old took to Instagram to make the announcement. Jeremy Clarkson posted a video of himself “on the phone to Seattle” while holding a pint of his own brew. Just eight hours after it went live on Amazon, the beer shot up to the top of the platform’s online charts, outselling well-known brands such as Corona, Stella Artois and Budweiser.
“Good news,” remarked the Clarkson’s Farm presenter. “I thought you’d only be able to buy my lager from my own farm shop, but it turns out you’ll also be able to get it from Jeff’s Website.”
Clarkson wrote that he originally wanted to call the beer “Lager McLargerface” in a piece for the Sunday Times.
“One of my partners in the enterprise is an important London ad man, who said that ‘McFace’ didn’t conjure up quite the premium image,” he wrote.
“Eventually we settled on Hawkstone, because there’s a neolithic standing stone of that name here in the Cotswolds. And it was the neolithics, 4,000 years ago, who invented barley farming.”
Clarkson came under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority for his suggestions for the beer’s tagline. Pitches overruled included “This is a delicious breakfast beer” and “If you’re an alcoholic, don’t fight it, feed it”.
In the end the brand went for “hard to make, easy to drink”, in reference to the trouble Clarkson has had when it comes to bad weather and markups on the price of barley.
hefty cut taken by middle-men on his barley between farm and brewery shocked the Top Gear star.
