Mystery beer to bring cheers as Banks's bows out

Little is known about the special edition beer due to appear at the festival

A mystery commemorative beer has been produced to mark the 150th and final year of Banks's beer production in Wolverhampton.

It comes after Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company announced last October that it would close its Wolverhampton factory, as part of a wider restructuring.

The one-off special brew will only be sold at the city's Camra beer and cider festival this summer and event organiser Charlotte Coxon said the brewery was keeping details about it well under wraps.

The brewery was a well-known local landmark, having been producing beer in Wolverhampton since 1875 and Ms Coxon said it was sad this would be the last special edition beer it supplies.

On top of closing the factory, the firm also said it would stop producing Banks's Mild and Banks's Sunbeam in casks.

Ms Coxon said she has been told about the mystery beer was that it would mark the 150th year of Banks's production and it would not be a dark beer.

Camra has been holding a summer beer festival in the city since 1975 and the Banks's factory has been supplying a one-off beer to the event for the last eight years.

Ms Coxon said the local Camra branch had had a "good relationship" with the company.

The three-day festival begins on 24 July at Wolverhampton Arts Centre and Ms Coxon - who, along with everyone else, will not get a chance to taste the mystery beer until then - said she expected the brew to be very popular.