Artist-inspired Paolozzi Lager debuts in London

The Edinburgh Beer Company has timed the London launch of its Paolozzi Lager to coincide with the Whitechapel Gallery’s first major exhibition of Eduardo Paolozzi – the pop artist who inspired the brand.

Paolozzi Lager brand-owning family Lynne, John and Kirsty Dunsmore toast the launch in front of Eduardo Paolozzi’s sculpture, Piscator, which sits outside Euston Station.

The London launch of Paolozzi Lager coincides with the first exhibition for over 40 years to honour Edinburgh-born Eduardo Paolozzi, who is often referred to as the ‘Father of Pop Art’ and one of Britain’s most influential post-war artists.

The exhibition will run at London’s Whitechapel Gallery until 14 May 2017. Paolozzi Lager will be available in the gallery’s café and wine bar, The Whitechapel Refectory and After Hours, for the duration of the exhibition.

Paolozzi Lager is a full-bodied, unpasteurised 5.2% ABV ‘Helles’ Lager – a malty, low bitterness style of beer originating in Munich, where Scottish-Italian pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi lectured for more than 10 years.

Paolozzi Lager is brewed using 100% barley malt (lager pils and Caramalt), then hopped with Saaz and Hallertau hop varieties. After fermentation, the beer is cold-conditioned for a five to six weeks, which allows the flavours to round out and results in the beer achieving its characteristic full mouthfeel and smooth finish.

From February, Paolozzi Lager will be available on draught in 17 Fuller’s pubs in central London and stocked in bottle in the Design Museum’s Parabola restaurant, the Albion group in London, with more venues to follow.

Eduardo Paolozzi’s Illumination and the Eye print features on the lager’s bottle label and tap, and for every pint and bottle sold, EBF makes a charitable donation to the Paolozzi Foundation.

“Ours is a family company, involving everyday management by my wife Lynne, my daughter Kirsty, and with my sons and our friends on the tasting panel,” said John Dunsmore, co-founder of the Edinburgh Beer Factory.

“Our aim was to design a brew to make even those who thought they didn’t like lager change their mind. Making beer is just another logical form of the expression of art. So what we are looking to create is, quite simply, ‘beautiful beer’.

“Eduardo Paolozzi perfectly embodies our ethos: he was a true Scot, born from Italian parents, with both a European and global perspective. He was a man of imagination, who liked beauty. He believed in creating art from ordinary, everyday objects, creating the ‘Sublime in the Everyday’.”

John Dunsmore is non-executive Chairman of Chapel Down Wines and Genius Foods, and partner of the investment company Inverleith, which helps emerging start-ups to access funding. He was also chief executive of the Scottish & Newcastle brewing company and chief executive of Magners’ and Tennent’s Lager owner, the C&C Group.