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Archbishop of Canterbury spotted in Wetherspoon’s pub after launching craft beer
The Archbishop of Canterbury has shown a taste for suds, spotted in a Wetherspoon’s pub just hours after helping to launch a craft beer at a Kentish microbrewery.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Archbishop Justin Welby visited The Four Candles micro-pub and brewery in Broadstairs on Tuesday 27 March to launch a Belgian-style beer — St Laurence Grid Iron — before surprising locals with a visit to the Wetherspoon’s pub in Ramsgate later that evening.
The beer was brewed by Andrew Jacobson, minister of St Laurence church in Thanet, Kent, with help from The Four Candles brewer Paul Wenham Jones and owner Mike Beaumont in a bid to raise money for the local church, one of five in the area that fall under Archbishop Welby’s Diocese.
“I have been a member of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) since my 20s and enjoy a pint of real ale so thought it would be quite nice to brew a beer that we could sell to raise money for the church,” Rev Jacobson told Isle of Thanet News.
Jacobson was put in touch with Four candles’ founders, who regularly make special release beers, but Beaumont said a partnership with the Church of England was a first for the business.
“We do occasional brews for other organisations but this is the first time we have done this for a church,” Beaumont said. “Rev Jacobson was very keen and it was good fun. It is quite something to have the Archbishop of Canterbury launching the beer at our pub.”
Archbishop Welby put his seal of approval on the beer and Four Candles’ microbrewery: “This is one of the most entertaining things I have done.”
Jacobson said it was a “surreal moment” launching his beer with the Archbishop, but perhaps more surreal was his appearance at the Royal Victoria Pavilion in Ramsgate for a Q&A with locals.
I didn’t expect to see the #Archbishopofcanterbury @wetherspoons Ramsgate tonight pic.twitter.com/RMugwYR5de
— Kerry Sabin-Dawson (@dawson_sabin) March 27, 2018
Well, lads, the world’s biggest Wetherspoons (in Ramsgate) is everything you would hope for. Tonight’s entertainment – the Archbishop of Canterbury. pic.twitter.com/8NrBi69hw3
— Andy Walton (@waltonandy) March 27, 2018
As well as celebrating the brewers and beer industry leaders in his own Diocese, Archbishop Welby visited schools, met with community leaders and has been speaking at church services throughout his tour of Kent, which will end with an Easter vigil on Saturday, March 31 at Holy Trinity, Broadstairs.