Battle Brewery and The British Museum are launching Bayeux Lager, a limited-edition beer marking the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition on 10th September.
The launch brings together two places intrinsically linked by the events of 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings; Battle Brewery makes its beer in the East Sussex town of Battle that grew around the battlefield site.
Launching at the British Museum next month, the co-branded Bayeux Lager will be the museum’s leading beer, along with other Battle Brewery beers. It will be available to savour in all of its food and beverage outlets, as well as in the retail shops for those who want to take a gift box home.
Clean, crisp, and refreshing, Bayeux Lager is a classic Pilsner-style beer brewed with Saaz, Tettnang, and Mittelfrüh hops. The combination brings the elegant, aromatic character associated with traditional noble hops, balanced by low bitterness and a smooth Pilsner malt finish. Pilsner and dextrin malts give the beer body and balance.
For Battle Brewery, the collaboration represents far more than placing a historical name on a label. Based in the heart of East Sussex’s 1066 country, the independent brewery is surrounded by the landscapes, landmarks and stories immortalised in the Bayeux Tapestry.
Battle Abbey, the battlefield, and the town that grew around them remain part of everyday life in Battle. They have shaped the brewery’s identity since its beginning and continue to inspire the beers it makes, the stories it tells and the community it supports.
The Bayeux Lager label brings that connection to life with an original illustration inspired by the visual language and storytelling of the tapestry, re-imagined through Battle Brewery’s own distinctive world. Historical references are joined by playful and unexpected modern details, creating a design that rewards a closer look and makes the events of 1066 feel alive rather than confined to the past.
“To create the exclusive beer for the British Museum at the moment the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition is unveiled is enormously exciting for us,” said Darren Edmonstone, owner and managing director of Battle Brewery. This is one of the most important surviving accounts of the events that shaped Battle, Britain, and the town our brewery calls home.
“Our brewery was born from a love of Battle, its history, and the people who make the town what it is, so this collaboration feels like a genuine coming together of place, story, and craftsmanship. There could not be a more fitting beer to accompany this moment.
“We hope visitors to The British Museum will enjoy discovering the Bayeux Tapestry in all its detail and then raise a glass of Bayeux Lager to the extraordinary story behind it.”
