Arkell's Brewery release new beer to celebrate 100 years of M.G.

Arkell's Brewery have created a limited-edition beer to mark the centenary of M.G..

Arkells' new beer ‘Petrol Head’ is described as a 4.5% ABV pale beer brewed using traditional Norwegian Kveik yeast which adds a unique orangy flavour to the beer.

In 1923 brewery ancestor, Oliver Arkell was the first person documented to purchase an M.G - a Raworth-bodied M.G. Super Sports model, hence Arkell’s have brewed this commemorative beer to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of M.G. in 2023.

Only six Raworth-bodied M.G.s were made and none of these 1923 models are known to have survived, but within the archives of The Early M.G. Society, there are many period photos of some of the cars and they even have registration dates and numbers along with the ‘Client Copy’ and a copy of the ‘Works Copy’ of Oliver Arkell’s order. 

These surviving copies are said to be significant as they represent the very first documented sale of an M.G sports car.

Oliver’s M.G was registered FC5855.  It is reported that a young John Oliver Arkell went to the Morris Garages Queen Street showrooms in Oxford on 11 August 1923 to buy a ‘Chummy’. 

Author Wilson McComb, in his book The Story of the M.G Sports Car, records that Oliver spied a ‘yellow sports car in the window - an unusual yellow, the colour of good butter, and it had black wings.’ 

Cecil Kimber, Manager of the garages, quoted a price of £300 for the M.G sports car, so Oliver agreed to buy it on the basis that it wasn’t much more than the Chummy. Payment of a deposit was made, and his Raworth was registered on 16 August 1923, then on 5 September it was delivered to the family home, Redlands Court, Highworth, Wiltshire.

Following the death of Oliver’s father, James Arkell, who died aged 76 in 1925, Arkell’s Brewery was carried on by brothers, James Graham, Thomas Noel (later Sir Noel), and Oliver Arkell; the grandsons of John Arkell, founder of the Swindon-based brewery.

M.G. owners and enthusiasts celebrated this weekend (on 27 May) with many joining road runs to the M.G. centenary event at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire. 

There were four organised road runs starting from different locations, one of which is Arkell’s Brewery. 16 cars began their road run at the Victorian brewery in Swindon on the Saturday.

Alex Arkell, Head Brewer said: "It seems only fitting that we produce a beer for the centenary, given that our brewery ancestor is recognised as the first person to have bought an M.G sports car, and we are thrilled that M.G enthusiasts chose our beautiful and historic steam brewery as a road run starting point." 

This one-off brew will be available on draught or in bottles at participating Arkell’s pubs and will also be on sale at Arkell’s Grape & Grain Wine & Brewery Warehouse, as individual bottles, in a six-bottle carry case or a pack of 8 X 500ml. 

More information can be found on the Grape and Grain Warehouse at https://www.grapeandgrainwarehouse.co.uk/shop.htm