Charity beer encourages all to Pass The Smile in memory of Ben
A special charity ale has been created at a Shropshire brewery as part of a fundraising campaign.
Beer lovers will be urged to raise a glass on Saturday, March 27 to mark the ninth birthday of Ben Crowther, a young boy who lost his life to a rare childhood cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma, in 2019.
The Pass The Smile fund set up in his name in 2019 stands just shy of £100,000.
Hobsons Brewery, based in Cleobury Mortimer, decided to create a special ale to raise money for Ben’s memorial fund at the Childhood Cancer and Leukaemia Group.
Apprentice brewer Charlie Edwards created the recipe for an ale called Pass The Smile. A total 10,000 bottles (833 cases) of Pass The Smile were bottled, and sold out in just a few days of launching. The brewery produced a one-off beer, best described as a “bottle-conditioned, hoppy, light amber beer”. All the profits from the sale of every bottle will be donated to the charity by Hobsons, and could help the Coventry-based family reach their £100k target.
Hobsons Brewery founder Nick Davis said: “It has been a real privilege to work on Pass The Smile as a charity beer for the Pass The Smile fund.
Awareness
“It has been a touching project and we hope this beer will help Pass The Smile reach £100k and spread awareness of this rare childhood illness. I will be raising a glass for Ben on March 27.”
Ben’s father Scott said: “What better way to remember Ben than to celebrate his birthday with a bottle of Pass The Smile? Raising a glass to him is a great way to do that in the current climate, so we hope to see plenty of full glasses on social media on March 27.
“And if we reach £100K by then, we can double-celebrate too.”
The vast majority of the new ale was snapped up by a large retailer, Hobsons itself had about 50 cases left to sell, then Beer Gonzo – a shop in Coventry near the Crowther’s, took a chunk of cases as well.
The team are hoping to spread the word for people who have bought the ale to hold some bottles back and raise a glass of Pass The Smile to Ben on March 27.
You can share your photos and include @PassTheSmileOrg and @HobsonsBeers on Facebook, or @HobsonsBrewery on Instagram using the #passthesmileforben.
Visit specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/pass-the-smile-for-ben to donate
