The lead singer of heavy metal icons Iron Maiden has revealed how he had to 'audition' at a Greater Manchester brewery before bosses agreed to team up. They've since created a beer which has become a worldwide hit.
The band joined roces with family-run Robinsons brewery in Stockport in 2013 to create and launch Trooper – named after the band's song of the same name. More than 35 MILLION pints in 68 countries have since been sold.
That success led to the creation of Trooper IPA and a range of eight other seasonal and limited edition beers. Iron Maiden played to thousands of adoring fans at a sell-out show at the AO Arena last night (Friday) as part of their The Future Past Tour.
Following the show, lead singer Bruce Dickinson paid a visit to Robinsons' historic site in Stockport town centre. 100 lucky - yet unwitting - fans from the band's official fan club had gathered for an event to mark the beer's 10th birthday.
Speaking exclusively to the Manchester Evening News, real ale enthusiast Bruce, 64, who was born in Nottinghamshire and grew up in Sheffield, said he was made to show brewery bosses he was serious before they agreed to enter into their now hugely successful partnership.
"I was brought up on the wrong side of the Pennines for you guys, but I'm not a stranger to the north," he said. "I had to audition and drink beer because they wanted to know if we were serious.
"We approached several other breweries and probably 50 per cent of the time their response was 'oh, p***s off'. Because they thought we were trying to take the mickey - that we would just go and exploit their reputation, then just walk away.
"But we were serious about it. Some breweries, funnily enough, were interested - but then when they realised we wanted a long-term partnership, they weren't interested. Robinsons were the only ones who said 'okay if you're serious about this, let's go and drink some beer'.
"So they all came down to London with a bag of 10 beers which were labelled one to 10. Some were beers I'd identified as my favourite beers and some of them were Robinson experimental brews. Others were just ringers that they'd put in there.
"Basically, I just did sort of a taste test with them where I wrote my opinion on the beers. And obviously, I did alright because they said 'alright let's have a go at making a beer'.
"The first brew, the signature brew, Trooper, we just got it right straight out of the box," he added. "Everything we aimed to brew, we actually did. The reactions to it were exactly what we hoped for.
"People were saying 'this is great, this is a go-to beer for me. I'll stick with this one'. It was a cask ale in a bottle. That's what we were going for.
"I wanted it to be an everyman type of beer, not some extreme thing you'd have one pint of and go 'that was a bit odd, I don't think I'll bother with that again'. But one where you can sit and think 'I'll have two or three of those'. It really worked.
As well as its two all-year-round offerings, the Trooper family of beers now includes the Fear of The Dark stout, Red N’ Black porter, Trooper 666 ESB, Hallowed Belgian-style beer, as well as annual Day Of The Dead special edition versions. They have also just launched a brand new 10pc ABV Trooper X Imperial Stout to mark the anniversary.
"We've now got a really interesting range of beers," Bruce added. "But the one I'm most proud of, of all the beers we've done with Robinsons, is Sun and Steel which is the lager we did. It took us a while to develop that." Bruce said as he recounted how he got a friend who runs a brewery in Japan to send them some sake yeast, which helped give it its distinct flavour.
"It tastes unbelievable," he said. "It's literally like an angel crying on your tongue - to nick somebody else's advertising line."
On the 'audition', boss John Robinson said: "We properly interviewed him, because we knew this would only work if he knew his stuff.
"He named eight out of 10 beers and we didn't tell him what they were. He's a very intelligent chap and he knows a lot about beer. He's been really heavily involved at every stage."
He said after its launch, Trooper had initially 'taken [them[ by storm' and has now firmly put Robinsons 'on the map in places that would never have heard of [them] before'.
"Now people in El Salvador have heard us, who'd have thought that?" John added. "It's now our biggest beer by a country mile. We brew more Trooper than anything else - it's been a really good collaboration and has worked really well."
Bruce poured fans pints at the bar at the brewery's visitors. They had been invited to a special tour, but had no idea he was going to visit. Bruce added: "I get more nervous pulling pints than I do on stage."
One adoring fan proposed to his girlfriend following their tour and, just moments later, was able to celebrate with their hero.
Marco Gambardella, 39, popped the question to partner Madia Berrettr, 36, before chatting to Bruce and posing for pictures. The couple, from Italy, flew into Manchester for the band's gig.
"It was amazing.. emotional... I've waited for this moment for 20 years," Marco said. "I decided to do it today because I love Iron Maiden. Our dog is called Iron. I bought the tour and decided to ask her to marry me. Bruce said congratulations and that he loved the ring."
Geoff Troughton, landlord of the nearby Arden Arms, one of the biggest sellers of Trooper said: "It's a great beer and it has a great following which is worldwide because of the Iron Maiden link. I'm a biker and a rock fan myself so it's great and luckily I got to meet him today so I'm really chuffed."
