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Given the recent revival in interest in Robin Hood it's surprising it's taken so long for Robin Hood themed beers to be available again.

The character used to adorn beers sold by the Home Brewery in Nottingham but since its closure there's been little evidence of Robin and his band of outlaws gracing any brewed product.

A foreign interest

It's taken a Canadian-born chemical engineer who spent most of his working life in the oil and gas industry to bring Robin back to the world of ale.

David Allen came to Nottingham to live his lifelong ambition to be a brewer.

He now owns the Sherwood Forest Brewery, based at the Fox & Crown in Church Street, Old Basford and he's decided to re-dedicate his Robin Hood bottled range.

Just in case of any copyright issues you won't find a Little John Stout or a Maid Marian Pale Ale. Instead they have titles like Bowman’s Bounty (for Robin), Gaoler’s Ale (for the Sheriff), Little John’s Myth, Maiden’s Magic, Devout Stout (for Friar Tuck), and Scarlet Fervour.

"Brewing beers based on the Robin Hood legend just seemed logical in this city," says David.

"You have a collection in the legend of strong, easily-identified characters and that’s what we wanted in our beers – strong characters, all distinct yet part of the same band."

Selling abroad

Given the selling power of Robin Hood, David believes he'll find a market selling beer to Americans abroad.

"We will try our best to get suppliers overseas to take large quantities of our product."

He's also hoping to tap into local tourist attractions believing visitors want more of a Robin Hood experience and will be keen for a flavour of the ale the Merry Men might have supped all those years ago.