Advertising drive is no act of folly
Wharfedale Brewery at Hetton in the Yorkshire Dales, is causing quite a stir with its "Drinking is Folly" slogan on the local busservice.
There have been articles in the local media and even the odd phone call from the Temperance Society questioning the true meaning of the message.
But regional real-ale enthusiasts needn't worry that the recently-launched brewery is suggesting total abstinence.
Far from it.
For behind the tongue-in-cheek slogan is a serious message that not only promotes the brewery's flagship brew, but also pubs in the Dales and the local Prideof the Dales bus service, run by Grassington-based Mark Stewart-Clarke.
Wharfedale Brewery director Steve Blizzard explained: "I started brewing my own beer for consumption by family and friends three years ago and converted a folly at my home in Hartlington into a mini-brewery hence the name of the ale.
"The idea has now matured into a business venture it its own right
and we started brewing Folly Ale, a traditional 3.8% Yorkshire bitter, in a converted barn in the Dales mid-September.
"By advertising Folly Ale in such an unusual, innovative manner on the Pride of the Dales bus service which stops right outside many of our outlets in the Dales we feel we are not only promoting our own goal to provide the best-served ale in the Dales, but also the pubs themselves.
"In addition, we feel we are acting responsibly by providing an eye-catching message that encourages real-ale enthusiasts to use the Pride of the Dales service rather than their own transport."
And he said Wharfedale also feels it is important to support the communities that support it.
"The Pride of The Dales is an important part of our Dales community," he stressed.
"The brewery is dedicated to that community."
He said that, from the outset, Wharfedale had decided that 2p on every pint sold would be donated to local charitable causes.
Hundreds of pounds had been raised already.
Folly Ale has now been followed by a second, stronger real ale, Executioner, and both products have just become available in bottles.
Wharfedale Brewery ales are now available in some 30 free-trade outlets across the Dales area.
