BEER drinkers in Worcestershire have been supporting one of our familiar hedgerow inhabitants while enjoying a locally produced popular ale.

Hobsons Brewery on the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire joined forces with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) in 2012 to create a special edition ale that would help raise funds for the national charity based at Clee Hill, near Ludlow.

For every bottle or pint of Old Prickly ale sold, the brewery donated five pence to the charity and the partnership has been so successful that Hobsons has just announced it has raised £15,000 for the BHPS.

Hobsons marketing manager Kate Pearce said the charity approached them in 2012 and ask if a special beer could be made to celebrate BHPS’s 30th anniversary.

The brewery came up with an easy drinking, 4.2 per cent, golden pale ale, with lemon, lime and floral aromas plus a soft sweet fruity taste – a really nice refreshing beer.

“We promoted the beer to our customers and BHPS members and it was very popular,” said Kate. “We normally do a special edition for a year and we did stop it for a few months but so many people asked for it that we brought it back.

“We like to do community charity work but we also have to make sure the product sells. We were astounded by the response to Old Prickly. People like the picture on the bottle and they like the beer. It has been a big success. It is here to stay.”

Old Prickly is now one of Hobsons’ core beers and has become available both in bottles and as a cask ale sold in pubs locally – within a 50 mile radius of the brewery. Kate said there was a certain novelty and comedy value which attracted people to buy the bottles as gifts. It is also an easy drink for anyone new to real ales.

“There has been an incredible response. People in Scotland have ordered it from us. We are spreading the hedgehog love,” said Kate.

• Old Prickly is said to go well with chicken dishes, salads and fish and chips.

• The snuffly hedge grog is a pale ale full of hop flavour and brewed with Columbus and Lubelski hops to give this beer a complex flavour of floral and citrus notes.

• Locally sourced Maris Otter malting barley is used to brew this beer.

• Old Prickly was awarded a star in the Great Taste Awards 2014 and a bronze medal in the Society of Independent Brewers West and Wales Region beer competition 2014

The BHPS was established in 1982 and its aims are to:

• To encourage and give advice to the public concerning the care of hedgehogs particularly when injured, sick, treated cruelly, orphaned or in any other danger.

• To encourage children to respect our natural wildlife, by supplying information and giving lectures, and thus fostering an interest in hedgehogs.

• To fund research into behavioural habits of hedgehogs and to ascertain the best methods of assisting their survival.