Teetotal Bishop has pint named after him

The dark, strong, porter with chocolate and caramel hints has been named ‘Bishop’s Porter’ after Bishop Tony Porter, the Right Rev Bishop of Sheffield. 

The idea started when a friend of Tony’s and church warden, Ian Raynor, saw a guest ale on a chalk broad.

Raynor said in a statement: “It was described as a porter and I immediately thought of Bishop Tony who I know quite well. I rang him to check to see if he was ok with the idea and then got in touch with the brewery.”

The local Hucknall Beer Festival is held in a centre associated with the church, so it seemed a local collaboration would be a good idea. 

Bishop Tony received the idea willingly and told Premier: “The real reason is I’m a real supporter of small, local business. My daughter started a cafe in Aberystwyth and employed a lot of people, my son and his wife have a business…it’s really tough to run a small business.”

“The guy that runs it, Anthony Hughes, started this 5 years ago and the bottom line is people in Hucknall have got jobs because of this man and I want to support it.”

When asked if people are excited to try it, Bishop Tony said: “I’ve been having texts from all over the place…I’ve got to buy a few bottles so I can distribute it to people who want to taste it.”

However, Tony will not be trying it himself: “No, I decided as a teenager that I wanted to be an athlete and I was brought up in the era of George Best – fantastic talent but ended in tragedy because of his abuse of alcohol – and I thought, if I want to be an athlete, the quickest way is just not to bother.”

“I love lime and lemonade…and a cup of tea, as long as it’s Yorkshire tea I’m happy.”

Listen to the whole interview with Bishop Tony Porter with Premier’s Cara Bentley:

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

Bishop Tony Porter has supported a local brew to help local business but says he’ll stick to the Yorkshire tea.