Oyster beer project is '˜staggeringly good' sense

A brewery and a pub have joined forces to support a local oyster project.

Emsworth’s Blue Bell Inn and Portsmouth brewer Staggeringly Good are collaborating to raise funds for the Solent Oyster Restoration Project.

Staggeringly Good’s popular Bishop Slayer oyster stout is being sold in various establishments, with a proportion of the profits supporting the cause.

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The team behind the Emsworth pub were pleased to help launch the joint campaign, due to the area’s strong historical links with oyster fishing.

Giles Babb, the landlord of the Blue Bell, even took part in the brewing process.

The 5.6 per cent beverage is described as a rich, intense stout made with fresh south coast oysters.

The Bishop Slayer is aptly named after the infamous death of The Very Reverend William Stephens in 1902.

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The incident dragged Emsworth’s reputation into the mud after the Dean of Winchester Cathedral died of food poisoning after enjoying a feast which contained oysters from the town.

His death sparked the Great Oyster Crisis of 1903 but The Solent Oyster Project is hoping to restore the native oyster to the Solent.

The campaign aims to reintroduce five million oysters to the waterway over the next five years in a project made up of fishermen, local authorities, scientists and conservationists.

You can also purchase the cask stout from the Wheelwright’s Arms in Havant and the Beer Musketeer bottle shop in Southsea.

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