‘The Heather Ale’, a beer-themed poem written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1890, has been re-imagined for the 2014 Glasgow Comic Con, running from Saturday 5th to Sunday 6th July.
Created in collaboration by event organiser Black Hearted Press and event sponsor William Bros. Brewing Co., the event marks the first time that a Stevenson poem has been transformed into a comic book.
Stevenson’s poem is the ballad of a mysterious beer brewed by the Picts, an ancient tribe who inhabited Scotland during the Iron Age. However when the King of Scots invades he becomes obsessed with capturing the recipe of the mythical beer, and after a massacre the secret of its production is lost forever.
William Bros. Brewing used Stevenson’s work as inspiration for their own heather ale Fraoch 25 years ago, attempting to recreate the long lost recipe from the poem.
Director Scott Williams said, “Williams Bros. has long been inspired by storytelling and legends when it comes to creating new beers. Now in its 25th year, it’s rewarding to see Fraoch and the poem go on to inspire a new generation and be interpreted for a completely different audience at the Glasgow Comic Con.
“The story and the beer may be decades old but the idea of pairing a beer with a comic is definitely novel.”