Lawyers prevent brewery from sponging off Mary Berry

Lawyers representing food writer and television presenter Mary Berry have reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to a US brewery, preventing it from selling a pastry stout in her name.

Mary Berry – Photo Credit: Georgia Glynn Smith

As reported by SF Gate, Armistice Brewing based in Richmond, California was planning the release of a pastry stout made with over 200 pounds of raspberry purée, which it intended to name after Mary Berry.

However, Alex Zobel, co-founder of Armistice, told the publication that hours after posting the beer on Instagram with the hashtag #maryberry, the brewer receive a cease and desist note from lawyers representing the British baking star.

In an Instagram post, the brewery joked that it had “spent thousands on a last minute re-design using a London-based boutique branding agency”. In fact it has stuck smiley face stickers over the offending text and pictures.

The beer, now called Cease and Desistberry Pastry Stout, will be going on sale in 500ml bottles at the brewery’s taproom tomorrow (20 September). Priced at US$19, the 10.4% ABV pastry stout is described as “rich, decadent, double dark chocolate truffle with raspberries and vanilla bean whipped cream, with a silky, milk-sugar finish”.

As well as the raspberry purée, it was made with two different types of single origin cacao nibs, sourced from Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco. It was then “recirculated” with three pounds of Madagascan vanilla bean pods.

The beer will also be available to order online from 8am on Friday.

The post added: “We got cease-and-desisted! SOMEBODY’S agency has a very soggy bottom, indeed. So, we’re cancelling the release of a certain berry stout that we named after a beloved octogenarian celebrity baker from England, and pouring thousands into a sophisticated rebrand. Stay tuned!”

Back in 2017, Berry also was the unfortunate victim of a ‘Twitter outrage’ after using white wine in a ragú recipe. While many claimed that it should in fact be red wine, Berry was proved correct, with the official Accademia Italiana della Cucina recipe stipulating the use of a ½ cup of dry white wine.

Berry, 84, has published over 75 cookery books. As well as her own television series, she appeared as a judge on The Great British Bake Off from 2010 to 2016 when the production moved to Channel 4.