Northern Monk and Seabrook brew the ‘world’s first’ crisp-flavoured beer

Leeds-based brewer Northern Monk and UK crisp maker Seabrook have joined forces to create cheese & onion and prawn cocktail crisp-inspired beers. 

You might not have ever looked at your crisps and beer and wished that they would become one product. But in celebration of beer gardens reopening on 12 April, Leeds-based Northern Monk brewery and Bradford-based Seabrook have done just that.

The unique recipe combines a base beer with actual Seabrook crisp flavouring. The first, The Cheese & Onion Lager is a 5.4% lager described as having a “distinct aroma”, with “notes of cheese and onion” and “leaving you with the aftertaste of just having finished your favourite packet of crisps.” The second, The Prawn Cocktail Gose, is a 5% sour beer that “brings with it the tang of prawn cocktail” and finishes with “a distinct saltiness”.

Russell Bisset, founder of Northern Monk said: “After one of the most challenging periods in recent history, we decided to take this quest into uncharted territory, creating an experience that would make people laugh – or grimace actually – as lockdown lifts.”

First teased on 1 April as an April Fool’s joke, the real bluff was that just 10 days later the beers would be released, available to buy on Northern Monk’s online shop.

The collaboration brings together old and new with Seabrook a 76-year-old company which began as a fish and chip shop in Bradford, and Northern Monk which began in a parent’s cellar in 2013.

Jon Wood, commercial director at Calbee UK, the parent company of Seabrook, said: “We are delighted to have worked on this project with Northern Monk, creating Seabrook crisp flavour beers, it’s the perfect partnership.”

The third annual northern brand collaboration for Northern Monk, they have previously brewed a ‘Bloody Mary Porter’ with Henderson’s Relish in 2019, and created a ‘two-course roast dinner’ beer with Aunt Bessie’s in 2020.

The independent brewery has won numerous awards for its ethos of “community and collaboration” and for its charity work, most recently being ranked number 1 in the Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 list, achieving the titles of ‘fastest overall growing business’ and ‘fastest growing small business’ in March 2021.

Celebrating the uniting of people this spring, Mr Bisset said: “We’ve combined the nation’s two great loves, beer and crisps. We’re keen to push the boundaries of what beer can be.”

Both beers were available £3.50 per can on Northern Monk’s online shop, but the latest batch appears to have sold out.