Nottingham Brewery's new charity beer aims to to help cut binge drinking

A NEW beer is being served in city pubs to help cut binge drinking and tackle alcohol problems.

XXS – pronounced "to excess" – has been created by Nottingham Brewery to help the Alcohol Problems Advisory Service (Apas).

Proceeds from its sale will go to the charity, which works to help people with drink problems.

The ale also has a relatively low alcohol content of 3.8 per cent which the brewery says will combat binge drinking over the festive period.

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It will be on offer in pubs including branches of JD Wetherspoon, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, the Bell Inn in the city centre and the Test Match, in West Bridgford.

The brewery's managing director, Phil Darby, said: "We have worked with the Alcohol Problems Advisory Service before, helping them out by brewing a beer.

"The last time we did it, a couple of years ago during the beer festival in Nottingham, we raised around £2,000 for them.

"We will see how it goes this year. We don't have a particular target. We want to raise as much as we can."

The brewery has pledged to give £7.50 of each barrel it sells to the charity, which will work out at around 10p for every pint sold in a pub.

It will go to the charity's efforts to target families of people with drinking problems, making sure their children don't follow their habits.

Mr Darby said: "It will be available up until Christmas.

"This is a time when you get a lot of winter warmer beers, which can be quite strong – around 5 per cent – so this will be a good option for people to be able to drink something a bit lighter. We will see how it is going. If it is proving popular, then we will possibly carry on brewing it.

"We have had a really good response from pubs in Nottingham. Many of them are keen to get on board with us, which is great news.

"Pubs like the Test Match regularly get involved with our charity beers. It's a huge help.

"It is also about encouraging responsible drinking, especially over the festive period.

The beer is a tawny coloured fresh tasting pale ale, which has been deliberately created to have a low alcohol volume.

Nick Tegerdine, chief executive of Apas, said the beer would be a big help for the charity. "It is a pleasure to be in partnership again with the Nottingham Brewery," he said.

"They share our passion for responsibility, both by the drinker and by the producer.

"People are going to be having a drink over the Christmas period. What we want to see is responsible drinking."

Proceeds of a previous charity brew went towards a creche for children of people who were attending Apas sessions.

Mr Tegerdine added: "We are looking to help families of drinkers. We want to look at how we can improve parenting and make sure people can hold on to their homes, as often people who drink a lot don't pay bills and end up homeless."

What do you think of the idea? Call our newsdesk on 0115 9482000 or e-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk