Folk band Mumford & Sons launches new festival ale

Folk band Mumford and Sons has launched a new beer created especially for its own festival, which is being held later this month.

Fittingly, the 4% "soft golden ale" will be called Lewes Stopover Brew, and is only initially intended for sale at the two-day event and on the brewery's website while stocks last. Band member Ben Lovett - who plays accordion as well as guitar, keyboards and vocals - yesterday said that ten lines of the ale had been produced, amounting to 700 barrels. Announcing the ale yesterday, the band reportedly joked that the quantity should be "enough for backstage".

As well as Lovett, the band also includes lead singer Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall and Ted Dwane. They are said to have helped create the beer throughout production, including adding the all-important Fuggle and Golding hops.

The Lewes Stopover weekend festival - created by the group themselves - will also see Vampire Weekend, The Vaccines and Mystery Jets perform as part of the line-up.

After the release of their debut album Sigh No More in 2011, the band has enjoyed global success, including netting two Grammy Award nominations and a Brit Award for Best British Group. It launched a second album, Babel, in September 2012.

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