Sheffield independent brewery apologises for 'very disrespectful' beer title

Neepsend Brew Co., an independent microbrewery established in 2015, faced criticism for its ‘Hanuman Beer’, which shared the same name as Lord Hanuman, a Hindu god.

Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said: “Lord Hanuman was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines, and not to be used in selling beer for mercantile intent.

“Linking Lord Hanuman with an alcoholic beverage was very disrespectful.”

Mr Zed said the use of Hanuman’s name on the product was seen as “insensitive” within the Hindu community. Lord Hanuman is known for his incredible strength and was a perfect grammarian, Mr Zed added.

He thanked the company for their understanding after he received an apology from Gavin Martin, the director of Neepsend Brew Co..

It read: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we of course apologise for any offence we have caused.

“Though ignorance isn't an excuse we certainly didn't mean any deliberate insult or disrespect by using the name […] we'll be sure to research beer names more thoroughly in the future to avoid something like this happening again".

The eight per cent ‘Hanaman Beer’, which was described as “our most heavily hopped beer”, has been removed from the Neepsend Brew Co. website.