The last remaining supplies of a series of controversial, tongue-in-cheek beers are to go under the hammer in an extraordinary online auction on Tuesday (March 3).

The ‘dictator beers’ – Osama Bin Lager, Kim Jong Ale and Putin’s Porter that caused an international media stir when they were launched in 2024 are amongst 13,000 bottles of beer and 550 gallons in casks that are being auctioned following the closure of the micro brewery that created them as a joke for a Billinghay village pub - and found itself brought to its knees by demand.

Paul Cooper, a director of auctioneers Eddisons said: “The Mitchell Brewing Company was founded by Luke Mitchell, the landlord of the Coach and Horses in Billinghay in 2022. The first of the dictator range was actually Kim Jong Ale, followed by Putin’s Porter, but it was in 2024 when Osama Bin Lager was launched that things went viral, creating headlines all over the world.

“Demand went through the roof. The website crashed and the phones had to be disconnected to halt the non-stop incoming calls.”

Paul Cooper and Adam Martin with some of the 400 gallons of cask ales.

placeholder image — Paul Cooper and Adam Martin with some of the 400 gallons of cask ales.

Mr. Cooper said: “The fortunes of the business have fluctuated since that time. Plans were drawn up to build a new brewery alongside the Coach and Horses but last August the pub was badly damaged in an arson attack. The Mitchell family decided to call time on the business and their company was dissolved in January.

“Our client, the Grantham businessman Nik Pietrzyk, a specialist in surplus stock trading, bought all of the brewery’s remaining beer last month and it’s been brought up to our national auction centre in Scunthorpe for the auction on Tuesday.”

The 13,000 bottles of beer and 550 gallons of cask ale are to be sold in 290 lots. Those include the last four 50-litre barrels of Osama Bin Lager, which are to be sold individually.

There are also a dozen 30-litre casks of Winston Church Pale, eleven 30-litre casks of Lincoln Lager, seventeen 30-litre casks of Lincoln Red and seventeen 30-litre casks of Fabuccino, the award winning coffee milk stout that was developed in collaboration with Lincoln’s renowned Stokes Tea & Coffee Company.

Kim Jong Ale was the first of the 'dictator' beers to be brewed.

The 13,000 bottles of beer have been lotted in five boxes of a dozen bottles, so 60 bottles per lot. Those include both Kim Jong Ale and Putin’s Porter lots and also a host of the brewery’s other beers: Midnight Phantom, Squadron Bitter, Just Jane, Smokey Joe, Golden Fleece, Mandarina, Harvest Gold, Lincoln Red and Lincoln Lager.

Paul Cooper said: “It is the most extraordinary auction of drink we’ve ever handled – and we have handled a lot in the past few years. Everything from individual pubs and bars through to drink distribution operations and upmarket wine retailers.

“The retail value of the beer in the sale is over £50,000 but it is being auctioned completely without reserve, so it will make what it makes on Tuesday.”

And the $64,000 question: Just how good is Putin’s Porter, Kim Jong Ale and the rest?

Putin's Porter proved popular. It is being sold in lots of five dozen bottles.

“You won’t believe this,” replied Paul, “but though we have for weeks been working amid an ocean of beer – thousands of bottles and a mountain of casks - we haven’t had half a pint! All I can say is that the brewery’s ales have won lots of awards and had rave reviews from beer connoisseurs.”

The auction catalogue is available at https://auctions.eddisonsassets.com/auctions.

The online auction is scheduled to end at 1pm on Tuesday, March 3.