Lincolnshire range of ‘Dictator’ beers goes under the hammer

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 were auctioned on Tuesday, March 3 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.

A spokesperson for auctioneers Eddisons said the sale attracted interest and bidders from all over the country. Whilst most of the lots were snapped up by Lincolnshire and Yorkshire bidders, other lots were bought by people in Birmingham, London and Wales.

Paul Cooper, a director of auctioneers Eddisons explained: “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.”

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.”

The stock was then brought up to the national auction centre in Scunthorpe for the auction on Tuesday.

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

There were 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.

The 13,000 bottles of beer were lotted in five boxes of a dozen bottles, so 60 bottles per lot. Those included 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.”

It was auctioned completely without reserve and the total amount raised was not disclosed by Eddisons for commercial reasons.

Despite all the interest a handful of lots did manage to sneak through at bargain prices – the hammer going down at £45 for five cases of bottled beer, equating to 75 pence a bottle!

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

“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.”