Edinburgh’s Vault City will be offering free half pints of Iron Brew Sour or Fiery Ginger to redheads at The Wee Vault taproom over Burns Weekend.
From today, Friday 23 January, to Sunday 25 January, while stocks last, anyone with red hair can rock up to the brewery’s taproom and claim their genetically-decided freebie.
The giveaway coincides with Vault City’s latest Iron Brew-inspired releases and vaguely taps into Scotland’s long-standing cultural axis of Burns Night, Iron Brew, and ginger-haired people, with Edinburgh often regarded as the nation’s unofficial ginger capital, usually by people who’ve never had a close look at Aberdeen.
On a planetary scale, red hair is rare, produced by a recessive genetic trait affecting around 1% to 2% of the global population, but Scotland and Ireland have amongst the highest concentrations worldwide, with an estimated 10% to 13% of the population exhibiting outward signs of being ginger.
While rumours regularly resurface claiming redheads are ‘going extinct’, scientists insist that claim does not hold up to scrutiny.
Red hair is caused when two people carrying the MC1R gene produce a child – and by bringing gingers together over free alcohol, Vault City may be doing its bit to perpetuate the trait.
Co-founder Steven Smith-Hay said: “We first launched our Iron Brew sour six years ago as a playful nod to a drink that is part of everyday Scottish life, and it has grown into one of the beers people most closely associate with Vault City.
“Burns Weekend always brings a great mix of locals and visitors through our doors, so this year we thought it was time to give something back.
“Redheads have been carrying the fizzy ginger brand on their backs for generations, so offering them a free beer felt like the least we could do.”
So from now until closing time on Burns Night, Sunday 25 January, redheads aged 18 and over can claim one free half pint of Vault City’s Iron Brew Sour or Fiery Ginger on production of valid ID, subject to availability.
