Gold Medal Ales are produced monthly in recognition of some of the 'greats' of history.
This month's story :-

Lionel Lukin is credited with the invention of the first 'unimmersible' lifeboat and in November 1785 his prototype went to Ramsgate for sea trials at the hands of a local pilot.

The pilot thought the boat ideal for use in heavy weather. At the time, the smuggling of goods from France was rife along the Kent coast. The crafty pilot realised that Lukin's boat could be used when the Custom's cutters were unable to put to sea.

The end result was that Lionel's lifeboat fared extremely well but was impounded in a foreign port never to return