Celebrating Sophia Jex-Blake's Birthday
It’s Sophia Jex-Blake's 182nd birthday on Friday, 21 January and to celebrate, we’re giving away one free can per person of Jex-Blake Mosaic IPA to takeaway for all bookings made on the day.
Competition to name our new beer
Back in 2020, we ran a competition to help name our new beer and had hundreds of great suggestions and among them was “Jex-Blake Mosaic IPA”.
Intrigued, we googled it.
Edinburgh University's webpage about Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake, states she was born in Hastings in the middle of the Victorian era, in 1840.
Determined to study medicine – but frustrated in her attempt by the ‘men only’ rule – Sophia started a long and bitter campaign to secure women access.
In 1869, Sophia and six other women, collectively known as the Edinburgh Seven were admitted to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
But the university later overturned its decision.
Meanwhile, Jex-Blake’s ongoing struggle divided the faculty, attracted international attention and support and opposition in equal measure.
Her long campaign to secure women access to the medical profession was ultimately successful: in 1889, an Act of Parliament sanctioned medical degrees for women.
Jex-Blake went on to become the first female doctor in Scotland and one of the first in the UK as a whole.
She subsequently founded two medical schools for women: one in London and one in Edinburgh, where she also started a women's hospital.
Local connection
We hadn’t realised that one of the streets in the new housing development just a stone’s throw from the brewery is named “Jex-Blake Drive” after the first female doctor in Scotland.
And given the fact that we’re living through a pandemic, we thought choosing 'Jex-Blake' as the winning name was highly appropriate though we’re not sure her father would have approved!
A retired lawyer, he reportedly ran a strict, religious household in which dancing, theatre-going, and other "worldly amusements" (including presumably, the consumption of alcohol) were forbidden.
If you wish to find out more about Sophia Jex-Blake, there are profiles on Edinburgh University's main website as well as the College of Medicine, Wikipedia, and Your Dictionary.
Bellfield's Jex-Blake Mosaic IPA
Jex-Blake Mosaic IPA is a 5.6% single-hop IPA, a luscious, golden beer with juicy, tropical fruit aromas of pineapple and mango, and pine and citrus flavours, thanks to the Mosaic® hops we’ve used.
Sometimes called “Citra on Steroids” Mosaic is a patented variety invented by the Hop Breeding Company (who are also responsible for renowned varieties such as Citra and Simcoe).
It is also a relatively young hop variety, having been released in 2012.
Since then, its success has been pretty spectacular and Mosaic is now one of the most-grown production hops in the USA.
Named because of the complexity of aromas it imparts, it has gained a reputation for its ‘triple-use profile’ encompassing bittering, flavour and aroma.
To buy Jex-Blake Mosaic IPA, (5.6% ABV) visit our taproom or order in our online shop to have it delivered to your door, wherever you are in the UK.
