THE final barrel of a beer celebrating the incredible legacy of an army regiment which started in Colchester is now on sale at a popular pub.

The brew has been made in honour of the I Parachute Battery – better known as the Bull’s Troop – which was formed in February 1805 in Colchester as a horse artillery battery.

Captain Robert Bull took his men to the Iberian Peninsula on a five-year campaign during the Napoleonic war where they also fought in the early stages of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Their heroics were marked with the honour’s title of Bull’s Troop and the regiment went onto serve in both World Wars and is still based in Colchester today.

Army reservist Dan Burton wanted to learn more about the regiment when he was based at Colchester’s Merville Barracks ten years ago.

He approached his then-friend and now partner historian Penny Burton to write a history of the regiment and then several breweries to create a commemorative beer in time for 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo.

It was eventually taken on by Burton Bridge Brewery and made with target and archer hops.

Mrs Burton said: “It was commissioned by Dan to commemorate the battery history, as I published the history of I Battery during the peninsular campaign and Waterloo, during which the battery earned their battle honours and served with distinction.

“They reputedly fired the first shots at Waterloo and were placed by Wellington himself in the key position of the defence of hougoumont farm house.”

The last barrel of the Bulls Troop Beer is now on sale at the British Grenadier on Military Road, Colchester but is down to its final pints.

Landlord Simon Foulds was delighted to have secured the brew.

He said: “We are not particularly a soldier’s pub but obviously the name has military connotations.

“I think it is great breweries are making these kind of beers and if we can do a bit to support it then why not do that.

“It has gone down very well, it has a good flavour and a strength which people like.”