SIBA Independent Brewer Summer Edition

Issue 10

Summer 2022

Brew York state of mind

Understanding Quality.

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Editor’s comment

Welcome to the Summer edition of SIBA’s Independent Brewer Magazine.

This is an industry that cares. An industry that celebrates success, even in defeat. And an industry that I am extremely proud to be a part of. And BeerX really shone a light this year on that camaraderie and community.

It was wonderful to finally be able to meet up with so many of you face to face in March at this year’s BeerX – and for all the excitement and hype in the run up to the event, it did not disappoint!

I have rarely felt so much love in a room.

It was genuinely emotional to see the reactions on the faces of our Business Award and Beer Competition winners, and the support they received from the crowd – the whoops, the screams, the applause – could not fail to warm the coldest heart.

That is not to say, of course, that there are areas where this sector still falls short and has work to do. And the other aspect of BeerX that I admire is its important role in bringing brewers together to tackle issues such as diversity, sexism and toxic working environments. My hope is that the many discussions and views shared at the event will lead to action and meaningful change – it is long overdue.

As a result of our biggest BeerX ever, this is a bumper issue of the magazine, featuring all the winners of our SIBA Business Awards (pages 66-71) and National Beer Competitions (pages 72-79) as well as the highlights from our 2022 SIBA Craft Beer Report (pages 22-27) which was launched at BeerX. You can download the full report from the SIBA website at www.siba.co.uk/2022/03/17/ siba-craft-beer-report

Society of Independent Brewers PO Box 136, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 5WW Tel: 01765 640 441 www.siba.co.uk Email: office@siba.co.uk

Elsewhere in this issue, we meet Lee Grabham and Wayne Smith, the founders of Brew York (pages 32-39), who not only took home the Commercial Achievement award at this year’s SIBA Business Awards but were also chosen by the judges as the 2022 SIBA Brewery Business of the Year. Another big winner at the awards was the Isle of Man’s Bottle Monkey, in the independent retail category, and we feature a Meet the Retailer profile with founder Chris Griffiths (pages 42-49).

The Craft Beer Channel’s Jonny Garrett waxes lyrical about his homebrewing exploits on pages 30-31, and Lotte Peplow, the Brewers Association’s European Ambassador, looks at the latest sustainability initiatives within the US craft brewing market (pages 51-55).

Happy reading! And please do keep sending me your press releases, updates, news and views to caroline.nodder@siba.co.uk so that we can share your experiences, thoughts and successes in future magazines – the deadline for submissions for our Autumn edition will be August 26th 2022.

Caroline Nodder Editor SIBA Independent Brewer Magazine

Editor: Caroline Nodder (caroline.nodder@siba.co.uk) Published by: Media Alive Limited Produced on behalf of SIBA by: Media Alive Limited, 2nd Floor, The Red House, 119 Fore Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 1AX. T: 01992 505 810 Creative Director: Darren Kefford (darren@wearema.co.uk) Studio Manager: Jon Hardy (jon@wearema.co.uk) Advertising Manager: Claire Rooney (claire@wearema.co.uk) Managing Director: Dan Rooney (dan@wearema.co.uk)

Printed by: Stephens & George Print Group Goat Mill Road, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 3TD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or be any other means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of SIBA and/or Media Alive Limited.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in this publication is accurate and up-to-date, neither SIBA nor Media Alive Limited take any responsibility for errors or omissions.

Opinions expressed in editorial contributions to this publication are those of their respective authors and not necessarily shared either by SIBA or Media Alive Limited.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Contents

News 9-15 SIBA news All the news from SIBA HQ 66-71 SIBA Business Awards All the winners from this year’s awards 72-79 SIBA National Beer Competitions Winners from the finals of SIBA’s annual beer competitions at BeerX 80-85 SIBA Regional Beer Competitions Results from the South West, North East and Wales and the West 91-103 Brewery News The latest from our Brewing Members around the UK 104-115 Supplier News Updates from SIBA’s Supplier Associate Members

42-49

Comment 7 8 16-17 30-31 41 64-65 63

51-55 image © Brewers Association

Issue 10

Summer 2022

Brew York state of mind

CEO’s Update James Calder on SIBA’s current strategy Chairman’s Comment Roy Allkin shares his thoughts on supporting the cask category The View From Westminster Our regular political update Home(Brew) Is Where The Heart Is Jonny Garrett shares his passion for homebrewing Meet The Regions Regional SIBA directors William Mayne from the North West and William Harris from the South East Supplier Viewpoint Crisp Malt’s Mike Benson offers his tried and tested tips for saving money in your brewery Technical Focus Brewlab’s Dr Keith Thomas considers sediment

Features 20-21 SIBA Membership Update Learn more about the latest benefits 22-27 Highlights From The SIBA Craft Beer Report 2022 Headline findings from our in-depth report 29 Taproom Focus Featuring SIBA Taproom of the Year 2022 Farm Yard Brew Co 32-39 Business Profile We meet Lee Grabham and Wayne Smith, founders of SIBA’s Brewery Business of the Year, Brew York 42-49 Meet The Retailer A profile of SIBA award-winning independent bottle shop Bottle Monkey 51-55 Sustainability Feature The Brewers Association’s Lottle Peplow looks at the latest sustainability initiatives from across the pond 57-61 Business Advice Legal, brand & marketing and consumer insight 86-89 Gold Members Charles Faram and Murphy & Son 116 Gold & Silver Members Listing of our key sponsors 118 Contacts Key SIBA contacts

The cover for this issue shows the bar at the German-style Beer Hall built by SIBA Brewery Business of the Year winner Brew York on their flagship site in York city centre. Read more about their journey in our Business Profile on pages 32-39. www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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CEO’s update

We’ve got your back!

First off, it was great to see all your faces at BeerX this year. It felt like a seminal event in the brewing industry. I’m very proud of the team who delivered it and I want to thank all of you for coming and thank all SIBA’s supplier associates who make the event happen.

Big thank you to the cellar crew (whom I spent a lot of time with) who make sure the beer is right, too.

I write this column sat at a railway engineer’s workbench in the splendid surroundings of Barrow Hill Roundhouse Railway Museum in Chesterfield. It’s got sunshine, classic steam locomotives and most importantly the best beer the Midlands region has to offer. It’s truly one of the best hotdesks I’ve had the pleasure of sitting at.

Helping set up for a SIBA competition is a feeling many of you will know. And the SIBA team are in full swing this season. It’s the feeling of palpable quiet but diligent work before the storm. It’s fortunate that the storm happens to be hundreds of people enjoying each other’s company and enjoying independent beer. In one way we as an industry must collectively feel as though we’ve just emerged from one storm and are entering directly into another.

Recent brewery closures have been alarming, and I fear that many more will shut their doors over the coming months.

Inflation will become the epidemic of the next few years and, as the Governor of the Bank of England admitted a few weeks ago, we don’t have a vaccine for this one. We’re seeing huge input inflation in everything you need – people, malt, hops, packaging and energy. It’s never been a more prudent time to get on top of your costs. And whilst SIBA can’t do very much about the price of a tank of diesel – we can help your business in other ways.

SIBA’s costs calculating tool is something all of you should be using and adapting to ensure that you are fully abreast of your costs. Redesigning your labels need not be a difficulty or a cost with SIBA’s labelling guide.

If you’ve got legal or HR trouble, our solicitor partners Napthens can help – and offer an hour of free advice. If you’re a SIBA member you get £100 off SALSA accreditation.

We’re also the only body lobbying on your behalf to ensure 20 litre containers can benefit from the new draught beer duty discount, and pushing for it to go beyond 5% and be brought forward.

SIBA was the body that secured the drop in the Drinkaware licence fee from a ridiculous £1,500 to £50. We’re also the only body lobbying on your behalf to ensure 20 litre containers can benefit from the new draught beer duty discount, and pushing for it to go beyond 5% and be brought forward. We’re lobbying on your behalf to ensure the myriad of DRS schemes work for us and limit their damage.

As our Chairman Roy mentions in his column [see page 8], we’re also working on a new campaign with consumers and in trade to try to reverse the fortunes of cask, so licensees have the confidence to stock it and sell it and a new set of consumers are asking for it at the bar. Watch this space.

Over the summer we’re going to be relaunching “Delivering for Brewers” which will deliver new benefits all the time. We’re working hard on this now to make sure it can benefit your business – so keep your eyes peeled.

I hope you have a fantastic summer, sell lots of beer and keep your businesses going. Feel safe in the knowledge that, wherever we can, SIBA has your back and is Delivering for Brewers.

James Calder Chief Executive SIBA

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Chairman’s comment

Celebrating beer in all its wonderful guises I write this column having just returned from a hugely successful Wales & West Independent beer Awards at the Ludlow Spring Festival, where hundreds of beers from SIBA Members were put through their paces as part of our new look awards.

The last time the beer competition took place was way back in 2019, having been on hiatus for the last two years due to Covid restrictions.

It’s great to be back and I’d like to start by congratulating Bedley Brewery and DEYA Brewing Co, who took home the coveted Overall Gold Awards in the respective ‘Cask’ and ‘Bottle & Can’ Awards.

Our Overall Champions really are the best of the best, having taken Gold in their category they then went on to be judged against all of the other Beer Style Category winners in a final judging, where the top beer overall is awarded.

It’s a rigorous process overseen by our hugely experienced Lead Judges – made up of beer sommeliers, master brewers from other regions, and our most experienced and knowledgeable veteran judges.

Our competitions have had a shake up for 2022, with a brand new international style judging and scoring system, totally updated Keg and Bottle & Can categories, and the addition of those aforementioned Lead Judges, who help direct the judging tables and offer other judges guidance on the beer style category.

The beer industry in Wales and across the rest of the UK has changed dramatically over the last decade, and these changes ensure SIBA’s competitions not only move with the times but position themselves as the leading independent craft beer awards around.

It’s apt that our two overall winners represent the diversity you can see across our industry, where both a delicious traditional Bitter

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can be celebrated alongside a hazy, hoppy, incredibly flavoursome American Style pale ale.

SIBA’s awards celebrate beer in all its variety, championing traditional cask beer alongside keg, bottle and can – all from independent breweries and worthy of protecting and promoting in their own right.

In many ways our competitions are an allegory for SIBA as a whole, and as we strive towards innovation in the beer industry with a broader variety of styles available than ever before, we should also champion our entirely unique beer history.

The recent SIBA Craft Beer Report 2022 showed that just 46% of SIBA member’s beer now goes into cask, compared to 74% just five years ago in 2017 – and whilst lockdowns over the last few years have of course shifted production more into small pack for practical reasons, it is likely to be a trend that continues into the future.

Cask beer is intrinsically linked to pubs in a way that no other beer style or format is, if we lose cask beer from our bars then we lose an essential component of what makes a British pub so wonderful.

So whilst SIBA will continue to champion beer in all its glorious forms, we will be working this summer with other industry bodies on a cross-industry campaign to promote cask in the hope of giving it a kick start ahead of the vital autumn and winter trading periods.

Last year’s festive period was absolutely disastrous for pubs and in turn cask beer, and it’s clear that not only do we need to promote cask beer to a broader demographic of consumers, but also to instil confidence back in licensees who see cask as a risky product to have on the bar.

The key is ensuring the freshness and short shelf life is seen as a positive rather than a

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

negative; focussing on promoting the positives of cask beer – alongside the fact it is delicious, it’s virtues of being fresh, local, and with a lower environmental impact than other drinks on the bar.

It will be interesting to see if next year’s report shows that the decline of cask was a short term blip or a long-term trend, and if SIBA with support from across the industry can help drive forward what is such a unique and important product.

SIBA is about all independent beer and not just cask, but I’m sure we can all agree that right now, it needs our help.

Roy Allkin Chairman SIBA

SIBA news

SIBA BeerX UK 2022 A huge thankyou to everyone that made it along to BeerX UK 2022 in Liverpool in March. It was our busiest BeerX ever and a triumphant return after two years away.

The atmosphere in the room was amazing, with brewers, suppliers, industry representatives and media able to network once-more and attend some of the fantastic panels, seminars, tastings and talks taking place across the event.

A further thankyou to all of our speakers and sponsors - including our Headline sponsors Kegstar and Stage Sponsors Breww, Charles Faram and Crisp - who helped make BeerX UK 2022 the UK's biggest beer and brewing event.

The audio from the AGM is also now live on the Toolbox homepage as are a number of the speaker presentations which are on the Members' Toolbox under Filing Cabinet > BeerX > BeerX 2022 Presentations.

The SIBA Craft Beer Work Force Report As part of Delivering for Brewers, we are delighted to introduce our first Craft Beer Work Force Report.

The Craft Beer Work Force Report draws on data from our members’ survey 2022 to provide a guide to the UK’s craft beer workforce. It profiles the average salary levels by position and includes data on working hours, qualification, age, diversity and travel to work.

The members’ survey was completed by 310 brewers, representing over 44% of SIBA’s brewing membership with a production range from below 10 hectolitres (hl) per annum to 60,000 hl.

We hope that this will be a useful tool for your brewery.

You can find the report online at Toolbox > filing cabinet > facts & figures > Workforce report.

Code of Conduct: SIBA Events Following the passing of Resolution 1 at the SIBA AGM in March, which set out the standards expected at SIBA events from all parties, SIBA would now like to share some supplementary Code of Conduct documents with members.

Two documents have been added to the Toolbox Filing Cabinet under 'Code of Conduct' - the first is a detailed "Code of Conduct - SIBA Events” document which sets out for SIBA Staff, Directors and Regional Beer Festival / Event organisers how the new Members Charter amendment should be put into practice. Namely that discrimination of any kind, including, but not limited to age, disability, gender, race, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated at SIBA events. Additionally that aggression, harassment, abuse and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated at SIBA events.

If you are running an event in anyway affiliated with SIBA then you need to read and understand the above document.

The second document is a poster/flyer which advises event attendees of our stance and what to do if they have an issue - this should be printed off and displayed at SIBA Events. The SIBA Competitions Team will ensure this poster is displayed at all SIBA Competitions this year.

If you have any questions regarding the above please email SIBA's Head of Comms Neil Walker via neil.walker@siba.co.uk.

New team member joins SIBA We are delighted to announce that Will Lockwood has joined our Public Affairs and Policy Team as Public Affairs and Policy Officer.

Will, who has a background in politics, having worked for several MPs, a political party and an arms-length government body, will be

working on our Members’ Survey, engaging with politicians across Westminster, Scotland and Wales and leading on the response to the Deposit Return Scheme in Wales.

Some of the most important work SIBA does is engaging and helping members engage with their local MPs. Part of Will’s role will be to

help members organise a meeting with their MP or to help you arrange a brewery tour with them.

If you want to speak to Will to get his help you can email him on will.lockwood@siba.co.uk or give him a call on 07511209258.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA news

Cask lager and New England IPAs voted the best beers in the UK Harviestoun’s Schiehallion Cask Lager and Red Willow’s Perceptionless New England IPA took home Overall Champion Gold in the Cask and Keg Awards at SIBA’s Independent Beer Awards 2022 finals during BeerX, with Lakes Brew Co taking the best bottled or canned beer with their NE Session IPA. Judged by brewers and industry experts and organised by SIBA, the awards run across a huge range of beer style categories in cask, craft keg, bottle and can.

The Overall Champion Cask beer is Harviestoun’s Schiehallion, a cask lager that impressed judges with a clean flavour and superb aromatics. In the keg beer competition Red Willow’s Perceptionless, a hazy ‘New England’ style American IPA, took home the Overall Gold. Tom Lewis, Red Willow’s Brewer and Cellar Manager, was on hand to accept the award. He said: “We’re genuinely humbled to win against what are always an amazing group of breweries and a really tough competition. We think this is one of our most consistent beers, with great flavour, mouthfeel and balance which

makes it super drinkable – we’re really proud of it and glad the judges agreed!”

In the bottle and can competition it was Lakes Brew Co’s NE Session IPA that was judged to be the best in the UK, described by judges as being ‘hazy, hoppy and tropical!’, it won the Overall Champion Gold Award in the Bottle and Can Awards. Matt Clarke, Lakes Brew Co Founder and Head Brewer, accepted the award: “We have only been brewing eight months so to win this award is just amazing, it’s such a new beer for us – in fact we’ve only brewed it three times! It feels great to be recognised in this way and I’m glad the judges enjoyed the beer. It’s got a soft mouthfeel and some great tropical aromas, but we keep the bitterness balanced which just keeps you drinking it.”

SIBA Competitions Chair Neil Walker congratulated the winners on their huge achievement: “The 2022 awards were possibly our most important ever, being the first National beer competition back in BeerX for two years. A huge, huge well done to all of the winners as to earn a place on this list is to be named the very best of the best in the UK. Particular praise of course needs to go to Harviestoun, Red Willow and Lakes Brew Co – who were named our overall Gold Champions – three truly outstanding beers which you should be incredibly proud of.”

For the full list of winners from the BeerX finals see pages 72-79.

Free Energy Audit for SIBA Members

SIBA’s response to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement

SIBA Supplier Associate Member Unyfi has helped a number of SIBA members following the recent surge in energy costs, and is now offering a free Energy Audit to all Member breweries.

Struggling independent brewing businesses need support now, not aspirations for the future said SIBA in its response to the Chancellor's Spring Statement.

Chancellor missed the opportunity to prioritise these payments and expand CARF for another year, to provide the support small businesses need now to survive.”

Speaking on the day of the statement, SIBA’s Chief Executive James Calder said: “Today the Chancellor announced plans to help businesses in years to come, but these aspirations for the future are not the immediate support that struggling businesses facing closure need right now. The energy and supply crunch are an urgent and potentially devastating situation, with most small brewers seeing energy rising between two and three hundred per cent - and vital business supplies, from malt to beer cans rising exponentially.

• Fuel duty cut by 5% per litre

Unyfi is offering it’s time and a full energy audit to all members at no cost. The aim being to discuss your current energy situation, what your options are, when and how far in the future you can renew your supplies and give you a chance to ask questions to an impartial expert.

Call 0330 223 2093 or email tom. faithful@unyfi.co.uk or thor.wyles@ unyfi.co.uk for more information quoting reference SIBA and find out more about Unyfi at www.unify

“Rising costs combined with Covid debt repayments mean businesses facing financial ruin and an uncertain future, with many unlikely to survive until the Autumn Budget. While the fuel duty reduction will help businesses running vehicles, most small brewers are still waiting for the assistance promised a year ago under the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund. This vital money is yet to be paid by local authorities and breweries do not receive the 50% discount for hospitality. In today’s announcement the

Spring Statement highlights • National Insurance thresholds rise to £12,570 from July • Income tax will be cut 1p in 2024 • Employment Allowance increased by £1,000 from £4,000 to £5,000 to support small businesses.

• Increase in the Household Support Fund of £500m • VAT reduced on energy saving materials such as solar panels from 5% to zero for five years for households • Two new business rates reliefs brought forward to April 2022. There will be no business rates on green technology such as solar panels.

• Ahead of the super-deduction deadline, the Government intends to work with businesses to consider cuts and reforms to support future investment.

• The 50% business rates relief for hospitality and retail comes in as planned.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA news

New industry wide Alcohol Labelling Guidance The Portman Group has published its updated Alcohol Labelling Guidelines, which provide best practice guidance for communicating alcohol and health-related information on labels.

Through SIBA’s Labelling Guide we have signposted to the Portman Group’s guidance in the past, however we are for the first time publicly supporting the updated Alcohol Labelling Guidelines.

This new guidance does not introduce any additional regulatory burden for SIBA Members and mirrors the ‘advised’ section published in our own Labelling Guide.

When the Portman Group contacted us last year, SIBA raised the issue that we could not support the revised guidance because it included a recommendation to actively signpost to Drinkaware – something that carries a substantial cost of £1,500 per year. This is impossible to justify for small breweries, especially at a time of increasing costs.

We therefore met with Drinkaware and worked with them to review this. We are pleased to say that after SIBA’s intervention they have reduced the fee to £50 per year for small brewers who turn over less than £2.5 million per year. This change is being

introduced in mid-June on their website and those looking to sign up before then will also receive the new price.

This also comes at a time when the self-regulation of the alcohol industry is under increasing threat from those who would prefer it to be fully regulated by the Government. Our support for the revised guidelines helps to reassure the Government that everyone, from the largest to the smallest brewery, is committed to providing the information consumers need to make informed choices about the products they buy.

We may not agree with every decision that the Portman Group reaches, but on balance self-regulation is much better for our industry than the alternative; direct Government regulation and intervention.

For example in some countries that do not have a self-regulatory framework, alcohol labelling must be signed-off by an appointed Government official prior to sale.

SIBA’s support of the revised guidance

Frequently Asked Questions What does the Portman Group guidance recommend?

It recommends that four elements are included on packaging: 1. Unit alcohol content per container (and optional per typical serving) 2. Pregnancy logo/message 3. Active signposting to Drinkaware.co.uk 4. Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines 2016 Does it include calories?

The guidance includes further voluntary information you can include such as calories but this is not a requirement or contained in the key four recommended elements.

The Government is expected to consult on alcohol labelling as part of the obesity strategy which may include calories.

How is this different from SIBA’s Labelling Guide?

The Portman Group guidelines has always been included in SIBA’s Labelling Guide as recommended by the industry.

How is this different to the Portman Code of Practice?

The Portman Code of Practice applies to the naming, packaging and promotion of alcoholic drinks and allows anyone to make a complaint against any product. This is a separate document to the Alcohol Labelling Guidance.

What do I need to do?

This is useful guidance alongside SIBA’s labelling guide for when you are looking to introduce a new label or change your current labels.

also does not mean that we will not continue to challenge future policies or regulations if they restrict small brewers or consumer choice. For example, SIBA still has legitimate concerns about The Portman Code of Practice on the naming, packaging and promotion of drinks (which is separate from this guidance) and attempts to restrict single serves to four units as well as label restrictions on graphics and colours.

Similarly, we continue to communicate to the Department of Health the additional burden and costs that calorie labelling would place on small and independent brewers.

At the same time, you are not expected to change your labels overnight to reflect these guidelines. This is the recommended best practice and you are encouraged to consider this and SIBA’s Practical Guide to Labelling when introducing a new label or updating your old ones.

Below you can find some additional Frequently Asked Questions about the guidance and the SIBA team would be happy to answer any of your questions.

What are Drinkaware’s new costs?

Drinkaware are reducing the cost of the trademark logo licence to £50 +VAT for small brewers who have a turnover of £2.5m or less per year. Those with a turnover above this will have to pay a higher amount.

When will Drinkaware’s prices change?

Drinkaware has said that these changes will be made on their website by mid-June but that anyone looking to enter into a license agreement can receive the new lower price.

The Portman Group Alcohol Labelling Guidelines can be found at portmangroup.org.uk/codeguidance/ If you have any questions please email political@siba.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA news

SIBA’s South West, North East and Wales & West regions have become the first to showcase the revamped SIBA Independent Beer Awards Quantock Brewery and Cheddar Ales were named Champion Beers of the South West at the very first new-look SIBA Independent Beer Awards for 2022. Meanwhile, Revolutions Brewing 'Swoon' was named Champion Beer of the North East in the second showing of SIBA’s new-style regional beer competitions and Bewdley Brewery and DEYA have taken home the two top awards in Wales & West.

The awards have been updated this year to reflect the evolving modern craft beer sector in the UK. In the South West, ‘We’re gonna need a bigger boat’, a modern 6.3% New England style hazy IPA took home the top award in the keg beer competition for Quantock – the first time keg has ever been judged at the event as part of the huge shakeup of the awards in 2022. The Overall Champion of the Cask beer competition went to ‘Piney Sleight’ by Cheddar Ales, a Session IPA of 4% with huge aromas of pine and citrus.

Buster Grant, SIBA Competitions Chairman, said: “The South West competition is the oldest of all SIBA competitions Nationally so it seems apt that this is where we launched our new and improved SIBA Independent

Beer Awards 2022 – featuring a brand new set of keg categories, an international-standard scoring system and hugely experienced ‘lead judges’ on each table. I would like to say a huge congratulations to all of this year’s winners and in particular Quantock and Cheddar Ales, who really were the best of the best, not only being named best-in-class in their category but then going on to become Overall Champions. Very well done and good luck in the National Finals in Liverpool next year!”

The awards were presented at MaltingsFest at the old Tucker’s Maltings site.

Further north, it was Revolutions Brewing in Castleford that took home the Overall Champion award in the North East Independent Beer Awards, which took place at Gateshead Rugby Club.

Local MPs Grahame Morris MP and Ian Mearns MP joined the judging and helped hand out awards to this year's winners.

The Overall Champion is picked once all the category Champions have been picked, making it the very best of the best at the awards. This year it was 'Swoon', a rich and delicious 4.5% Chocolate Fudge Milk Stout

by Revolutions Brewing in Castleford, West Yorkshire, that took home the coveted

Overall Champion award. Collecting the award was Revolutions Brewing Founder Mark Seaman: "It's fabulous to get this recognition for what has become our flagship beer. For a chocolate beer it's really balanced and there's a nice bit of bitterness alongside the sweet chocolate flavour - we're very proud of it and amazing to win the Overall Champion Award."

In the Wales & West competition at Ludlow Castle, Bewdley’s ‘Red Hill’ proved a hit with judges in the Cask Bitter category before going on to win the overall Champion of the Cask Award.

DEYA’s ‘Steady Rolling Man’ took the top spot in the Pale Ale category before going up against winners from a diverse range of other beer style categories in a new look Bottle & Can beer competition – with everything from IPA’s and Pale Ales to Sour and Wild Ales being judged.

Collecting the award for Overall Cask Champion was Tim Wilkins of Bewdley Brewery who said: “It means everything to win, it’s quite emotional really we’ve put in so much hard work and it has paid off. We use the best ingredients and spend the time and care to make sure our beer is brewed right, we are so thrilled to have won.”

SIBA responds to the announcement of details on England, Wales and NI's Deposit Return Schemes for drinks containers Responding on behalf of SIBA to details of the proposed DRS schemes across the UK and NI, SIBA’s Chief Executive James Calder said: "Independent brewers sell their beer all over the UK and NI. They sell directly to consumer, to supermarkets, to small bottle shops, online and to wholesalers. The news today that glass will be excluded from England and Northern Ireland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) systems should be cautiously welcomed as it signals that glass,

as a material, is unworkable within the proposed system and Government have recognised this. But the UK’s independent brewers will now have to engage with three separate DRS models - one in Scotland, one in Wales and one in England and NI. This level of complexity and red tape is a further burden on an already heavily-regulated brewing industry, and comes as breweries are recovering from the pandemic and dealing with huge inflationary rises.

“Governments from across the country need to get their heads together and develop one, unified and simple system working in conjunction with our brewing members.

“This announcement will also threaten the ability of consumers to choose and enjoy beer from breweries around the country, because in many parts of the UK and NI the cost of supplying independent beer will be prohibitive for small breweries."

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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The view from Westminster

A large double There’s two big issues that brewers need to get their heads around in the next year – the alcohol duty system changes and the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). To help, SIBA has provided detailed guides which are available on the Toolbox.

Barry Watts SIBA Head of Public Affairs and Policy

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

The view from Westminster

CARF funding Over a year ago the Government announced £1.5 billion of new funding under the Additional Relief Fund (CARF). This is for businesses, like small brewers, that did not receive business rate support during the pandemic. However only about a third of local councils have started to pay the money out.

We’ve called on the Government to prioritise its roll out but also extend the funding to cover a further year. There’s a template letter included in recent Brewing In Brief you can use to contact your MP about it.

New team member In April we welcomed new member to our lobbying team. Will Lockwood is SIBA’s new Policy and Public Affairs Officer and will be helping to improve our engagement across the four nations. He has many years of political experience having worked for a series of MPs in Parliament. You can contact him at Will.

Lockwood@siba.co.uk A great way to engage with your MP is to have your beer poured in Parliament. You can have your cask ale chosen as the guest ale for the Strangers’ Bar. MP visits

Alcohol Duty System

Deposit Return Schemes

This consists of fundamental changes to the whole alcohol duty system coming into force in February next year. In particular it includes combining Small Brewers Relief (SBR) with Small Producer Relief, creating a new draught duty rate and changing the alcohol bands. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend reading SIBA’s guide and using our handy calculator to understand the impact it may have. We’re expecting the Treasury to publish its response to the consultation in the next month or so, with further consultations on legislation changes and the details of the Small Producer Relief.

Scotland is still intending to go ahead with their own scheme in August 2023. This means you need to start planning to ensure your brewery is prepared. If you sell into Scotland (whether its via your webshop, a wholesaler or a bottle shop) you’ll have to comply with the scheme. This will include bottle shops you might sell to that then sell online into Scotland. SIBA has put together a useful briefing on how it will work (available via the toolbox), which will be updated as and when we get more information.

Once again, I’d encourage you to write to your MP to highlight the key areas of concern including the expansion of the lower band to 3.4% and ensuring SBR is fully applied; making sure that the draught duty rate includes 20 and 30 litre containers and the inequality between cider and beer.

We’ve also now discovered that glass will not be included in the separate English and NI scheme expected in 2024/25. Perversely, Wales has decided to include glass and push for a digital DRS. This means that there will be three different schemes in the UK, causing havoc for supply chains, increasing your costs and ultimately reducing consumer choice.

SIBA keeps making the case for better joined up thinking as well as changes to the schemes.

If you’re interested in arranging an MP visit then Will can help you to organise it. Our most recent members’ survey showed that 60% of SIBA members have not had an MP to tour their brewery. Engaging directly with your MP helps SIBA to campaign for changes and if you can please offer them a tour. The SIBA team can provide briefings, background information and even come along to help.

Get your beer into Parliament A great way to engage with your MP is to have your beer poured in Parliament. You can have your cask ale chosen as the guest ale for the Strangers’ Bar. It’s a great opportunity to come down to Parliament, have some photos taken to send to the local press and lobby your local MP for changes. Recently Davenports Brewery from Birmingham had their Gold Ale chosen by their local MP John Speller and served to MPs. They used it as the chance to bring their whole brewery team down and engage with their local MPs. Barry Watts is Head of Public Affairs and Policy at SIBA. He covers political relations and policy for SIBA members.

He can be contacted at barry.watts@ siba.co.uk or 07977837804.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA membership update CRAFT BEER WORK FORCE REPORT

New !

As part of our Delivering for Brewers initiative, we are delighted to introduce our first Craft Beer Work Force Report.

Membership: Delivering for Brewers

SIBA CRAFT BEER WORKFORCE REPORT

Below you will find a brief summary of some of the ways in which SIBA is Delivering for Brewers, but if you have any questions or would like to know more about joining SIBA then email our membership team at membership@siba.co.uk

Issue 1 April 2022

The Craft Beer Work Force Report draws on data provided by our members’ survey 2022 to provide a guide to the UK’s craft beer workforce. It profiles the average salary levels by position and includes data on working hours, qualification, age, diversity and travel to work.

The members’ survey was completed by 310 brewers, representing over 44% of SIBA’s brewing membership with a production range from below 10 hectolitres (hl) per annum to 60,000 hl.

We hope that this will be a useful tool for your brewery.

New !

GOVERNMENT LOBBYING: BREWERS’ VOICES ARE BEING HEARD SIBA continues to lobby on behalf of members on a variety of big issues such as Small Breweries’ Relief, Covid support, business rates and the Alcohol Duty Review meeting politicians and policy makers to make sure brewers’ voices are heard.

Our work with Government is backed up by pro-active press activity, industry and consumer campaigning, ensuring that the issues that matter are top of the news agenda and at the top of MPs inboxes.

IMPROVING YOUR WEBSHOP USER EXPERIENCE: FREE WEBSHOP AUDIT SERVICE Our second Delivering for Brewers item is our new free webshop audit service, provided by SIBA’s Head of Comms & Marketing Neil Walker, following his talk at BeerX UK 2022 on “Improving your brewery webshop user experience to maximise sales”.

COMPLIANCE: FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE FROM PROFESSIONAL BREWING BUSINESSES Recognised as a minimum standard by a number of leading companies within the Industry, the SIBA Food Safety Quality Audit continues to be adopted by a number of Brewing Members who do not hold an alternative accreditation. To assist brewers in becoming compliant, tools such as HACCP, Traceability and Health & Safety are made available to all Brewing Members via the Toolbox.

Over the last few years more breweries than ever have begun selling online direct to consumers, which makes it even more important to ensure your site is working as effectively as possible.

Simply email neil.walker@siba.co.uk with your brewery website URL to request a brief and practical audit of your site, including what works well and what could be improved.

PRESS & COMMS: KEEPING YOU INFORMED + BREWERIES IN THE NEWS Our weekly Brewing in Brief emails continue to be incredibly important tool in keeping members updated on the latest industry news, support and guidance, as well as how you can engage with important campaigns such as SBR, the Deposit Return Scheme and more.

In addition to this, every quarter SIBA Members receive a copy of SIBA Independent Brewer magazine through the post. Featuring industry news and guest articles from some of the UK’s best beer writers, as well as interviews, meet the brewer and business profiles, Independent Brewer is your portal to the wider world of independent brewing.

Our external press strategy has also gone up a notch on behalf of members, making sure that independent breweries and the pressure you are under is at the top of the national news agenda.

Not getting our weekly email? Sign-up here: tinyurl.com/SIBAEmail

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

SIBA membership update FIGHTING FOR ASSURED INDEPENDENT BRITISH CRAFT BREWERS SIBA’s ‘Assured Independent British Craft Brewer’ seal can only be used by Full SIBA member breweries like you who are independent, relatively small, and brewing quality beer.

LEGAL HELPLINE: FREE ADVICE FROM EXPERIENCED SOLICITORS As with all manufacturing industries, breweries are unfortunately open to a variety of legal issues. To help protect your brewing business SIBA has partnered with Napthens solicitors to ensure members receive the best advice from a firm with a wealth of experience. All members are eligible for one hour’s free legal advice.

The seal is a unique USP in a crowded beer market and resonates with consumers, with more than half saying they would be more likely to buy a beer which carries the seal.

Partnering with Croxsons who have now sold over 1 million of the unique SIBA Assured Independent printed crowns which are exclusive for SIBA members.

To place an order and have your bottles amongst the million of others proudly showing the Assured Independent Craft seal please do so here https://www.croxsons.com/ our-products/siba/

CLASSIFIED ADS

SIBA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO LABELLING BOTTLES | CANS | CASKS | KEGS Issue 3 December 2019

PRACTICAL GUIDE TO LABELLING & MORE As part of SIBA’s ongoing Delivering for Brewers initiative we have launched various new business tools, guides and opportunities for members. Our comprehensive labelling guide is updated throughout the year and always available via the Toolbox.

The labelling guide advises on what is and isn’t needed on your bottle, can, cask and keg labels – including allergen advice, ABV, alcohol consumption advice and much more.

This guide and all future ‘Delivering for Brewers’ items are free of charge to SIBA Members. An updated version of this guide is due for introduction in coming months.

Our Classified Ads section on the website allows members the opportunity to advertise products and services and also gives members the chance to search for products and services they may require. For example, brewing equipment for sale can be listed here, job vacancies can be posted or members can look for Supplier Associate Member promotions. Just select the ‘Classifieds’ tab on our website for more information or go to www.siba.co.uk/classifieds

REGIONAL MEETINGS: IN-PERSON AND VIA ZOOM SIBA’s eight regions host Regional Meetings throughout the year which allow SIBA members the opportunity to network with other brewers and suppliers, as well as speak to members of the SIBA Senior Management Team regarding anything to do with SIBA Nationally.

Regional meetings are a great place to network, ask questions and raise any ideas or concerns you may have regarding regional operations, SIBA nationally, or brewing itself.

Most regions are now hosting in-person meetings with the ability to alternatively join via Zoom.

If you have any questions on any of the above please email membership@siba.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Highlights From The Craft Beer Report

Highlights from the SIBA Craft Beer Report 2022 SIBA’s latest Craft Beer Report was launched at BeerX UK in Liverpool in March and remains the most definitive and comprehensive report of its kind in the UK market.

This year’s report is especially revealing in light of the unprecedented events of the last two years and the report indicates that traditional cask beer sales are under serious threat due to a huge shift to online sales and at-home drinking, and some permanent changes to the way beer is distributed and consumed.

Key takeaways from the SIBA Craft Beer Report 2022 1. S IBA member breweries saw average production recover in 2021, after a dramatic fall in 2020, but it remains below 2019 levels.

2. The volume of SIBA members’ beer going into cans has more than tripled since 2019.

3. Cask volumes were decimated in 2020 and 2021 and are unlikely to recover in the short to medium term, with brewers switching to keg and can formats.

4. A third of SIBA members have launched a webshop for the first time during the pandemic. There was also growth in the number of bricks and mortar shops. These are more profitable routes to market.

5. J ust under half of UK beer drinkers say they would be more likely to buy a beer badged with the SIBA Assured Independent British Craft Brewer seal.

6. C onsumers believe genuine craft beer is produced by a small independent brewery.

7. Stout/porter has replaced golden bitter as the most commonly produced beer style for the first time in 2022. Independent brewers are making a wider variety of beer styles than ever before.

8. More independent brewers than ever before are putting ‘local’ at the heart of everything they do.

9. Sustainability and ethical values will be a growing driver of consumer buying behaviour.

10. T he craft beer sector has failed to make in-roads on the issue of inclusion and diversity, with a continued and very significant over-representation of white males in the workforce.

11. C ommunity is key: 90% of SIBA Members say their relationship with their community is important (up 7% on 2020) 12. M ore craft brewers than ever are opting for cans, with a 10% growth in canned beer from small independent breweries

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

THE SIBA CRAFT BEER REPORT 2022 THE UK’S SMALL INDEPENDENT BREWING SECTOR IN FOCUS

in association with

The SIBA Craft Beer Report 2022 contains in-depth analysis on the UK’s independent craft brewers from SIBA’s annual Members’ Survey data, sector analysis using data and reports from experts and authorities within the craft and wider beer industry, as well as industry insight from SIBA’s expert partners and exclusive consumer polling, to make it the most authoritative report on the state of UK craft beer in 2022.

The report found that whilst overall beer sales across the whole market in 2021 were down 14.2% on 2019 pre-pandemic figures, the picture was much worse for independent breweries, who saw production levels drop by an average of 40% in 2020 and 16% in 2021 when compared to 2019.

“Cask beer was sadly a casualty of the pandemic, as when pubs close small independent breweries lose the only place they can sell traditional cask beer. Because of this we have seen a huge wave of breweries creating webshops and on-site brewery shops, and many putting their beer into bottles and cans for the first time,” said James Calder, SIBA Chief Executive.

According to the report cask beer now makes up just 46% of independent brewers’ production, compared to 67% in 2019 – a huge 21% drop over the last two years. On the flipside a third of SIBA member breweries launched a webshop during the pandemic, and 40% now have a bricks and mortar shop.

However, the report did also find a consumer thirst for craft beer in their local pub, with three quarters (75%) of beer drinkers surveyed in 2022 saying they thought it was important that their local pub offered a range of craft beers from independent breweries.

“This shows the growing emphasis consumers place on the provenance of the beers they buy, and this is a trend that has certainly been accelerated by the pandemic. Consumers are increasingly seeking out smaller artisan producers and expect their products to be available at retail,” said Caroline Nodder, Author of the SIBA Craft Beer Report and Editor of SIBA’s Independent Brewer magazine.

That figure rises to more than 8 in 10 (81%) among the women surveyed, showing that provenance is of even more importance to female consumers – a part of the market independent brewers continue to focus on.

Consumers also continue to hold the view that genuine craft beer should be hand-crafted by a independent brewery, with 50% saying the producer should be small and 48% that it should be independent. Only 3% believe craft can be made by a big global brewer. It’s a sentiment that goes both ways, with 90% of SIBA Members saying their relationship with their community is important to them (up 7% on 2020).

“It is clear that over the last two years people across the UK have sought out local producers - whether that means supporting their local butcher, baker or brewer. More and more people are discovering the amazing range of beers now being brewed locally and increasingly hold the view that a craft beer should be made by a small independent brewery. Hopefully as the industry begins to get back up to full steam we will see more pubs and retailers stocking the independent craft beers consumers have discovered over the last two years,” added James Calder.

Highlights From The Craft Beer Report

-40% DECLINE IN AVERAGE BEER VOLUMES IN 2020, RECOVERING TO -16% IN 2021

702

SIBA MEMBERS PRODUCTION RECOVERED IN 2021 BUT WAS STILL SIGNIFICANTLY DOWN ON 2019

SIBA BREWERIES MEMBERSHIP DOWN 3% FROM 723 AT THE START OF 2020

*Production data from SIBA’s membership returns

+10% GROWTH IN CANS CANS NOW ACCOUNT FOR 13% OF SIBA MEMBERS’ PRODUCTION IN 2021 UP FROM 3% IN 2019

FALL IN CASK PRODUCTION ONLY 46% OF TOTAL 2021 SIBA MEMBERS’ PRODUCTION IN CASK DOWN FROM 67% IN 2019

-21%

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Highlights From The Craft Beer Report

OF SIBA BREWERS ARE NOW AWARE OF THE ASSURED INDEPENDENT BRITISH CRAFT BREWER SCHEME

96%

53% OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT YET USING IT SAID THEY WOULD BE BY THE END OF 2022

33%

OF SIBA MEMBER BREWERIES LAUNCHED A WEBSHOP DURING THE PANDEMIC AND 40% NOW HAVE A BRICKS AND MORTAR STORE

10% OF SIBA MEMBERS PRODUCED NO AND LOW BEERS IN 2021 A RISE OF +2% ON 2019

49%

OF BREWERS SAID BREXIT HAD ADVERSELY AFFECTED THEIR BUSINESS ONLY 4% SAID IT HAD A POSITIVE IMPACT

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Highlights From The Craft Beer Report

90%

OF SIBA MEMBERS SAY THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT +7% UP ON 2020

60%

OF SIBA BREWERS SUPPORTED A CHARITY IN THEIR LOCAL TOWN OR VILLAGE AND 1 IN 10 GAVE TO MORE THAN 5 CHARITIES

732*

ALMOST

1 in 3 JOBS CREATED IN 2022

SIBA MEMBER BREWERIES EXPECT TO CREATE SLIGHTLY MORE NEW JOBS THIS YEAR THAN WAS PREDICTED IN 2020 *Estimated from SIBA Members’ Survey data

EMPLOYEES IS NOW FEMALE BUT FEWER THAN 10% OF FEMALE WORKERS ARE BREWERS, A FALL FROM 11% IN 2019

Download the full SIBA Craft Beer Report now via the link on the homepage at www.siba.co.uk

THE SIBA CRAFT BEER REPORT 2022 THE UK’S SMALL INDEPENDENT BREWING SECTOR IN FOCUS

in association with

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Taproom focus: Farm Yard Brew Co

Name: Farm Yard Brew Co Founded: 2017 Location: Cockerham, Lancaster Taproom Hours: Monday – Closed Tuesday – Closed Wednesday – Closed Thursday – 5–10pm Friday – 5–11pm Saturday – 12–11pm Sunday – 12–8pm

Taproom Focus: Farm Yard Brew Co Some taprooms are worth a special trip, and none more so than Farm Yard Brew Co in rural Lancaster.

Hidden away down a country lane surrounded by rolling fields, the taproom is bright, spacious and modern with 12 keg and 3 cask lines plus a fridge featuring the brewery’s various canned beers.

With bags of outdoor and indoor seating it’s a venue that works all year round but is particularly special when the sun shines, with a large beer garden surrounded by beautiful countryside, regular live music and an ever changing line-up of indie food vendors on hand to soak up some of that delicious beer.

The winner of this year’s SIBA Best Independent Craft Brewery Taproom, Farm Yard is well worth a special visit and the brewery helps make things easier for those travelling in by offering shuttle buses from nearby towns and cities such as Preston. Just keep an eye out on their social channels or drop them an email for further details.

Our pick of the beers? It’s got to be their fresh and snappy ‘Uncle Nelson Session IPA’, which packs a huge punch of tropical and citrus fruit flavours, as well as that classic Nelson Sauvun floral character, at an easy drinking 4% ABV.

There is regular live music and an ever changing line-up of indie food vendors on hand to soak up some of that delicious beer.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Comment: Jonny Garrett image Brad Evans

Home(brew) is where the heart is Award-winning beer writer and founder of the Craft Beer Channel Jonny Garrett eased his craving for cask beer during lockdown by cranking up his homebrew kit. And the results have turned him into a homebrew evangelist. Here he shares his experience of perfecting the recipe for the iconic Five Points Best…

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Comment: Jonny Garrett Five Points Best Bitter 20l homebrew recipe

Ingredients 3.5kg Simpsons Low Colour Maris Otter 150g Simpsons Wheat Malt 150g Simpsons Amber Malt 150g Simpsons Crystal Medium Fuggles 150g Whole Hops WLP013 London Ale Yeast (1 pack) Method Original Gravity: 1.043 Final Gravity: 1.011 ABV %: 4.1% IBU: 29 The Mash Temperature °C: 67 Length (mins): 60 The Boil Boil time (mins): 60 Additions and timing: 40g Fuggles @ 60 minutes 30g Fuggles @ 15 minutes 80g Fuggles @ Flameout Yeast: WLP013 Fermentation temperature/ steps: Pitch at 17C and ferment with WLP013 at 19C. Diac rest at 21C for three days close to FG. To prime in package (bottle or bag-in-box) aim for 1.8 vols.

“Like many things in life, we can blame lockdown for my obsession with homebrew.

When the pubs and taprooms shut, the thing I missed most was a perfectly kept cask ale.

For all the innovation and exploration of modern craft brewers, cask ale is the one thing that’s impossible to replicate at home. Or so I thought.

I’d had a Grainfather all-in-one brewing system for many years, bringing it out on empty weekends to play around with hoppy pales, but I’d never really considered myself an actual homebrewer. So when I dusted it off and buffed it up to sate my need for the woody taste of Fuggle with a homemade Best Bitter, I had no idea the journey it would take me on.

Using Five Point’s increasingly iconic Best recipe and with plenty of time on my hands, I went all in. I sourced Fuggle directly from Hukin’s Hops in Kent, interviewed Five Points head brewer Gregg Hobbs, and finally invested in a refurbished handpull that I clamped onto my coffee table to the amusement and/or horror of my wife.

To my surprise the beer was excellent – with brown toast, caramel, red berry and dry hay notes – and it poured like a dream through a sparkler. Its perfect conditioning aligned with the six-person outdoors rule too, so I invited a few friends to come and sit on my flat’s stoop for a few precious pints of cask. For the first time I had the joyous feeling that brewers talk about – working hard to produce something that literally brings people together and puts a smile on their faces.

It was that feeling, along with the satisfying feeling of having a beer in mind and literally being able to bring it into being, that got me hooked. Since then I’ve brewed countless batches of different beers, with many of them turned into epic homebrew stories on my YouTube page, the Craft Beer Channel. There’s been Pumpkin Porters, Belgian Dubbels and Hopfenweizens. I’ve brewed New England IPAs, West Coast IPAs, Red IPAs, Mountain IPAs and even a 10.2% Pastry Stout that I poured on nitro and then through a slushie machine. Like the Five Points brew, all of them were collaborations with amazing professional brewers who helped with recipes and processes that I worked to convert and make work at home. Each time the technical challenge and the wonderment felt by those who tasted it has spurred me to try more outlandish and difficult brews.

include a former homebrewer. With only a few professional brewing courses on offer, it is perhaps the most likely way someone will get into the industry. As a hobby that also has a very direct professional vocation, it’s also inevitable that some will decide this is what they want to do with their days.

While the processes and recipes aren’t always directly scalable to commercial kits, the skills you bring with you are. The American craft brewing scene was ignited by passionate homebrewers taking their hobby pro. Both Brooklyn Brewing and Sierra Nevada Brewing were founded by avid homebrewers – and in fact by homebrewers obsessed with British style ales. So it makes sense that many of the UK’s most celebrated new breweries are owned by people who started with plastic buckets and brewkits in their kitchens – Verdant Brewing Co, Elusive Brewing, The Kernel. Even if they aren’t owners, the brewhouses are often headed by homebrewers – Track Brewing, Wild Card, even North Brew Co, a previous SIBA Brewery Business of the Year.

This list of award-winning breweries also illuminates another important impact of the UK’s burgeoning homebrew scene. Not only does homebrewing incubate brewers of the future, but the adventure of the hobby has the important effect of bringing new passions, ideas and diversity of styles to the scene. You only have to look at a few homebrewing forums to see the amount of experimentation and forward thinking going on at home, on small scale systems, to see that the future of beer is very much in the hands of the homebrewers.

Encouraging them and offering them support, like I have received from so many of the world’s best breweries on my journey, is vital to the continued innovation we’ve seen over the last two decades.”

“Like many things in life, we can blame lockdown for my obsession with homebrew."

And so I went from part-time homebrewer to someone who wouldn’t rule out becoming a commercial one – a journey I think thousands of people have taken. In fact, it’s unlikely you’ll find a brewing team in the UK that doesn’t

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Business profile: Brew York

Issue 10

Brew York state of mind Brew York’s Founders Lee Grabham and Wayne Smith were first introduced by a mutual friend at a stag do in Germany in 2014, where they bonded over a shared passion for craft beer. Later meeting up at a BBQ, the pair embarked on some serious homebrewing, before a chance train of events in 2016 led to both of them being oered voluntary redundancy from their respective jobs at the same time. The duo took the plunge into full time brewing, locating a great site in central York with a riverside space perfect for the taproom they had planned. They soon outgrew the original site, taking on the three-story building next door before searching for their first additional site outside York. This turned out to be in nearby market town Pocklington, after local brewery Hop Studio decided to sell its taproom. The sale also included the Hop Studio brewery site to the north of York city centre a larger operation than the original Brew York site and perfect for expanding the

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Summer 2022

Brew York state of mind

Cover Story

business. Another retail site in Leeds, opened during the pandemic, completes the current business model, although there are plans to expand the retail arm further when the opportunity arises. All this expansion a doubling of production volumes has meant that Brew York has achieved amazing commercial results over the last year, an accomplishment that has not gone unnoticed, with Lee and Wayne taking to the stage at BeerX in March to collect not one, but two SIBA Business Awards Commercial Achievement and overall SIBA Brewery Business of the Year for 2022.

Independent Brewer’s Editor Caroline Nodder jumped on a Zoom with them both in May to find out more about the business, and the pair were characteristically modest about their awards success, although extremely proud of the incredible and rousing reception they received from their peers in the room on the night…

Business profile: Brew York Business Basics

Name: Brew York Founded: 2016 Location: York (two brewery sites) & York, Leeds and Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire (retail sites) Owners: Lee Grabham & Wayne Smith Annual production: 12,500hl (estimated 2022) & 8-9,000hl produced in 2021 Brewing team: 12 Staff: 68 (including retail) Core beers: Calmer Chameleon (3.7% ABV American Pale Ale), Golden Eagle (4.8% ABV Pilsner), Haze of Thunder (4.2% ABV Modern Pale Ale), Tonkoko (4.3% ABV Milk Stout), Juice Forsyth (5% ABV Juice Bonus Fruited IPA), Lupu Lion (GF) (5% ABV American Pale Ale) & Rhubarbra Streisand (5.5% ABV Rhubarb Milkshake Pale) Production split: 20% cask, 40% keg & 40% can Key export markets: Biggest market is Asia but 20 different territories in total (5% of overall business)

How did you both get into brewing and how did the idea for Brew York come about?

WS: “So going back to, probably, 2014 I think it was, one of the guys who used to work for me in my previous career as a finance director, we went on a stag do to Hamburg and I met Lee at that stag do - both drinking lager and talking about how we missed being in the UK and drinking beer! We had a lot in common from that point onwards. And then when we were back in the UK, I'd taken up homebrewing. So I was at the same friend's barbecue and I took some homebrew round and everyone really enjoyed it. Lee had done some homebrew with his dad when he was younger and I happened to have some extra equipment at the time and I sold that to Lee and he started brewing in his shed. Then we started brewing beer together and entering local competitions and things were going well. And an opportunity came up at work where I was at the time - another business had bought the business I was working for - so I spoke to my boss to see if he'd let me take voluntary redundancy. At the time Lee was working for quite a large company that also regularly went through restructuring exercises.”

LG: “My company bought another one, so both our companies were looking to reduce the headcount and so we were like, ‘Please sir, can I go?’”

WS: “It was a big change because both of us had successful careers in what we were doing.

But we were a bit bored. And I think we both went down the pub and just said, ‘Well, this type of opportunity is not going to come along again, worst case scenario, it doesn't work. And we go back to what we used to do. But best case scenario, we can actually do something we love for a living.’ So thankfully, the best case scenario came to fruition after many, many years of ridiculously long hours and hard work. It doesn't feel as much like work when you love doing it.”

How has the business developed since it launched?

WS: “At that point in time, there wasn't that much going on in the beer scene in York. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. There was York Brewery at the time who were a much more traditional brewer, who had some really good pubs in the city, but that was compared to other cities like Leeds, Manchester, London, where the craft beer thing was really kicking off and taprooms were cropping up. There was nothing like that in York. And just luckily, while I was scanning the local lease availabilities, there was a large warehouse within the city walls.

It felt like it was far bigger than we needed, but when we went to see it and saw the rear riverside terrace, we thought it would make an amazing taproom. And even if it was too big for the brewery size we were looking at, I figured we might eventually grow into it."

LG: “I would say, even at that point, friends in the brewing industry told us, it would not be too big, and to always make sure you get somewhere bigger than you think you need, you will fill it. And inside three years we had. I think beyond the craft beer or craft gin industry, nobody's looking to do industry in city centres anymore. The access is terrible. The utilities are terrible. It's impossible to upgrade things.

So only if you can accommodate some form of industry with retail space, does it actually make sense. And that's what we wanted. We'd visited many taprooms around the country - a big favourite of ours was Magic Rock - but they were always that little bit further out of the city on an industrial complex. We wanted something central where we could have two thirds brewery space and one third taproom.”

WS: “At the time when we put the business plan together, competition was already pretty fierce in the craft beer industry. And part of the plan was looking at the fact that, it doesn't matter how good the beer is, if we can't get it into someone's hands to drink. So, first and foremost, we needed great beer, then secondly we needed branding that caught people's eyes to make them pick it up and drink it. And then thirdly, a great location, so that if we can’t get people to buy our beer elsewhere, they can come and try it at our site, then hopefully, word would grow from that. And with hindsight, again, that was a great thing. Having this city centre taproom meant that cashflow was always relatively good for us. Because once we got the taproom up and running and it became popular, that was a big proportion of our sales. A lot of breweries struggle with growth because they can't raise the cash. And people won't necessarily invest in them at an early stage, whereas we managed to grow relatively rapidly from having access to reasonable cashflow.

But then, because we have the great location, randomly, we had a couple of beer buyers come on our brewery tour in the early stages. And we ended up with listings in both Tesco and Asda within our first year. This was before selling in supermarkets was cool again, we weren't allowed to do this! We were one of the ones who learned a lot from it.”

LG: “We killed a couple of brands.”

WS: “The scale we were at back then we soon realised we couldn't keep up with demand from the independents so we parked the supermarkets because it wasn't the most profitable way of selling our beer, and then grew the independent side of the business.

Looking back at it now, it was the right thing for us to do at that point in time, but it was then, and it still is, very hard to get back into supermarkets now.”

Continued on page 35

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Business profile: Brew York

LG: “Fairly soon into our history in the centre of York, it became evident that we were going to run out of space quite quickly. We were on friendly terms with our neighbours and with our landlord, and it became apparent that the building next door was going to become vacant.

So in the first instance, we took on the lower ground floor of it for additional storage, and it's actually ended up being partly storage and partly an offshoot of our taproom – there’s a bit of an event space. Then some months after that, we were then offered the opportunity to take the remaining floors. And we built a huge 60 beerline, German style beer hall with integral street food kitchen. So between the taproom, beerhall and expanded front yard that we created, and rear riverside garden, we now have a capacity of about 450 people. On a Saturday, it's standing room only.”

WS: “We realised that the popularity was there and it's probably time to start looking for a first out of town opportunity. There happened to be another brewery in the area called Hop Studio, who were on the outskirts of York. And they were in the process of selling their brewery and the Taproom bar that they built in an adjacent village, Pocklington.”

LG: “It wasn't what we were looking for. We were thinking Leeds, Manchester, some sort of big urban centre, but this just seemed too good to be true. So we went with a market town as our first foray out of York city centre.”

WS: “This was in January 2020. So we got maybe three months trading before Covid hit which was difficult because we were getting really good momentum and making good progress. But we continued to use that venue as a bottle shop and we kept up our presence there. It was hard work, but the venue didn't lose money, which was great. We moved a lot towards our online store, and as soon as we felt that we weren't going to go out of business and we could still continue growing we started looking at what opportunities might arise in

different markets like Leeds and Manchester. So we actually went across and we found a venue in Manchester we actually put an offer in on it.

And a new venue came on the market in Leeds and we put an offer in on that one as well.

Restrictions hit again and everything locked down again. So we ended up pulling out of the one in Manchester because it just felt like too much to do. Whereas the Leeds one was pretty much ready to go. So we eventually got that place opened a year ago.”

The most pleasing thing was not just to win it, it was to see how it was celebrated in the room. It felt like a popular win. It felt like people, our peers, were happy that we had won.”

You recently won the Commercial Achievement Award and were named Brewery Business of the Year at the SIBA Business Awards, what impact has that had?

LG: “If we start with a commercial hat on, we didn't imagine there would be too many businesses that managed to grow in the economic turmoil we've had over the last year.

So we probably thought we had a reasonable shot at the Commercial Achievement Award.

Not in our wildest dreams did we expect Brewery Business of the Year. But the most pleasing thing was not just to win it, it was to see how it was celebrated in the room. It felt like a popular win. It felt like people, our peers, were happy that we had won.”

WS: “We’re quite…ambitious isn't really the word I’d used to explain it…but we’re quite driven. We like to get our heads down and get on with what we're doing. So we don't tend to reflect very often on what we've managed

to achieve. And people always say to me, ‘you must be really pleased with how things are going’. But we've never really reflected on that. So it was only when we started putting the business case together for the Commercial Achievement submission - I knew just how hard everyone had worked for the last two years in particular, because we pretty much doubled in size overnight, not just the size the brewery, but the volume of output went from 5,000hl to 9,000hl. And it wasn't a gradual journey. So it was such a big step change. There's lots of hard work from the whole team, lots of challenges to overcome and a new site. So it was just really nice to be able to sit down, look at what we had all done together. And when you see it down on paper, you're like, ‘Wow! We have done a lot in this period’. And that's great to see, to get the recognition and to give everyone a pat on the back and just say, ‘Good work, guys!’”.

What is the ethos behind the business and the beers you produce?

WS: “What we set out to do is brew beer that we enjoy, to be creative and brew things that are really interesting and that make people want to try beer.”

LG: “It's evolved since, but the thing we said right at the start, was we're going to make beer that we want to drink and we're going to build places in which we want to drink. That's how it started out and it's evolved since and a big part of what we do these days is about constantly wanting to innovate and be on the forefront of whatever the UK beer scene is. Not always trying to follow our American cousins and trying and do a little bit of our own thing as well. Then I suppose the final bit which we have as part of our company vision and values is the word ‘fun’. It's a business, yes. But hopefully it can be seen in our branding that we are about having fun.”

Continued on page 37

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Business profile: Brew York

How do you differentiate yourselves in such a crowded market?

WS: “I think the innovation and the creativity is a big part of it. So if you come visit us at a beer festival, there's usually a good variety of beer on and we don't see it as quantity over quality, we like to feel that every different beer style that we put our minds to, we try and brew the best version of that style we can. So we're not going to knock some of these top tier breweries out of the park with our hoppy IPAs, or hazy pales.

But we're not going to be far off the quality.

But then we're confident in the stouts, we make some of the best in the world, the sours, the different styles we can do, we can do very, very well.”

LG: “We never wanted to be a one trick pony. I think the fact that we get to constantly innovate and try and identify ingredients that we've not worked with yet, and then work out the way in which they need to be used. Just always keeping an eye on things that are going on in Scandinavia, things that are going on in the US, what is going to be the next big trend.”

How are you tackling sustainability at Brew York?

WS: “As soon as we moved on to this site, one of the first things we started looking into was solar power because we have such a huge footprint on the rooftop – it’s huge, we’ve got 28,000 square feet of roof. Unfortunately, one of the main companies we were going to use went out of business. And we then had to be relatively selective about capital investments.

We're still going to pick this up though especially with the way energy pricing has gone recently. The other thing given the size of the warehouse and the storage we have, is we're moving a lot more of our beer into steel, which is reusable and has less of an environmental impact. We also found a local business that recycles all our aluminum cans now.”

LG: “Longer term, there's a project at York University where they're attempting to convert our spent grain into mugs and drinking vessels.

So conceivably, at some point, you might be able to drink a Brew York pint out of a spent grain recycled pint pot!”

How have you reacted to the ongoing reports of sexism and issues with inclusivity and toxic culture within some craft breweries?

WS: “We were fortunate enough that from our corporate days, we had a lot of contacts who were in a similar position to us, and wanted to do something that they found more enjoyable than the nine to five in the office. A lady called Alison used to work in our bars on the weekend just to do something different. And as soon as we could afford to bring her on board, we brought her into the team as HR director. So she's always been around to help steer and guide us on human resource related issues. We've also then been quite open to trying to listen to our team and hearing feedback on what works, what doesn't work.”

LG: “We've had policies in place since almost the get go. And people know how they would report such things. We're just rolling out sexual harassment training right now, in much greater depth than we've ever done it before. Obviously, we don't have an issue, but you never know.”

WS: “We try to engage, and facilitate participation in any scheme that educates people on the issue and what things we can do better. Women on Tap is a project which is coordinated by Rachel Auty, who's based in Harrogate. It's a two week programme of events to try and educate people and empower women in the industry, and also just make it a better working environment. We've sponsored that for the last three years. And we've had a lot of input from our production team, as well as our marketing team, in trying to engage as much as possible. So we brewed their official beer this year. And Nadia, who was one of our apprentices, led the brew and actually brewed

a beer for the first time, which is really, really good to be involved in. Just prior to the brew, she did get a promotion.”

LG: “We took her off the apprentice programme, eight months early, and have appointed her as an assistant brewer, she led the brew and she's brilliant, to be honest, just absolutely incredible. So much enthusiasm.”

What main challenges are you facing right now as an independent brewery?

WS: “All the costs have gone up this year. So our rent and rates are going up, our utility costs are going up, CO2, raw materials, ingredients, all these things and we are fighting our hardest to actually put our pricing down so that people are still wanting to drink, technically, more expensive beer than they can get in a local pub. The volume of different ingredients we use and the volumes of fruit and the speciality ingredients means that the base cost for our beer is quite high. So we're just looking at any ways in which we can save money without compromising quality. And for us the biggest area where we've been able to do that is the packaging. The bigger site means we've been able to commit to bigger volumes of cans, which means we can save there, and the latest thing for us is moving to Close Brothers who have a new keg rental model called EkegPlus.

All of these things mean we feel like we'll be able to help to at least hold our price, if not put them down to try and deter people from moving away from beer or drinking.”

LG: “Other challenges include the external headache of quality, so the bigger you get, the less forgiving your consumer base is. So we've invested very heavily in analytical equipment, in things like an almost £100,000 centrifuge for clarification and stability of our product. A new canning line, which has the lowest level of oxygen pickup for a line of its type in the UK. All these things are constantly driving quality.”

Continued on page 39

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Business profile: Brew York

How do you see the UK craft brewing scene changing over the next few years?

WS: “I think there have been a volume of new breweries that have opened up in the pandemic, a lot of it was from the fact that people sat at home for at least a year, wondering about what they'd rather do with their careers. But I think it's getting much harder for some of those new startup breweries that are going to struggle and unfortunately some of them are going to go under. There's also sadly some well-established breweries that just aren't able to compete now, because of all the new breweries coming in, and possibly undercutting them, or just flooding the market with new and different beers, and they're now struggling to get their products out there.”

LG: “I think the pandemic presented the perfect opportunity for any business in our sector to modernise, so if you've not taken the opportunity to do that through that period, then I would fear for you definitely.”

Are there any current trends in the beer world that particularly excite you?

LG: “There's one thing that's gone from being a trend to being fully embedded now, and that is the sour beer. I would say a couple of years ago, that was going to be the next thing. And it absolutely is now. We have really good sales of sour beer now and I mean, look at what Vault City have done. I heard the other day, they're the second biggest sour beer producer in Europe. I see sours as a big part of our future.

I think it's attracted people across from cider, definitely.”

WS: “One of the things that we've always wanted to do more of but we struggled because our water wasn’t good enough was lager. We didn't ever see it being something where we could compete in the UK with the likes of all the macro breweries out there who could knock lager out. But we always wanted it for our own venues because it's the most popular drink when people come in. So we brought a pilsner out when we got to the new site and got a water treatment facility. So we can make a great lager now, which, for us was all about just servicing our taproom. And then that's grown to independent venues who want a nice lager offering that's not necessarily a macro. That's been a growing trend in the UK, in terms of the craft lager scene for probably two and a half years.”

I would like our reputation, and our sales to expand internationally. I think we've done a reasonably good job in the UK. I'd like to be known beyond the UK now.

What are you proudest of during your time at Brew York?

WS: “For me, personally, it was the Brewery Business of the Year, winning that. It was just nice to put it all together and not just getting recognition for it, seeing how well we perform against our peers, but the peer recognition and support as well in the room was just amazing.

Getting so many people that we look up to and respect patting us on the back and say well done, it was great.”

LG: “I'd say two things. One is an extension of what Wayne said. For years, you have this kind of imposter syndrome. And there's these people that you've got on a pedestal and then you get to hear that they respect what you're doing.

I think we're finally moving from imposter syndrome to maybe we belong here! And I would say also the scale to which we’ve grown the business, and I don't just mean that in terms of the financials or the amount of beer that's produced. I mean, the number of people that we employ - that's somewhere between 68 and 73 people that are dependent for their income, their livelihood, their families, on something that was just a concept six years ago.”

What plans do you have for the business over the next year?

WS: “We are trying to focus on what level of growth we think would work here without coming into too much scale. So we're aiming to move towards 30,000hl in the next few years. So that's where we'd like to get to and to get to that level we’d like to see growth in our core beer range, we’d like to see growth in export and we'd like to see more venues for our portfolio.”

LG: “The big one for me is export. I would like our reputation, and our sales to expand internationally. I think we've done a reasonably good job in the UK. I'd like to be known beyond the UK now.”

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Meet the regions

Name: William Harris Brewery: Wild Card Region: South East Contact details: william.harris@siba.co.uk

Name: William Mayne Brewery: Bullhouse Brewing Company Ltd Region: North West Contact details: william.mayne@siba.co.uk

How did you first get into brewing?

How did you first get into brewing?

I brewed at home for the first time in 2006. Shortly after this I started working at a pub operated by a brewery from my hometown of Nottingham - Castle Rock. My first job in manufacturing was as a cask washer for the same brewery.

I went on a road trip around the West coast of the US with my brother in 2011 when I was 18 and began homebrewing on my return.

What do you love most about the industry?

What do you love most about the industry?

Beer festivals. Trying new beers. Catching up with old friends and making new ones. I love the excitement of it all.

The vast majority of us are like-minded individuals wanting to do our bit for society through creating a delicious locally produced product.

What do you see as the most important part of your SIBA role?

How long have you been involved with SIBA and why did you join?

The multinational breweries expend vast resources to lobby the government extensively on a range of issues. As an individual small or medium brewery it can be extremely challenging to make your voice heard to ministers and civil service officials. It isn't perfect but SIBA is our best opportunity to reach decision makers on issues such as alcohol duty reform.

Why should Members get involved in SIBA locally?

We joined SIBA at the beginning of 2020 after Licensing Legislation came onto the table in our devolved Assembly in Northern Ireland for the first time in 25 years. I spent the following 18 months with my lobbying hat on. We received tremendous support from SIBA HQ and I was keen to establish a Northern Irish region, as we are currently in the North West region, so I was encouraged to stand for election to the Board to push for this within the constitution.

It’s vital that members get involved in their local region’s activity.

Being based in London a criticism I often hear about SIBA is that it is old fashioned - get involved, make a change.

What do you see as the most important part of your SIBA role?

What challenges do you see breweries facing in your region this year?

Rising production costs, electricity and malt for example.

My mandate is primarily to support the Northern Irish breweries. Despite some positive changes with the most recent Bill that passed in Stormont, Northern Irish breweries are still at a significant disadvantage to breweries in GB.

What is your favourite beer in your region other than your own?

What challenges do you see breweries facing in your region this year?

Burning Sky make some exceptional beers. Their Cuvee is lovely!

Coming out of the pandemic, we’ve nearly all taken on extra debt, exports are harder after Brexit, the cost of everything has increased but the market has a surplus of beer. We’ve seen an increasing amount of closures, the majority of breweries are in survival mode and we need some stability on our costs in the short term to enable us to plan for the medium term.

What do you like most about your local brewing community?

London is an extremely diverse and busy beer scene. 100+ breweries crammed into one city. There is always something new to try, new people to meet. I love i

What is your favourite beer in your region other than your own?

I’m personally a big fan of the beers produced by Charles Ballantyne at Ards Brewing Company.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Meet the retailer: Bottle Monkey

Monkey business Chris Griffiths was not a beer drinker when he first came across Punk IPA in a pub in Liverpool during a trip over the Irish Sea from the Isle of Man to watch the football. A scouser by birth, Chris was living on the island working in IT at the time, but with no modern craft beer presence on the Isle of Man he was starved of the opportunity at home to experiment with the new style beers he had discovered on the mainland and began instead to homebrew his own. This led in 2018 to the launch of a pop-up events business, showcasing this style of beer to Isle of Man drinkers for the first time. Word spread, and soon Chris was shipping in pallets of craft beer to the island and wholesaling to pubs and bars that were starting to take note of this new trend in the beer market. Originally drawing up plans to launch a commercial brewery of his own, Chris pivoted instead to launch a bottle shop with his wife Lea when the perfect site came up for lease in 2019 and Bottle Monkey was born. With the start of the pandemic in 2020, the Isle of Man closed its borders and avoided the heavy lockdowns seen in other parts of the

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

UK, and Bottle Monkey had a captive audience of thirsty beer drinkers queuing up to order beers online or from the shop which boasts six draught lines as well as hundreds of packaged products.

Bottle Monkey rode the wave, putting on events including live-streamed tastings on a large screen in the shop with brewers across the country. The business’s success clinched victory at the SIBA Business Awards in March when Bottle Monkey was named Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer (single site) at BeerX. Looking to continue leading the emerging craft beer market on the island, Chris now has plans for a second site – an old fire station – and has moved away from the core beers that cemented the shop in the local market to more adventurous and experimental beers that reflect maturing tastes among his customers. This means he avoids competing with retailers, bars and pubs on the island that now stock craft beers, but are generally confined to fairly mainstream core beers.

Independent Brewer’s Caroline Nodder spoke to Chris last month to learn more about Bottle Monkey and the unique market it serves on the Isle of Man…

Meet the retailer: Bottle Monkey How did you come to launch Bottle Monkey and how has the business developed since then?

Business Basics

Name: Bottle Monkey Founded: Events business began 2018 and shop opened in 2019 Location: Douglas, Isle of Man Owners: Chris Griffiths Number of retail sites: 1 Staff: 2 (Chris and his wife Lea) Key product categories and sales mix: 95% beer & 5% soft drinks/hard seltzers (6 draught beers on tap & 250300 packaged beers)

“I never actually used to drink beer at all. I used to drink a lot of cider and Jack Daniels was actually my tipple of choice. We used to go regularly to watch the football and obviously have the occasional beer, but the things I like to drink now just weren't available. Then like probably a lot of other people I discovered Punk IPA like eight to 10 years or so ago, in cask in a pub in Liverpool. And that sends you down the rabbit hole. You couldn't get anything like that on the Isle of Man so I started home brewing and it just sort of expanded out from there. I worked in IT at the time - not amazingly happy in that job at that point - so I moved to another job, again in IT, and took the decision to explore beer and the industry. We started doing a few pop-up events and just seeing if there was a market for them because there was no one doing anything like that on the Isle of Man. Not in terms of modern independent beers. It was all very traditional cask. And while we were doing the pop-up events, the idea was that I actually wanted to start a brewery not a shop. And on the back of doing the events and realising that people like the beers, a couple of the venues we used to hire for the events asked me if I could source beers for them. So we did a little bit of wholesale because it just got some money coming in and got the beers out there a little bit. And then we were actually going to open a shop in the south of the island in Castletown. It's quite a tourist destination. We had a shop lined up down there, but unfortunately, the landlord pulled the plug on it just before we were due to go to the licensing court. The business model for that was to have a very small nano brewery in the back and then the bottle shop/tasting area in

the front. The local commissioners, which are like the councils in the Isle of Man, found out that it fell through and they were looking to expand what's going on in the town and attract more visitors, so they suggested to us that we put in a tender along with a few other people for the fire station in the town that's disused.

And we actually won the tender. So that's always been ongoing in the background, it's taken, probably two, two and a half years to be able to get into that building, which is something we've got for the future. We’re going to be putting a community brewery in there. And while that was happening I got fed up of wholesale and seeing people get credit for serving really amazing beers that we'd sourced for them. Wholesale has a very small margin that you can make on it, particularly because of the shipping issues.

So I happened to be walking through into the main town centre. And there's like a cut through road called Nelson Street, which is where we're located. It used to be a fancy dress shop, and they were literally packing the stuff away in the fancy dress shop to move out. So I got the landlord's details, I called him that evening, and within a couple of days we'd agreed to take on the shop. And that was kind of it, we just threw ourselves into it.”

O " ur little tagline is ‘make beer matter’ which you will see on all our social media posts, and that pretty much sums it up."

What is the ethos behind the business?

“Our little tagline is ‘make beer matter’ which you will see on all our social media posts, and that pretty much sums it up. My opinion is basically that I think beer isn't quite as revered as it probably could be in the same way as wines and spirits. Particularly in restaurants and food driven places. And when we started up our events, we did a lot of them not just straight tastings, we were pushing for pairing with food, experience driven events. Our very first event was a 60 seater meal with a four course menu, and beers to go along with that, which sold out very, very quickly. When you look at a lot of restaurants, and menus, businesses on the Isle of Man they don't mention their beer, and there's no descriptions, there's nothing. It's slowly starting to change, which I like to think we've been a bit of a catalyst for over the last two or three years. But that's basically our thing is to make people understand that beer is not just, lagers, macro produced with very little flavour. We like to push the envelope a little bit.

We specialise in beers you experience not beers you drink. So we’re not looking to push quantity, we're looking to push flavour and experience and enjoyment.”

Continued on page 45

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Meet the retailer: Bottle Monkey

The Isle of Man is a unique market, how has that affected what you do?

“The challenge comes with shipping and the cost of getting beer here and being able to then sell it on to customers at not an extortionate price. Without that sort of big beer scene on the Isle of Man, there was no volume. So we had to get a little bit creative in how we did things. So we had agreements with a few distributors that offered us a little bit of extra discount in return for us marketing the beers they sell on the island to trade. And then off the back of that, obviously, that allowed us to buy bigger volumes from them, whilst adding in one or two cases of what was probably not mainstream beer for the Isle of Man for us to then stock or use for tastings. And then once we got the shop up and running we were doing half a pallet for the shop and half for trade.”

How do you select the beers you stock?

“We work on the principle of if it's good, we'll have it. But over the last three to six months, there are places on the Isle of Man that are trying to change their beer lineup and get craft and things like that. So they're buying direct from some of the distributors we've used in the past, and we've moved away from buying from distributors because we get enough volume for the shop now we can be a bit more selective and buy ourselves direct. Foster those relationships with the breweries to help with events as well.

So over the last few months, we've started coming across in our own van to do buying trips as well. There's obviously trusted breweries in the industry, everyone knows that they

make solid beers – I’m talking about Lost and Grounded, Northern Monk, people like that - and on the Isle of Man, because we're quite early in the development of craft beer, things like Tiny Rebel and BrewDog are the prevalent ones that people mostly know. We tend to stay away from BrewDog, because they’re reaching the supermarket more than anyone else on the island. And then we've got also Tiny Rebel we’ve stocked since day one, we used to have all their core range and we've now phased out the core stuff and we only do specials and one-off brews and things like that, as the core range has now become the remit of other bars that are trying to do craft beer. We've sort of taken a step up. So we tend to choose specials and seasonals from the bigger breweries. And then we look out for other small places when we go on trips away, we always visit somewhere local wherever we go.”

"We've sort of taken a step up. So we tend to choose specials and seasonals from the bigger breweries."

What is your pricing strategy, do you have to price up to cover shipping costs?

it going to cost?’ And they send it directly and there's no worries about it having to go from A to B to C. We've always from day one tried to work quite closely with other businesses, particularly small businesses on the island. And whether that be allowing them to pop up in our shop, or whether it's a haulage company. We've got a couple of haulage companies now that we're comfortable with, and we've worked quite closely with them, where they’ll accept delivery for us in the UK, and then ship to the Isle of Man. So for example, getting a pallet direct from one distributor will cost us in the region of £150-£175 in shipping. Indirectly, where we get it shipped to a point A in the UK, and then we get it brought to the island, we can reduce that by two thirds. If we can tie that into getting a good deal in terms of purchase price, then we can bring down the prices on the island. In the shop, the retail prices, we try and not price match exactly. But to be within 20 to 30 pence of what it would cost you to buy a beer online and have it shipped to your door. And mostly we are pretty close to being exactly the same or under.

It's also a minimum of 48 hours delivery to the island. So people will come to us if they’ve got people coming round and need some beers that evening.”

Continued on page 47

“We get a little bit creative in terms of shipping and getting hold of things. There are ways and means of getting them to the island. People won't generally want the hassle or put in the effort to do that. It's easy just for someone to say, ‘Can we order a pallet of this, how much is www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Meet the retailer: Bottle Monkey

"Events are a really good way to explain things to people, actually have some time where you can talk about what they're drinking and explain to them properly."

What do you look for in the small brewers you work with?

“We want to work with people that have a similar outlook to us. So obviously, at the core of that is the beer, which is the important thing. And that's got to be good.

The branding has got to be good. And we also look for the sort of things that no one else is doing. If we're going to buy from breweries, they need to have a fairly good range, because obviously if it's for shipping, we need to build out at least a half pallet. So just having half a pallet of two beers is not really feasible. There is a shelf life on a lot of the products from small breweries of six months. And you know, if we're selling IPAs, a lot of IPAs, which we do, we don't want to have them hanging around for too long.

We want to sell things as fresh as possible.

And we want to keep the beers turning over so there's always something new. So a good wide range is kind of key to what we do purely because of our location. We have to buy a certain amount of volume from each place to make it worthwhile.”

Events are a big part of what you do, was that always your intention?

“It was a way to educate people, introduce people to things. Events are a really good way to explain things to people, actually have some time where you can talk about what they're drinking and explain to them properly. And that is also part of the reason we got the full licence so people can drink in.

We can have a range of six beers on tap and have a different beer, a completely different style on each one. And it gives them the opportunity to taste something new and then we can go, ‘Okay, if you like that, then there's this on the shelf. And there's that on the shelf ’. Once people opt in, then changing that up and having the events and things like that, where they actually get to talk to the person who's made the beer, that makes a massive difference, and it pulls people in. I think we've gotten to the point now where people are fed up listening to me talk about beer on the island. And so we need to bring in other people. And doing that, again, it has its own challenges because again, we're on an island. So we moved that online when everyone got used to having

online beer tastings during the pandemic.

We took it a step further and installed video conferencing facilities into the shop. So we can actually have 20-25 people sat in there with the camera on and they can talk directly to someone who's at the other end of the Zoom call.”

What do you see as the key challenges currently for a business like yours?

“Other people and other businesses on the island have seen that what we do is popular, obviously we've been doing wholesale quite a bit over the last couple of years, but more people have realised there's other ways to get beer. So a couple of customers here are now going direct to the original distributors we used, which is fine, I have no problem with that. The things they're buying, again are the core range things. So although it's competition to a degree, for me actually it will help us in the long run, because more people are having their eyes opened to those sorts of beers.”

Continued on page 49

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Meet the retailer: Bottle Monkey

"I think we have instigated a certain amount of change on the island in the way people think about beer and drink beer and what they enjoy."

What are your plans for the business over the next five years?

“I will be out of my day job in the next couple of weeks, I’ve handed in my notice. Then after TT week [the TT races on the Isle of Man] I'm going to be full time on sorting out the fire station project with the hope to have it all up and running before August. It's partially there as it is at the minute. The brewing room is not far off. It just needs equipment and a little bit of plumbing done. But then we've got like the events-based taproom area which is going to be the focus to get ready. So that's another interesting project because that's involved a lot of explanations to the Customs and Excise people, they don't quite know what gypsy brewing or cuckoo brewing is. The business model’s to be a community brewery, so we allow people to come in and use our kit. And obviously we can go through all the admin side of it and the duty side we will pay all that and cover that as our business and then allow them to sell that product if they want to, or they can serve it through the bar in our venue, if the beer is good enough, for a percentage of sales.

And part of the plan is to have experience days where people can come in together to have a good day out, like the team on The Apprentice, and they can brew a beer. And then they can obviously have that beer a couple of weeks

later for the office party, or some sort of event.

In the bar the idea is to have 20 taps in there, which again, everyone has told me is madness, but they all said the same thing about starting a shop.”

What are you proudest of during your time at Bottle Monkey?

“I think we have instigated a certain amount of change on the island in the way people think about beer and drink beer and what they enjoy.

As I said, our tagline is ‘make beer matter’, and I like to think we've done that. Obviously, it was very nice to win an award. And that was a particularly proud moment. It was, for me, it was better that I actually got to share that with my wife, because she obviously works on a lot of things in the background. Everyone sees me at the forefront of our business. So she probably doesn't get the recognition that she deserves.”

Who do you most admire in the craft beer retail market at the moment and why?

“I like to think we've taken little bits from everywhere we've visited. So the key one for me was when we went to the US and went around Boston and down the East Coast to New York and visited Other Half and Trillium and places

like that. Seeing their taprooms and their can and bottle releases when people are queuing around the block. And the way they market their beers and deal with their customers.

All that had a massive, massive influence on what we wanted to do, which has partly led to the plan with the fire station, that being a community brewery and having everyone able to do all the jobs and having people come in and learn. And in terms of retail now, I mean, you’ve got places like Hop, Burns & Black who I have visited in the past and had a look at. They focus on the beer, but obviously they've got hot sauces and things like that as well, and it's a little centric community that they have fostered as well. And my personal favourite place to go to is Dead Crafty Beer Co in Liverpool, the guys who run it are amazing. It's where I go when I come to Liverpool, and without any snobbery around beer as well. I think that's the important thing, which is when we're trying to educate people you have to do it from a point of view where you are equal. And then another favourite is the Ship & Mitre where they've managed to marry that really modern craft beer culture in with a very traditional pub and traditional beer as well.”

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Sustainability feature

Sustainability in American craft brewing

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image © Brewers Association

Craft brewers in the UK often look to their counterparts in the US when it comes to sustainability, as American craft brewers have pioneered some of the environmental technology and initiatives now emerging on these shores. Lotte Peplow, the Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer Ambassador for Europe, looks at some of the latest sustainability initiatives in the American craft brewing industry…

The American craft beer industry emits about half a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually and is all too aware of the need to conserve energy and become more sustainable and environmentally responsible.

Brewing is an energy intensive business that creates waste materials and byproducts in equal measure and in today’s environmentally conscious landscape the need for sustainability is more important than ever. The majority of American craft breweries are acutely aware of their impact on the environment and strive to develop new and creative ways to become more sustainable, more energy efficient and more environmentally responsible. Here’s an overview of the latest initiatives being undertaken on the other side of the Atlantic.

Continued on page 53

image © Brewers Association

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Sustainability feature

images © Brewers Association

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co Sierra Nevada Brewing Co is the third largest small and independent American craft brewer in the States and prides itself on its approach to sustainability, regularly passing up the chance to brew more easily and cheaply.

At the main site in Chico, CA, there are 3.5 football fields worth of solar panels which work in tandem with two megawatts of Capstone microturbines to provide over 90% of the electricity needed to run the brewery. Waste heat is captured and used to make steam and hot water for the brewing process.

Instead of venting naturally produced CO2 from fermentation, Sierra Nevada recovers it, cleans it and sends it back into the brewery to pressure tanks and assist in packaging.

Recovered CO2 contains less oxygen than commercial CO2 improving the quality of the beer.

Water conservation is crucial in droughtstricken California and Sierra Nevada has eliminated water-based lubricants on the bottling and kegging lines which not only reduces water consumption but wastewater heading to the on-site treatment plant. The brewery recovers water used to rinse bottles prior to filling and uses it in vacuum pumps that dispense beer into bottles, saving about 2.5million gallons of water annually. This environmental stewardship is at the forefront of Sierra’ Nevada’s core values and as important as making great beer.

Mandi McKay, director of sustainability and social responsibility at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, comments: “We have excelled at the philosophy of closed loop sustainability and it’s

proven to be a wonderful operating strategy.

We’ve shown that waste coming out of one process such as heat, water or CO2 recovery can become a resource for something else.

We’re very energy intensive in the brewing industry, we make a lot of heat and we use a lot of heat so we’ve gone all in on recovering heat and steam and that closed loop philosophy has been a guiding principle for us. At Sierra Nevada we do a lot more than just brew amazing beer and the same commitment to continuous improvement and zero waste runs across the board. We’ve always been interested in connecting ourselves with our supply chain - early on we planted our own hop field - and that comes from the fundamental belief that everything is connected and our impact on the environment is impacting ourselves.”

Firestone Walker Brewing Co Based in California, Firestone Walker build their sustainability strategy on three main tenets: solar energy, eliminating waste and conserving water. The site is home to an impressive 9.5 acre solar array which moves with the sun and generates the majority of energy needed by the brewery. It offsets about 3,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions annually or the same carbon footprint as a 4,000 acre forest.

Matt Brynildson, brewmaster at Firestone Walker, says: “Everything involved in the brewing process – hops, malted grains – comes from farms and you learn through that process the importance of sustainable business practice.

When farmers practice more sustainably, the hops get better and it makes better business sense.

“We’ve always collected spent grains and sent them off to farmers as feed but as we’ve grown

we’ve improved our processes by separating our yeast streams from our spent grain streams, allowing us to send those streams to different farms for different purposes. We feed more than 20 million pounds of spent grains annually to local livestock and 90% of brewing grains are delivered in bulk to eliminate packaging waste.

“Water is a precious resource in California and it takes 5-7 gallons of water to make one gallon of beer. The beer goes out to the community and the rest of that water is processed in our waste water plant and effluent system allowing us to regain some energy from it. Ultimately, we’re discharging water that’s in better shape than before. We treat 35 million gallons of process water annually on site and return it to the local aquifer.

“The more we brew and the more raw materials we use the greater the responsibility we have to use those materials wisely and it’s not just about the bottom line, it’s about doing the right thing,” he adds.

But does the beer drinker care if their beer is made responsibly or not? Some may claim that general awareness and demand isn’t high enough yet but this could change. A study from Indiana University, Iowa in 2018, albeit of a limited sample size, found that the ‘majority of beer consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable beer’. People who already purchase premium beer and who chose other environmentally friendly goods and services are most likely to pay extra for sustainably produced beer. Whether this translates into a full-scale change across the brewing landscape remains to be seen but it is a small step in the right direction.

Continued on page 55

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Sustainability feature

Fremont Brewing Co Fremont in Seattle, Washington is making a name for itself as a sustainable brewery by using a ‘Salmon Safe’ certification on one of its beers, Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop Ale. Founder Matt Lincecum explains: “The Cowiche Farm is a joint project between Fremont and farmers from the Yakima Chief Hops team.

We started this collaboration 12 years ago to develop organic hop varieties, methodologies of growing/harvesting and to show the craft beer world that organic hops are some of the very best hops. Several years ago, we were certified Salmon Safe and are extremely proud of this accomplishment for the Cowiche farm. We believe that including the logo on the packaging has boosted the brewery’s visibility and perhaps sales.”

Sustainability is a huge part of the brewing process: Water isn’t heated with natural gas, but with steam which captures heat from the brew kettles during production and redirects it to the hot water tank. Excess liquid is filtered into drainage, while the grains are captured and donated to feed local cows.

They provide employees with benefits such as subsidised healthcare and transit cars, paid family leave and they give back to the community that supports them because it’s the right thing to do".

Fremont is also serious about social and economic sustainability as well as environmental. They provide employees with benefits such as subsidised healthcare and transit cars, paid family leave and they give back to the community that supports them because “it’s the right thing to do.”

Sustainability is a core value for the vast majority of American craft brewers, the pursuit of quality is another borne out by the number of medals and top honours American craft beer wins at prestigious international beer competitions that are judged by the finest, most experienced palates in the world. One of the key reasons behind the success of American craft beer internationally is the proximity to the freshest examples of highly-sought after hop varieties. By visiting the hop fields themselves American craft brewers are able to develop flavour profiles in beer that are difficult to control elsewhere. Combine quality and freshness of raw materials with American craft brewers’ technical expertise and it’s easy to see why American craft beer is renowned for its quality the world over.

Further information: The Brewers Association, the not-forprofit trade association representing small and independent American craft breweries, is heavily invested in making a wide range of sustainability resources available to the brewing industry including the Brewers Association Sustainability Best Practices Manual and a Sustainability Benchmarking Tool. It conducted its first sustainability benchmarking study in 2014, which measured energy and water use, and addressed ways that breweries could reduce water and solid waste, as well as carbon dioxide. It was an immediate success. By following the study’s sustainability targets, the first group of participating breweries cut enough costs and waste to save anywhere from $35,000 to $235,000 annually. Other manuals are available from the Brewers Association including energy, solid waste, sustainable build

images © Brewers Association

and design strategies and wastewater management. More information www.brewersassociation.org For more information on sustainability brewers are encouraged to watch a recording of the sustainability seminars that took place at the recent Craft Brewers Conference in Minneapolis.

They can be accessed on the www.craftbrewersconference.com website.

Finally, if you’re interested in sampling high quality, innovative and UK-rare American craft beers please join us at the London Craft Beer Festival at Tobacco Dock, 12/13th August where several American craft brewers/ brewery owners who have travelled over from the States will be pouring their beer.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Business advice: Legal

Standard T&Cs: Mitigate the risk of future disputes In this article Napthens commercial litigator, James Stephenson, considers the benefits for businesses in having standard Terms & Conditions (T&Cs).

In the early stages of a business’ life, the focus is invariably on developing products to be the best they can be, sourcing a customer base and getting products/services out to market as soon as possible. However, all too often, considerations relating to the long-term future of the business are overlooked in favour of short-term goals and returns.

One such issue which may be overlooked is how the business may fare in any future disputes. But focusing on this right at the start of the business journey could save considerable time and expense in the future by reducing the risk and uncertainty which can engulf disputes.

Why do you need standard T&Cs? At the outset it is worth considering what T&Cs a business will have in place to govern and regulate future relationships and contracts with suppliers, customers and other third parties. Once in place, these T&Cs can easily be incorporated into future contracts to deal with, amongst other things, fundamentals such as price, payment, delivery, quality, title and risk, limitation of liability, termination and confidentiality obligations. Many important parts of standard T&Cs are driven by purely commercial decisions and the business' sales process mechanics, for instance, payment terms, or how delivery takes place.

The benefit of addressing these issues in T&Cs cannot be overstated. Effectively, it allows a business to put its best foot forward with a bespoke set of terms which, if

incorporated into a contract, will undoubtedly put it in a significantly better position than if no T&Cs apply - or if the other contracting party’s T&Cs apply instead. Without any T&Cs in place, the likelihood of a business being bound by the other party’s T&Cs is significantly increased and, no doubt, any such T&Cs will be heavily weighted in favour of the other contracting party.

What happens when no T&Cs are in place?

If no party’s T&Cs are incorporated into the contract, disputes will be dealt with according to common law and statutory principles, many of which are antiquated and out of touch with today’s ever-changing world. Applying these legal principles on a ‘one size fits all’ basis is rarely satisfactory and seldom fits with a business’ often bespoke and unique approach.

Taking the example of limitation of liability, having a bespoke contractual term can be considerably better than relying on legal principles. Limitation of liability is always a

key issue in a contract. Whilst a customer will want as few limitations as possible to apply, and, if possible, to increase the supplier's liability in the event things go wrong, a supplier will want to restrict its liability under the contract as far as possible.

A correctly worded limitation of liability clause can seek to place a cap on certain liabilities - or entirely exclude certain categories of loss. But without such a clause and instead relying on common law principles, in the event of a breach of contract, a business could open itself up to potentially unlimited liability for financial loss.

By considering and addressing limitation of liability (and other similar issues) at an early stage and having properly drafted T&Cs in place, could ensure a business is not unwittingly opening itself up to claims or liabilities in future which could be avoided.

For advice on this topic or on legal issues affecting your business, please contact SIBA Legal Helpline on 0845 6710277 North West Law firm Napthens LLP is a SIBA supplier associate and Silver Standard Sponsor. The firm has a team of specialists looking after legal requirements of clients in the leisure and licenced trade sector, with clients including Daniel Thwaites Plc and Titanic Brewery.

Napthens manage the SIBA Legal Helpline which offers legal advice and guidance on a wide range of legal issues affecting your business, including: General commercial, intellectual property, corporate finance, dispute resolution and litigation, commercial property, licensing, employment law and HR advice. Any enquiry through the helpline will receive up to 1 hour of free legal expertise (if further work is required, you’ll be advised of the appropriate charging structure).

Full details of the helpline can be found on the SIBA Members Toolbox.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Business advice: Brand and Marketing

Who needs a decent website anyway…?

Websites are not the outdated marketing tools you think they are, says Brand and marketing guru Nick Law. They can and should be essential to your bottom line…

‘How’s your website looking these days…?’

I can almost hear the collective groan; websites are a necessary evil, aren’t they? They suck up your time and - mostly - your money.

They’re only really good for one thing: a webshop… and even that’s a pain in the arse!

Why don’t we just use social media? I mean, everyone’s on social media - why bother updating the website?

If those thoughts have flashed through your mind then you’re not alone. This is how most brewers view websites, ‘let us just get on and make beer and leave the coding to those computer nerds’.

But, if that’s your view, you’re missing a trick.

Websites aren’t outdated or second place to social media. A good website with a good sales funnel can bring in sales, drinkers, and a steady income stream.

As the cost of living skyrockets, consumers will become more selective about what they buy and where they buy it from. A good website will help increase your chances of drawing them in.

To turn searching scrollers into craft beer clickers, a good website should serve several functions: Presentation Your website should look appealing. Whether you’re paying a web-designer or using one of the many tools available to create your own (Wix, GoDaddy, etc), an eye catching, fully branded website with the correct fonts, use of language, professional photos and videos, etc will show that you mean business.

Optimisation Not only should your site look good, it should load quickly and be adaptable or ‘responsive’ to all devices. In order to appear at the top of search results, your website text needs to be clear and concise and use terms that people are likely to be searching for, such as ‘brewery tour’ or ‘craft brewery in Manchester’, rather than cryptic, flowery language. In web speak,

this is called ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (SEO).

Systemisation (funnels) A good website will make it as easy as possible for you to buy a product. You want to have the least amount of sales friction as possible.

For example, if you offer brewery tours, is booking a tour as easy as clicking a button or do they have to email, fill out a glitchy form, or worse, pick up the phone and wait for a response before booking on? Although the dedicated or previous generations (who, let’s face it, operated like this for decades) may be willing to jump through hurdles and hoops to come and see how you make beer, many in our fast-paced, hi-tech world will simply swipe or scroll onward to something else. Draw out some flow charts on a piece of paper on how you intend to funnel people to spend money with your business and design your website accordingly.

Information While it seems obvious that one of the primary functions of a website is to provide information to consumers about your brewery and beers, many businesses fail to do this.

It’s vital that you include clear info on your site - who you are, what you do, what you sell, etc. An informed customer is a happy customer.

An example: I was in London recently celebrating my 40th birthday, and looking for somewhere to eat with my family. In the West End with two small children with a limited capacity for walking and for, well, London, I’d found a small brewpub that I thought would fit the bill. Only, when we walked in, a look from behind the bar said, ‘This isn’t your kind of place’, and so, we left. Had the pub included a menu on their website and a clear indication about whether children were welcome, we may have avoided the hungry outbursts we received immediately after as we trapsed around the Big Smoke looking for somewhere to eat. (Incidentally, we ended up

in a Pizza Express, which welcomes families and - coincidentally - also has a very good website).

Attention to detail when providing information - whether it’s a policy on children in your taproom, right through to what the beer tastes like and where you can purchase it - is paramount.

Inspiration Finally, every aspect of your website should inspire people. By sharing your story and journey through long form content such as a blog, by media like video or well-shot photography, or by inviting people onto your journey by getting them to sign up to a mailing list (which you actually regularly update with interesting stuff), the entire site should evoke some kind of emotional effect.

People buy into your story way more than they buy into your beers. Beers are ever changing, fleeting and consumed within a short space of time; your brand - hopefully will endure many, many years.

In conclusion, yes, it’s going to take time and energy to maintain; yes, it’ll cost you money to run; yes, it isn’t as easy as posting a picture of your latest Hazy IPA to Instagram with the hashtag #BuyThisPlease, but - if harnessed correctly - it will generate your brewery way more money - directly and indirectly - than you think.

Nick Law is the Creative Director of Hop Forward: a branding, marketing and business consultancy for the brewing industry. He works with a variety of beer businesses both in the UK and overseas and also runs a weekly podcast with a variety of guests from across the world of beer.

Find out more at www.hopforward. beer or email nick@hopforward.beer

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Business advice: Consumer Insight

Introducing the Great British Pub 2.0 Katy Moses, the Founder and MD of consumer insight specialist KAM Media, takes a look at how the UK’s pub trade is evolving post-Covid…

I am absolutely over the moon that pub customer confidence is now firmly back at pre-pandemic levels - at last! In fact, pubs are now more important than ever to Brits, with 56% of pub-goers saying they will visit the pub at least once a week over the next 12 months.

We’ve just completed a significant piece of research called ‘Return of the Pub’, in partnership with the BII, to understand the evolving behaviours and attitudes of pub customers following two years of global pandemic, in a bid to define the ‘new normal’ for pub experiences in the UK and the results are predominantly fantastic for pubs!

Back in June 2020 we predicted an overall decline in pub visits of 12%, which represented a loss of approx. 200 million pub visits, by regular pub-goers, to UK pubs in the first six months following the first lockdown. It is incredibly positive news that the latest data suggests that confidence levels have finally returned to pre-pandemic levels.

And I realise I’m preaching to the converted but one of the highlights of the research for me was the fact that 35% of all pub-goers believe that the role of the Great British pub has grown in importance for them personally in the last two years. This is significantly higher in the 18-34-year-old bracket - the demographic that we were previously struggling to engage with in pubs. Clearly, all age groups are recognising the role that their local plays in both their social lives and the role pubs play as the heartbeat of the local community.

Three in four customers say they feel safe (with regards to catching/spreading Covid-19) when visiting a pub now. Great news, and this goes for older age groups too.

Despite this, outside of a continued vigilance

on cleanliness, pub-goers are still looking for venues to be aware of the number of patrons inside at any given time, with caps on max number, decent spacing between tables and outside seating areas all still seem as very desirable.

The research highlights three clear shifts in behaviours from pub-goers in terms of what factors influence their choice of pub now, compared to two years ago. Whereas in June 2020, pub-goers were likely to stick to what they know, now there is a clear desire to be more adventurous with their choice of venue - they are now almost twice as likely to be looking to try somewhere they’ve not been to before.

Demand for friendly and helpful staff has also grown in importance as customers place a greater value on the human interactions that can’t be replicated when having a ‘night in’.

When it comes to which types of pubs customers will be visiting more of this year, there is a clear trend towards local and community pubs over town or city centre pubs and independents over chains. Foodled pubs are also attracting higher footfall vs wet-led; 38% of pub-goers said they are likely to visit “food-led” pubs more often over the next 12 months.

With VAT on the increase, adding to the numerous other financial pressures that pubs are facing, the price of food and drinks in pubs is set to rise. The research suggests that most pub-goers (75%) are expecting a price rise and that a fair price increase is likely to be accepted by many (80%), at least in the short term. However, they are also conscious that price rises may mean they have to reduce their visits to pubs with 1-in-2 admitting price rises may mean they visit pubs less

frequently over the next 12 months.

Pub-goers are aware of the challenges that pubs have been through in the last two years; there doesn’t need to be anything ‘sneaky’ about price increases, it is happening across so many retail environments at the moment.

The beauty of British pubs is that most have a strong and honest relationship with their customers. The key here is that, in the short term, most are aware and understanding of the reasons but pub-goers are aware that they are likely to have to tighten their belts forcing fewer visits to the pub. Pubs need to double down on their customer service, atmosphere, experience, quality of food, quality of service, etc., in order to counterbalance any price increases and continue to offer the level of ‘value-add’ that will get people out of their homes and into the pubs.

The research also shows that pub-goers are increasingly looking for an experience that they can’t get at home; 78% in 2022 compared with 63% in 2019, an increase in expectation of 24%.

When people go out they are, more than ever, looking for an experience that is less easily replicated. Be that a perfectly poured real ale, an expertly crafted cocktail, delicious food or a vibrant atmosphere – pubs are increasingly being asked to deliver so much more than simply a drink and a chair.

KAM Media is a boutique research consultancy, specialising in hospitality and retail, running bespoke and syndicated customer research programmes for both pub companies and on-trade suppliers.

Find out more at www.kam-media.co.uk.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Comment: Technical focus

Should I drink the sediment from a bottle?

Brewlab’s Dr Keith Thomas looks at the science behind bottle conditioning and the makeup of the sediment common in this style of beer…

Should I drink the sediment? Possibly – but before considering whether bottle sediments are beneficial let’s take a quick look at the bottle conditioned market.

With the reintroduction of CAMRA “Real Ale in a Bottle” accreditation, there is an opportunity to promote this now specialist niche of beers and emphasise the features of a simple but challenging technology. Rather than relegate their identification to “May contain sediment” a bold labelling of “Bottle Conditioned” may enhance sales – and qualify claims of “Traditionally Brewed”.

Just to emphasise the features of bottle conditioned here are some of the specifications. Put simply it is a “beer which undertakes a secondary fermentation in the bottle”. This implies that the beer contains living yeast and enough sugar for fermentation and production of carbon dioxide. Arguably it also produces additional flavour and, because of growth, an increase in yeast.

While bottle conditioning is readily and simply achieved by bottling beer directly from fermenter without filtration or added carbonation it requires a sound understanding and management of fermentation theory. The challenge is to ensure that the right level of sugar is present to achieve a suitable carbonation, that there is enough yeast in good condition to conduct the fermentation and a suitable temperature and time balance during the maturation.

Achieving success requires experience and awareness of how problems develop. If the primary fermentation is incomplete excess sugar may be present resulting in overcarbonation. In contrast, complete primary fermentation results in under-carbonation as few sugars remain – unless suitably calculated priming sugars are added. If the yeast has been stressed it may ferment poorly to produce off flavours and if contamination is present the alcohol may be converted to acids. All these features require attention and skill to avoid, and of course apply equally to can conditioned beer.

Moreover, we have the recent concern of contaminating diastaticus yeast which produce enzymes to digest dextrin sugars resulting in a gushing beer. Bottle conditioned beer is not an easy option.

Returning to definitions it should be distinguished from hazy or cloudy beer which may also contain yeast but may well be pasteurised or bottled with additional carbonation added or even, in some wheat beers, contain added protein.

Aside from being a demonstration of technical skill, and possibly having a more mature flavour, does bottle conditioned beer contain any specific benefits? The main focus here is on possible beneficial effects of yeast, although the beer may have a higher level of protein and polyphenols from a lack of filtration.

For yeast we would look to probiotic properties, a feature of many fermentation microbes and an active topic in many health food promotions. The elements of probiotic action are to provide protection against potentially harmful microbes, particularly pathogens but also to enhance your immunological health and promote growth through increasing nutrient uptake.

The features providing protection include antagonism between microbes, ability to block surfaces in the digestive system from pathogen access, production of protective fatty acids and of organic acids particularly lactic and acetic. Taken together these actions are claimed to counter diseases, particularly infective ones but, possibly enhance body reactions to non-contagious diseases such as cancer.

The most promoted microbes meeting these criteria are in the lactic acid and the Bifidobacteria groups. Until recently the only yeast with probiotic properties was Saccharomyces boulardii – a member of the Saccharomyces genus. This is not a species typically used in brewing but has been identified in historic samples of beer. Nevertheless, the potential of other Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces

brewing species being identified as probiotic is an active area of research.

To be recognised as probiotic a microbe requires more than the characteristics noted above, most particularly the ability to survive in high numbers at delivery and after ingestion so as to be active at the relevant location in the body – generally the large intestine. In fact, a definition of a probiotic as “live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer health benefits on the host” implies numbers are important. A daily intake of 1000 million cells is recommended as many cells may die before they reach the large intestine.

Applying this to the sediment in a bottle conditioned beer requires an analysis of yeast numbers but typical levels at bottling are up to one million per ml. These will increase to some extent during secondary fermentation, possibly doubling to two million per ml. A 500 ml bottle could thus contain 1000 million cells – in effect a daily dose if all remained viable. Of course, sour beers brewed with bacterial and yeast fermentation will also contain bacteria probiotics and have greater potential.

So, should you drink the sediment? Well although brewing yeast isn’t recognised as probiotic at the moment it has potential and as a source of nutrients won’t be harmful. It may, however, affect the flavour of your beer if suspended so probably best to reserve as quick glug after your pint or saved to savour later.

As research develops brewing yeast may be identified as having more distinct probiotic effects in which case bottle conditioned beer will have greater attractions for promotion.

Draught servings may also change. Imagine asking the bar staff for a serving of cask residue rather than complaining about a cloudy pint!

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Supplier's viewpoint: Crisp Malt

Cost saving tips for your brewery Using his 20 years of brewing experience, Mike Benson from Crisp Malt gives his take on ways to save money in the brewery…

With everything we’ve been through in the past two years - and are still going through now - saving costs is high on the agenda.

I’ve put together a list of ways to save money, which can be used as a checklist.

Sure, some of the recommendations will seem obvious, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have implemented them.

A lot of these tips come from trial and error on my part over the years, and some of them will need a bit of trial and error from you.

Every brewhouse and every operation varies, and clearly it’s a matter of finding out what works in your particular setting.

1) Measure, measure, measure You need the facts at your fingertips. Get on top of the metrics. Measure, measure, measure.

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Then put everything on to spreadsheets.

Use them to update monthly costs. Create comprehensive sheets for each beer. To get a picture of the true cost per barrel, don’t leave anything out. Once you have everything, count it every month - and check the usage is in line with production.

Once you know your metrics, you can begin to play. Make minor adjustments, one element at a time, and you’ll begin to see where you can make those elusive savings.

Want a template spreadsheet? Email sales@ crispmalt.com.

2) Malt and mashing Use good quality, well modified malt. Good modification means it gives up its extract more easily and provides a better yield.

Use your hydrometer or refractometer to

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

take your last running down to 1.5 to 2 degrees Brix / 1.006 to 1.008 SG. Careful not to go lower, or you’ll be getting those harsh, astringent flavours and poorer head retention.

Try replacing a small proportion of malted barley with malted wheat. It will save you money and increase head retention. 10% inclusion of malted wheat should give you a 20p per barrel saving. It all adds up. If you are already adding wheat, try torrefied barley.

It offers greater savings, but be careful: it can be harsh at higher addition rates.

If you are cold stabilising beer using sterile filters before packaging, it’s always worth using beta-glucanase in the mash. It’s a cheap enzyme to use and you can expect to see longer filter runs and longer filter life. So, more beer and less money spent on

Supplier's viewpoint: Crisp Malt

expensive filters. Adding it could stop issues before you know you have any.

Use Clear Choice Malt in your recipes. Why? • Lowering temperature is extremely energy intensive. Clear Choice allows you to get the same colloidal stability cold conditioning beer at +40C as you’d get at -10C. This hugely reduces energy consumption. And it improves flavour stability, which helps prolong shelf life.

• It also allows you to cut out expensive haze stabilisers. How? Unlike other barleys, Clear Choice barley has no proanthocyanidins, which are flavonoid polyphenols. These un-needed polyphenols are the ones that work with proteins to form chill haze. They create astringent flavours and reduce shelf life. Use Clear Choice, and hey presto, the benefits become transparent. You may not use PVPP, but your contract packers might do. Ask them to remove it from the product and the packaging cost. You may also see increased yields through better filtration.

3) Hops When buying hops, don’t just go on the weight of the plants. Buy according to the alpha acid per kilo. Alpha acids will vary each season, and you will need to know the quantity of hops required to achieve consistent bitterness levels in your beer from one year to the next.

Add dry hops in small batches two or three times during maturation, rather than putting them in all at once. This improves extraction.

If you don’t have one, buy a flow meter. It will ensure your measurements are accurate and optimal – which will save you wasting resources. And money. If the powers that be won’t fork out for a flow meter, you can calibrate the tank for volume.

achieve full and fabulous flavours, with an emphasis on balance and drinkability.

Rather than using hops for astringency, use roasted or black malts to give that lovely bite.

4) Yeast

From a set starting point, measure the distance to the beer. Fill 4 firkins and take a measurement again. The drop in height in mm is equivalent to a barrel of beer. It should be consistent until you hit a cone or dish - and you can use it to control hop or yeast additions. To measure water usage, you can install low-cost vane flow meters. These will help with optimisations.

Rinse / sparge whole hops with hot liquor as you push them through the system. This will maximise your yield from them.

Try high gravity brewing to increase capacity without the capital expenditure on new plant.

You can get two different beers from one brew, or increase volume on a single brew.

But approach with caution: quality control can be an issue. High gravity brewing gives you more esters, and there’s a risk of oxidised flavours.

For brews of less than 4.5% abv, a 10-barrel plant should be able to achieve the same fermentation performance and flavours using 250gm of yeast, rather than 500gm.

This represents a 50% cost saving. That’s providing you seal the bag of remaining yeast properly; keep it in the fridge; and don’t leave it too long before using.

Re-use your yeast up to 5 times. If you’re on top of your hygiene, you can skim it off and collect in a bucket for the next brew. Get rid of the dark trub as that contains dead yeast.

And store in pristine conditions at the right temperature. Again, don’t save it for more than7 days: preferably use it within 5 days.

Re-pitching brings its risks.

Finally I hope that’s helpful. We’ll soon be putting together advice for saving money in other parts of the brewery, so keep your eyes peeled. Good luck in the meantime.

Ok, and the next one is definitely the maltster speaking, but I’m going to say it anyway.

Brew more malt-forward beers. You can still

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA business awards winners 2022

Brew York - SIBA Brewery Business of the Year winners

The SIBA Business Awards 2022 Brew York was named SIBA Brewery Business of the Year 2022 at the SIBA Business Awards at BeerX in March.

The winners in the SIBA Business Awards 2022 received their awards in person for the first time since the pandemic began, with celebrations taking place at this year’s BeerX in Liverpool.

The awards highlight the very best businesses from across the beer and brewing industry in a diverse range of awards categories.

The big winners were Brew York – who were named Brewery Business of the Year 2022 – and Charles Faram, who were named SIBA Supplier Associate of the Year.

Brew York MD Wayne Smith and Production Director Lee Graham were on hand to accept the prestigious award.

“We’re overwhelmed to win this award after such a difficult two years. It really is down to hard work from the whole team and they will be over the moon with this!” Wayne Smith, Managing Director.

“It’s just amazing to win this and achieve what we have in this period – looking at what this industry has had to endure it’s just incredible. We’re just really proud of our team,” Lee Grabham, Production Director added.

The SIBA Business Awards are judged by a panel of independent beer industry experts, and organised by SIBA. The awards cover everything from brewery marketing, design and innovation, to efforts to make businesses more sustainable or impactful.

The awards this year include three new categories in response to shifting consumer buying habits over the last year: “UK’s Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer – Online”, “UK’s Best Independent Craft Brewery Webshop” and “Community Engagement”, the latter award aimed at breweries which have cemented themselves as assets within their local communities over the last year.

“Huge, huge congratulations to the winners in the SIBA Business Awards 2022. We had a record number of entries and the quality was higher than ever, so these really are the very best of the best in the industry and should be so proud of the achievement. I want to particularly congratulate Brew York, our Brewery Business of the Year 2022 – who not only survived but thrived over the last year, showing incredible resilience and business savvy to grow a business in an incredibly tough trading period for beer. I would also like to congratulate Charles Faram, who were voted by brewers as their Supplier Associate of the Year 2022 - a huge accolade that is richly deserved,” said Neil Walker, SIBA Business Awards Chair of Judges.

Joining the expert judging panel for 2022 were Caroline Nodder, Editor of Independent Brewer and the SIBA British Craft Beer Report; Kate Oppenheim, KO Media and Editor of BII News; Barry Watts, Head of Public Affairs & Policy at SIBA; Jo Hunter, Interior & Architectural Design expert and founder of Hunter’s Daughter; Ellie Hudspith, Senior Campaigns Manager at CAMRA; and Robyn Black, Head of Content at Fleetstreet Comms and former Editor of Inapub.

Read more about our winner Brew York in our Business Profile on pages 32-39 in this issue.

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

SIBA business awards winners 2022

WINNERS

Marketing Implementation Siren Craft Brew - WINNER

Sustainable Business Barnaby’s Brewhouse - WINNER Ludlow Brewing - HIGHLY COMMENDED

Community Engagement Full Circle - WINNER

Best Individual Design Brewgooder - WINNER Bundobust/North Brewing Co. - HIGHLY COMMENDED

Best Concept Design Moonwake - WINNER

Business Innovation Bullhouse - WINNER

Commercial Achievement Brew York - WINNER

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA business awards winners 2022

UK's Best Independent Craft Brewery Taproom Farm Yard Brew Co., Lancaster - WINNER

UK's Best Independent Craft Brewery Webshop Timothy Taylor’s - WINNER

UK's Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer – Multiple Hoppily - WINNER

UK's Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer – Single Bottle Monkey - WINNER Brewery Market - HIGHLY COMMENDED

UK's Best Independent Craft Beer Retailer – Online Honest Brew - WINNER

UK’s Best Independent Craft Beer Bar or Pub – Rural Fox & Hounds Beerhouse, Caversham - WINNER

UK’s Best Independent Craft Beer Bar or Pub – City Craft Republic, Barry - WINNER

UK's Best Independent Craft Beer Promotion Pellicle - WINNER www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA business awards winners 2022

Supplier Associate of the year (Brewer nominated) Charles Faram - WINNER

SIBA Lifetime Achievement Award 2022

SIBA Brewery Business of the Year Brew York - WINNER

Mark Wallington 1944-2021

Collected by his daughters Chloe & Ester

The SIBA Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates an individual who has made an outstanding contribution not only to SIBA, but to the UK brewing industry at a local or National level over many years.

This year the award is sadly a posthumous one, and goes to Mark Wallington who sadly dies last year. Mark was a former RAF Pilot turned brewer, who with the creation of Archer Brewery in 1979 became a founding member of SIBA, moving on to become the Finance Director for the trade association from 2001 to 2009.

A familiar and welcome face at SIBA events and competitions over the years he was never without his trademark half-pint tankard in his hand; although those that new him best say they were never quite sure whether the halfpint was to limit his drinking or to increase it.

Mark’s daughters Chloe and Esther were able to join the ceremony at BeerX and collect the award on his behalf.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA national beer competition winners 2022 SIBA's Independent Beer Awards are the UK's biggest independent craft beer competition - featuring cask, craft keg, and small pack (bottle and canned) beers.

Having won their regional competitions, the breweries featured here are the winners of our National competition which took place at BeerX UK, where beers from across the UK go head to head to be crowned the overall Champion across a wide variety of styles.

National Beer Competitions Cask

Overall Winner of the Cask Competition Sponsored by: Close Brothers Brewery Rentals

G S B

GOLD: Harviestoun Brewery Schiehallion 4.8% Silver: Navigation Brewery American 5.2%

Bronze: Revolutions Brewing Co. Swoon - Chocolate Fudge Milk Stout 4.5%

Cask British Dark Beers (up to 4.4%)

Cask British Dark Beers (4.5-6.4%)

G S B

Gold: Metalhead Brewery Best Mate 4.2%

G Gold: Blackedge Brewing Co Ltd Oatmeal Chocolate

Bronze: Cairngorm Brewery Company black gold 4.4%

S Silver: Dancing Duck Brewery Dark Drake 4.5% B Bronze: Leeds Brewery Midnight Bell 4.8%

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons

Silver: Littleover Brewery The Panther Stout 4.2%

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd

Stout 6.4%

Cask British Bitter (up to 4.4%)

Cask British Premium Bitter (4.5 to 6.4%)

G Gold: Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack 4.4% S Silver: Blackedge Brewing Co Ltd West Coast 4.1% B Bronze: Rebellion Beer Co. Ltd Overthrow 4.3%

G S B

Sponsored by: Thomas Fawcetts & Sons Ltd

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd

Gold: Harrogate Brewing Company Harrogate Best 4.5%

Silver: Five Kingdoms Brewery Wee McAsh Bitter 4.5% Bronze: Blackedge Brewing Co Ltd Kiwi 5.0%

SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

Cask Session IPA (up to 4.3%)

Cask Premium PAs (4.4 to 5.4%)

G S B

G S B

Sponsored by: Premier Systems Ltd

Gold: Dancing Duck Brewery DCUK 4.3%

Silver: Hawkshead Brewery Windemere Pale 3.5%

Bronze: Metalhead Brewery Pretty Vacant 3.8%

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons

Gold: Navigation Brewery American 5.2%

Silver: Weetwood Ales Jester 4.8%

Bronze: Ainsty Ales Cool Citra 4.4%

Cask IPA (5.5 to 6.4%)

Cask Speciality Light Beers

G Gold: Ilkley Brewery Co Lotus 5.5%

S Silver: Blue Monkey Brewery Infinity Plus 1 5.6% B Bronze: Liverpool Brewing Co IPA 5.7%

G Gold: Harviestoun Brewery Schiehallion 4.8%

S Silver: Rooster's Brewing Co. Roots. Rock. Reggae. 6.4% B Bronze: Beartown Brewery Kahuna 4.5%

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd

Cask Speciality Mid to Dark Beers Sponsored by: Willis Publicity Ltd

G Gold: Revolutions Brewing Co. Swoon - Chocolate Fudge

Milk Stout 4.5%

S Silver: Blue Monkey Brewery Guerrilla Chocolate Amaretto 4.9%

B Bronze: Hophurst Brewery Ltd Irish Cream Porteresque 5.5%

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons

Cask Strong Beers (6.5% and over)

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons

G Gold: Ardgour Ales Ltd Gobhar Reamhar 6.5%

S Silver: Yorkshire Heart Brewery Heart Ten 7.0% B Bronze: Hophurst Brewery Ltd Love is Noise 8.0% www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

National Beer Competitions Bottle & Can

Overall Winner of the Bottle/Can Competition Sponsored by: Cottage Delight

G S B

Bottle/Can British Dark Beer

Gold: Lakes Brew Co NE Session IPA 4.7%

Silver: Weetwood Ales Oregon Pale 4.3%

Bronze: Twice Brewed Brew House Coria 4.6%

Bottle/Can British Dark Beers

(up to 4.4%) Sponsored by: Moorgate Finance

(4.5 to 6.4%)

G Gold: Pennine Brewing Black forest 4.0%

S Silver: Brimstage Brewery Oystercatcher Stout 4.4% B Bronze: Gun Brewery Limited Parabellum Milk Stout 4.1%

G Gold: Castle Rock Brewery Oatmeal Stout 4.6% S Silver: Windswept Brewing Co Ltd Wolf 6.0% B Bronze: Turpin's Brewery Cambridge Cambridge

Bottle/Can British Bitter (up to 4.4%)

Bottle/Can British Premium Bitter

G Gold: Weetwood Ales Oregon Pale 4.3% S Silver: Bewdley Brewery Ltd Teddy Beer 3.8% B Bronze: Brewsters Brewing Co Ltd Aromantica 4.2%

G Gold: SaltRock Brewing Company Limited Red Wagon 4.7%

S Silver: Elgood and Sons Ltd Warrior 5.5% B B ronze: Elusive Brewing Ltd Level Up

Sponsored by: Cottage Delight

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Sponsored by: Corosys Beverage Technology

Black Stout 4.6%

(4.5 to 6.4%)

Sponsored by: Beatson Clark Plc

(Level 25: Centennial and Citra) 5.0%

SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

Bottle/Can Session IPA (up to 4.3%)

Bottle/Can Premium PAs (4.4 to 5.4%)

G S B

G Gold: Lakes Brew Co NE Session IPA 4.7% S Silver: Alter Ego Brewing Co Ltd Force Field 4.5% B Bronze: Hop Kettle Brewery Cosmic Shake 4.4%

Sponsored by: Framax UK Ltd

Gold: Hand Brew Co Shaka 4.0%

Silver: Dog Falls Brewing Co Colloidoscope 4.3% Bronze: Eight Arch Brewing Co. Square Logic 4.2%

Bottle/Can IPA (5.5 to 6.4%)

Sponsored by: William Croxson & Son Ltd

Bottle/Can Imperial IPA

Sponsored by: Beer Box Shop

(6.5% and over)

G Gold: Quantock Brewery Unclear Progression 6.3% S Silver: Salopian Brewing Co Limited New Danger 6.1% B Bronze: 4T's Brewhouse Ltd Tripwire 5.5%

G Gold: RedWillow Brewery Ltd Perceptionless 6.6%

S Silver: Ossett Brewery SALT Ikat 8.0% B Bronze: Artefact Brewing Kveik Black IPA 6.5%

Bottle/Can Session Lager & Pilsner (up to 4.4%) Sponsored by: Crisp Malting Group

Bottle/Can Premium Lager & Pilsner (4.5 to 6.4%)

G Gold: Clavell & Hind C&H Cotswold Pilsner 4.0% S Silver: Brewsters Brewing Co Ltd Helles Lager 4.0% B Bronze: Rebellion Beer Co. Ltd. Rebellion Lager 4.4%

G Gold: Duration Brewing Ltd Doses 5.1%

S Silver: Cheddar Ales Ltd Continental Drift 5.0% B Bronze: Pheasantry Brewery Pheasantry Pilsner

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd

Sponsored by: Saxon Packaging

Lager 5.0%

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

Sponsored by: Vale Labels Ltd

Bottle/Can Speciality Medium to Dark Beers

G Gold: The Wild Beer Co Ltd Ninkasi 9.0%

S Silver: Hophurst Brewery Ltd Milkshake IPA 6.0% B B ronze: Lincoln Green Brewing Company Limited

G Gold: Briarbank Brewing Company Mocha Porter 4.5%

S Silver: Alter Ego Brewing Co Ltd S'more Fire 5.2% B B ronze: Exale brewing Deep Dark Oyster,

Bottle/Can Sours/Spontaneous

Bottle/Can Strong Beers

G Gold: Loch Lomond Brewery Pretty in Pink 10.0% S Silver: Thornbridge Brewery Mothers Ruin 7.0% B Bronze: Rooster's Brewing Co. Wild Wild Life 7.4%

G Gold: Thornbridge Brewery Bracia 10.0% S Silver: Ossett Brewery SALT Tram 8.0% B Bronze: Inner Bay Brewery Ltd Jet 9.0%

Bottle/Can Amber to Dark Lager

Bottle/Can No/Low Alcohol Beer

Bottle/Can Speciality Light Beer

Gin and Beer It 5.0%

Sponsored by: Anton Paar Ltd

Sponsored by: Core Equipment Ltd

G Gold: Twice Brewed Brew House Coria 4.6% S Silver: Duration Brewing Ltd Harvest Bier 5.5% B Bronze: The Park Brewery Schone Eiche 5.0%

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Sponsored by: Clearmark Solutions Ltd

Black pepper & seaweed stout 8.6%

(6.5% and over) Sponsored by: Beer Box Shop

Sponsored by: Vigo Ltd

G Gold: Birmingham Brewing Company Sober Brummie 0.5% S Silver: Saltaire Brewery Northern Light 0.5% B Bronze: Nethergate Brewery Venture Point 5 0.5%

SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

National Beer Competitions keg

Overall Winner of the keg Competition Sponsored by: Kegstar

G S B

Gold: RedWillow Brewery Perceptionless 6.6%

Silver: Gloucester Brewery Craft Lager 4.5% B ronze: The Gipsy Hill Brewing Co Squashed - Blueberry & Cranberry 6.5%

Keg British Dark Beers (up to 4.4%)

Keg British Dark Beers (4.5 to 6.4%)

G Gold: Acorn Brewery Old Moor Porter 4.4% S Silver: Bewdley Brewery Severnside Stout 4.3% B Bronze: Anspach & Hobday London Black 4.4%

G Gold: The Wild Beer Co Millionaire 4.7%

S Silver: Rebellion Beer Co. Ltd. Black 5.2% B Bronze: Hophurst Brewery Ltd Porteresque 5.5%

Keg British Bitter (up to 4.4%)

Keg British Premium Bitter (4.5 to 6.4%)

G Gold: Hophurst Brewery Ltd Cosmati 4.2% S Silver: Lacons Brewery Encore 3.8% B Bronze: Hollow Stone Brewing Co Kazumura 3.4%

G Gold: The Cambridge Brew House Rye Aye Man 4.5%

S Silver: Windswept Brewing Co. APA 5.0% B Bronze: Goddards Brewery Fuggle Dee Dum 4.8%

Sponsored by: IGC Engineering Ltd

Sponsored by: Bulk Storage & Process Systems

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd

Sponsored by: Willis Publicity

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

Keg Session IPA (up to 4.3%)

Keg Premium PAs (4.4 to 5.4%%)

G Gold: Bedlam Brewery Limited Phoenix 3.9%

S Silver: Quantock Brewery QPA 4.0% B B ronze: Mad Squirrel Hopfest GF 3.8%

G G old: Hophurst Brewery Ltd APA 5.2% S Silver: Hop Kettle Brewery Cosmic Shake 4.4% B B ronze: Rooster's Brewing Co. Thousand Yard Stare 5.4%

Keg IPA (5.5 to 6.4%)

Keg Imperial IPA (6.5% and over)

G S B

G S B

Sponsored by: Close Brothers Brewery Rentals

Sponsored by: LemonTop Ltd

Gold: Full Circle Brew Co Looper IPA 6.4%

Silver: The Gipsy Hill Brewing Co Rabble 5.6% Bronze: King Street Brew House White Trash 5.8%

Keg Session Lager & Pilsner (up to 4.4%) Sponsored by: Brewers Select

G S B

78

Gold: Adnams Dry Hopped Lager 4.2%

Silver: Cellar Head Brewing Company Cold Call 4.3%

Bronze: Bewdley Brewery Laxford Lager 4.2% Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Sponsored by: Muntons

Sponsored by: Norriq Ltd

Gold: RedWillow Brewery Perceptionless 6.6%

Silver: Mad Squirrel Roadkill 6.5%

Bronze: Dog Falls Brewing Co Split the Tree 7.2%

Keg Premium Lager & Pilsner (4.5 to 6.4%) Sponsored by: Kegstar

G S B

Gold: Gloucester Brewery Craft Lager 4.5%

Silver: Orbit Brewing Ltd Nico 4.8% B ronze: Utopian Brewing Limited British Premium Lager 4.7%

SIBA national beer competition winners 2022

Keg Speciality Light Beer

Keg Speciality Medium to Dark Beers

G Gold: Dog Falls Brewing Co Awaroa 6.8% S Silver: Wild Weather Ales Ltd John Peel 5.5% B Bronze: Liverpool Brewing Co Tropical 4.2%

G Gold: Loch Lomond Brewery Lost Monster 10.0% S Silver: Mad Squirrel Carachino 9.0% B Bronze: Thornbridge Brewery Cocoa Wonderland 6.8%

Sponsored by: Hypro EU Limited

Keg Sours/Spontaneous

Sponsored by: Moorgate Finance

Keg Strong Beers (6.5% and over)

Sponsored by: Lallemand UK Ltd

Sponsored by: Breww Ltd

G Gold: The Gipsy Hill Brewing Co Squashed - Blueberry &

G Gold: Loose Cannon Brewery Reunion Tripel 8.5% S Silver: Padstow Brewing Co Cold Desert 8.5% B Bronze: Orkney Brewery Skull Splitter 8.5%

Cranberry 6.5%

S Silver: Twice Brewed Brew House Feria 6.0% B Bronze: Elgoods Brewery Coolship Fruit 5.0%

Keg Amber to Dark Lager

Keg No/Low Alcohol Beer

G S B

G S B

Sponsored by: Moorgate Finance

Gold: Twice Brewed Brew House Juno Black 4.7%

Silver: Grain Brewery Ltd Munich Dunkel 4.8%

Bronze: The Park Brewery Schöne Eiche Märzen 5.0%

Sponsored by: Norriq Ltd

Gold: Hammerton Brewery ZED 0.5%

Silver: Saltaire Brewery Northern Light 0.5% Bronze: Birmingham Brewing Company Sober Brummie 0.5% www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

79

SIBA South West competition winners 2022

Regional Beer Competitions South West

Overall Champion of the Cask Beer Competition Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd Presented to: Cheddar Ales Ltd Presented by: Buster Grant (proxy)

G Cheddar Ales Ltd Piney Sleight 4.0%

S Cheddar Ales Ltd Totty Pot Porter 4.4% B Salcombe Brewery Co. Belgica 5.0%

Cask Session Dark Beer

Cask British Bitter

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Cheddar Ales Ltd Totty Pot Porter 4.4% S S ILVER: Dawkins Ales East Bristol Session Porter 4.1% Hop Kettle Brewery S SILVER:

North Wall 4.3% S SILVER: Yeovil Ales Stout Hearted 4.3% S SILVER: Castle Brewery Moat Mild 4.4% B B RONZE: Southbourne Ales Sunbather 4.0% B B RONZE: Driftwood Spars Brewery Pete's Mild 4.4%

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Teignmouth Brewery Portside 4.3% S SILVER: Bays Brewery Topsail 4.0% Dawkins Ales S SILVER:

Bristol Blonde 3.8% S SILVER: Exeter Brewery Fraidnot 4.0% S S ILVER: Stonehenge Ales Ltd Heel Stone 4.3% B BRONZE: Branscombe Vale Branoc 3.8% Southbourne Ales B BRONZE:

Headlander 4.2% B B RONZE: Palmers Brewery IPA 4.2% B BRONZE: Arkell's Brewery Ltd 3B's 4.0% Liberation Brewing Company B BRONZE:

Liberation Ale 4.0% Otter Brewery Bitter 3.6% B BRONZE:

RONZE: Isca Ales Dawlish Bitter 4.2% B B

Cheddar Ales Ltd B BRONZE:

Potholer 4.3%

Cask British Dark Beer - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Castle Brewery Cornish Stuggy Stout 4.6% S S ILVER: Teignmouth Brewery 1846 6.2% S S ILVER: Fine Tuned Brewery Twist & Stout 4.5% S S ILVER: Bridgetown Brewery Shark Island Stout 4.5% S S ILVER: Cheddar Ales Ltd Velvet Bottom 4.7% S S ILVER: Hanlons Brewery Port Stout 4.8% S SILVER: Exeter Brewery Darkness 5.1% B B RONZE: Epic Beers - Pitchfork Ales Old Slug 4.5% B B RONZE: South Hams Brewery Devon Porter 5.2% B B RONZE: Palmers Brewery Tally Ho! 5.5% B B RONZE: Dawkins Ales We 3 Bears 4.5% B B RONZE: Twisted Oak Brewery Ghost Town 5.7%

80

Cask British Best Bitter - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Bays Brewery Devon Dumpling 5.1% Good Chemistry Brewing G GOLD:

Extra Special 5.6% Firebrand Brewing S SILVER:

Beast of Bodmin 5.0% Epic Beers - Pitchfork Ales S SILVER:

East Street Cream 5.0% Palmers Brewery B BRONZE:

Palmers 200 5.0% B B RONZE: Yeovil Ales Posh IPA 5.4% B BRONZE: Hanlons Brewery Stormstay 5.0% B BRONZE: Dawkins Ales Bob Chequers 5.0% B B RONZE: Cheddar Ales Ltd Crown and Glory 4.6%

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

B

B BRONZE: Abbey Ales White Friar 5.0% B BRONZE: Exmoor Ales Exmoor Gold 4.5% B BRONZE: Otter Brewery Ale 4.5%

Cask Session Pale Ale - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Cheddar Ales Ltd Piney Sleight 4.0% Powderkeg Brewery G GOLD:

Ripple Effect 4.2% S SILVER: Eight Arch Brewing Co. Square Logic 4.2% Teignmouth Brewery S SILVER:

Tame Ale 3.8% Firebrand Brewing S SILVER:

Patchwork Rocket 4.0% Hop Kettle Brewery S SILVER:

Cosmic Shake 4.4% B B RONZE: Stonehenge Ales Ltd Spire Ale 3.8% B BRONZE: Dawkins Ales Easton IPA 4.4% Exeter Brewery Avocet 3.9% B BRONZE:

RONZE: Keystone Brewery B B

Whiltshire Pale Ale 3.8% B BRONZE: Lyme Regis Brewery Lyme Gold 4.2% B B RONZE: Branscombe Vale Golden Fiddle 4.0% B B RONZE: Quantock Brewery QPA 4.0% Fine Tuned Brewery B BRONZE:

Don't Worry Be Hoppy 4.4%

Cask Pale Ale Sponsored by: ekegplus B B RONZE: Salcombe Brewery Co. Salcombe Pale Ale 4.6% B BRONZE: Hop Kettle Brewery Neonate 4.5% Cheddar Ales Ltd B BRONZE:

Lisa Likes Nelson 5.0%

SIBA South West competition winners 2022 Overall Champion of the Keg Beer Competition

SIBA South West competition winners 2022

Sponsored by: Thielmann UK Ltd Presented to: Quantock Team Presented by: Buster Grant (proxy)

G Quantock Brewery We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat 6.3% S D awkins Ales Foresters Black 4.8% B Zerodegrees Bristol Cloud Waltz 4.4%

Cask IPA

Keg Lager Sponsored by: Kegstar

Keg IPA Sponsored by: Drinksflow

Yeovil Ales B BRONZE:

Yeovil Pale Ale 7.3% Barefaced Brewing B BRONZE:

Flash IPA 5.9% B BRONZE: St Austell Brewery Big Job 7.2% Cheddar Ales Ltd B BRONZE:

Goats Leap IPA 5.6%

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Zerodegrees Bristol The Bohemian 4.8% Otter Brewery Tarka Premium 4.8% S SILVER:

S SILVER: Firebrand Brewing Helles Beach Cornish Lager 4.4% S SILVER: Bays Brewery Devon Rock Craft Lager 4.5% Quantock Brewery B BRONZE:

Lager Than Life 4.6% St Austell Brewery Korev 4.8% B BRONZE:

B BRONZE: Exeter Brewery IPL Devons Organic Lager 3.9% Powderkeg Brewery B BRONZE:

Harmony 4.2%

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Quantock Brewery We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat 6.3% Stannary Brewing Co. S SILVER:

Hare Trigger IPA 6.8% Dawkins Ales Ultra 6.3% B BRONZE:

South Hams Brewery B BRONZE:

Sherman 6.4% B BRONZE: Brewhouse & Kitchen Bristol Yankee Cabot KV 6.0%

Cask Speciality Light Beer - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Salcombe Brewery Co. Belgica 5.0% S SILVER: Keystone Brewery Gold Spice 4.0% B B RONZE: Hop Union Brewery & Taproom Bloody Nora 4.7%

Cask Speciality Amber to Dark Beer - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Epic Beers - 3D Beer Craic On! 5.0% cerne abbas brewery S SILVER:

gurt coconuts 6.7% Dawkins Ales B BRONZE:

Foresters Black Caramel 4.8% Castle Brewery B BRONZE:

Winter's Knight 4.5%

Cask Imperial & Strong Beer Epic Beers - Pitchfork Ales S SILVER:

Santa Fe 7.3% B BRONZE: Exmoor Ales Exmoor Beast 6.6%

Keg Non-Alcoholic & Low ABV Butcombe Brewing Co. G GOLD:

Goram IPA Zero 0.5% Powderkeg Brewery B BRONZE:

Green Light 1.2%

Keg Amber & Dark Lager - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Zerodegrees Bristol Cloud Waltz 4.4% Utopian Brewing Limited S SILVER:

Utopian Vienna Keller Lager 4.8%

Keg Pale Ale Sponsored by: ekegplus G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Firebrand Brewing Thundercloud Hazy Pale 5.5% S S ILVER: Powderkeg Brewery Speak Easy 4.3% South Hams Brewery S SILVER:

Sundown 4.5% Stannary Brewing Co. S SILVER:

Half Pint Mafia 4.8% Roam Brewing Company B BRONZE:

Everyday Hero 5.1% Dawkins Ales Whiplash 5.3% B BRONZE:

B BRONZE: Zerodegrees Bristol Downtown 4.6% Padstow Brewing Co B BRONZE:

Pocket Rocket 4.0% Liberation Brewing Company B BRONZE:

Liberation Waverider 4.2% Bays Brewery B BRONZE:

Devon Cove Pale Ale 4.1% B BRONZE: Quantock Brewery Titanium 5.1%

Keg Double & Triple IPA

Sponsored by: Nichesolutions GB Ltd

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Stannary Brewing Co. Repeat Offender 8.1%

Keg Speciality IPA Hop Union Brewery & B BRONZE:

Taproom Bloody Nora 4.7%

Keg Amber, Brown & Red Ale - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Stannary Brewing Co. Fathead 'American Brown Ale' 7.4%

Keg Stout & Porter - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Epic Beers - 3D Beer Ebon 4.6% Salcombe Brewery Co. S SILVER:

Island Street Porter 5.9%

Keg Imperial & Strong Ale Roam Brewing Company S SILVER:

Wonder, Excitement & Wonder 6.9%

Keg Speciality & Flavoured Beer - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Dawkins Ales Foresters Black 4.8%

Keg Sour & Wild Ale Firebrand Brewing S SILVER:

Pink Lemon 6.0%

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

81

SIBA North East competition winners 2022

Regional Beer Competitions North East

Overall Champion of the Cask Beer Competition Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd Presented to: Mark Seaman Presented by: Beth Eaton

G Revolutions Swoon Chocolate Fudge Milk Stout 4.5% Brewed Brew House Consus 4.3% S Twice

Brewery Monkey Wrench 5.3% B Daleside

Cask Session Dark Beers (up to 4.4%)

Cask British Dark Beers (4.5 to 6.4%)

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Twice Brewed Brew House

Consus 4.3% Pennine Brewing Heartland 3.9% G GOLD:

S SILVER: Hadrian Border Brewery Secret Kingdom 4.3% S SILVER: Saltaire Brewery No.5 4.2% B BRONZE: Rudgate Brewery Ruby Mild 4.4% Acorn Brewery Old Moor Porter 4.4% B BRONZE:

B BRONZE: Cullercoats Brewery Polly Donkin Oatmeal Stout 4.2%

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Revolutions Clash - Porter 4.5%

S S ILVER: Ainsty Ales Brewery and Taproom Ainsty Assassin 4.9% S SILVER: Firebrick Brewery Ltd Cushy Butterfield 5.2% S S ILVER: Metalhead Brewery Dark Secret 4.5% Acorn Brewery Gorlovka Stout 6.0% B BRONZE:

Allendale Brewery Wolf 5.5% B BRONZE:

First & Last Brewery Eclipse 5.6% B BRONZE:

Presented to: Matthew Brown

Presented by: Ian Mearns MP

Presented to: Mark Seaman

Presented by: Grahame Morris MP

Cask British Bitter (up to 4.4%)

Cask British Best Bitter (4.5 to 6.4%)

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd Presented to: Adam Cox Presented by: Beth Eaton

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Daleside Brewery

Monkey Wrench 5.3% S SILVER: Hadrian Border Brewery Northumbrian Gold 4.5% Bridgehouse Brewery Holy Cow 5.6% B BRONZE:

Chantry Brewery Kaldo 5.5% B BRONZE:

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons Presented to: Ewen Gordon Presented by: Buster Grant

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Saltaire Brewery Best 4.4%

S SILVER: Ainsty Ales Brewery and Taproom Bantam Best 4.2% S S ILVER: Rudgate Brewery Battleaxe Bitter 4.2% Revolutions Frank - Best Bitter 4.0% B BRONZE:

Metalhead Brewery Old Knacker 3.8% B BRONZE:

Timothy Taylor's Landlord 4.3% B BRONZE:

Ilkley Brewery Co Ltd Joshua Jane 3.7% B BRONZE:

Firebrick Brewery Ltd Heatwave 4.2% B BRONZE:

SIBA North East competition winners 2022

Cask Session Pale Ale (up to 4.4%)

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons Presented to: Debbie Clayton Presented by: Buster Grant

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Pennine Brewing Pacific 4.1%

G GOLD: Ainsty Ales Brewery and Taproom Flumoxed Farmer 4.0% S S ILVER: First & Last Brewery Mad Jack Ha' 3.8% S SILVER: Acorn Brewery Yorkshire Pride 3.7% S S ILVER: Brew York Calmer Chameleon 3.7% S SILVER: Daleside Brewery Blonde 3.9% S S ILVER: Three Brothers Brewing Company Northern Pale 4.0% S S ILVER: Rooster's Brewing Co. Yankee 4.3% Maxim Brewery Citra 4.4% B BRONZE:

Tyne Bank Brewery Ltd West Coast IPA 4.0% B BRONZE:

Hadrian Border Brewery Northern Pale 4.1% B BRONZE:

Saltaire Brewery DDH Citra 4.2% B BRONZE:

Harrogate Brewing Company Wavey Marms 3.8% B BRONZE:

Firebrick Brewery Ltd Stella Spark 4.4% B BRONZE:

Revolutions Candidate - US Session Pale 3.9% B BRONZE:

Alnwick Brewery Alnwick Gold 4.2% B BRONZE:

Cask Speciality Amber to Dark Beers

Presented to: Mark Seaman Presented by: Buster Grant

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Revolutions Swoon - Chocolate

Fudge Milk Stout 4.5%

Brass Castle Brewery Jack-In-Irons 10.0% G GOLD:

Rudgate Brewery York Chocolate Stout 5.0% G GOLD:

S SILVER: Three Brothers Brewing Company S'more Porter 4.8% S S ILVER: First & Last Brewery Damson 4.8%

Old Mill Brewery La Bolsa Coffee Porter 4.5% B BRONZE:

Bridgehouse Brewery Baltic Rum porter 6.0% B BRONZE:

Acorn Brewery Chocco Porter 4.5% B BRONZE:

Harrogate Brewing Company Plum Porter 4.8% B BRONZE:

Cask Imperial & Strong Beer (6.5% and over) Presented to: Yorkshire Heart Presented by: Buster Grant

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Yorkshire Heart Hearten 7.0%

Cask IPA (5.6% and over)

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd Presented to: Kev Jones Presented by: Beth Eaton

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Brass Castle Brewery

Sunshine 5.7%

Allendale Brewery Dirty Deeds 6.6% B BRONZE:

Cask Speciality Light Beer Sponsored by: Ekeglus

Rooster's Brewing Co, Roots. Rock. Reggae. 6.4% B BRONZE:

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

83

SIBA Wales & West competition winners 2022

Regional Beer Competitions Wales & West

Cask Session Dark Beer G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: Three Tuns Brewery Stout 4.4% G GOLD: Mumbles Brewery thre 4.4%

S S ILVER: Gwaun Valley Brewery Traditional Porter 4.3% North Cotswold Brewery B BRONZE:

Moreton Mild 3.8% Brew Monster Wraith 3.9% B BRONZE:

Magic Dragon Brewing B BRONZE:

Old Magic 3.6%

Cask British Dark Beer G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Boss Brewing Company Ltd Boss Brewing Black 5.0% G GOLD: North Cotswold Brewery

Hung, Drawn 'n' Portered 5.0% G GOLD: Gloucester Brewery

Dockside Dark 5.2% S S ILVER: Bewdley Brewery William Mucklow's Dark Mild 6.0% Purple Moose Brewery Ltd B BRONZE:

Dark Side of the Moose 4.6% Wye Valley Brewery B BRONZE:

Wholesome Stout 4.6%

Cask British Bitter G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Bewdley Brewery Red Hill 4.4% S SILVER: North Cotswold Brewery Falstaff's Folly 4.0% S SILVER: Salopian Brewery Darwins Origin 4.3% S S ILVER: Stroud Brewery Tom Long 3.8% DEYA Brewing Company ltd B BRONZE:

Best Foot Forward 4.4% Brewhouse and Kitchen B BRONZE:

Gloucester Quays Stevedore 4.0% Teme Valley Brewery B BRONZE:

That 4.1%

84

Overall Champion of the Cask Beer Competition Sponsored by: Keg Logistics Presented to: Tim Wilkins Presented by: Roy Alkin

G S B

Bewdley Brewery Red Hill 4.4% Purple Moose Brewery Ltd Navigator 7.0%

Boss Brewing Company Ltd

Boss Brewing Black 5.0% B North Cotswold Brewery

Freedom IPA 5.2% Hobsons Brewery Best 3.8% B BRONZE:

Purple Moose Brewery Ltd B BRONZE:

Whakahari 4.3% Gloucester Brewery B BRONZE:

Gloucester Gold 3.9%

Cask British Best Bitter

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Bewdley Brewery Worcestershire Sway 5.0% G GOLD: North Cotswold Brewery

Shagweaver XL 5.4% S S ILVER: Wye Valley Brewery Butty Bach 4.5% S SILVER: Mumbles Brewery Lifesaver 4.9% Boss Brewing Company Ltd B BRONZE:

Hiraeth 5.0% Goffs Brewery B BRONZE:

White Knight 4.7% Salopian Brewery B BRONZE:

Hop Twister 4.5%

Cask Session Pale Ale Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Magic Dragon Brewing Green One 4.2% G GOLD: Bewdley Brewery

Baldwin IPA 4.2% G GOLD: Salopian Brewery Oracle 4.0%

S SILVER: Wye Valley Brewery Hopfather 3.9% S S ILVER: Brewhouse and Kitchen Gloucester Quays Shed Head 4.0% S SILVER: The Ludlow Brewing Co. Gold 4.2% Gloucester Brewery B BRONZE:

Session Pale 3.7% Goffs Brewery Lancer 3.8% B BRONZE:

Woodcote Brewing Co B BRONZE:

SPA Supreme Pale Ale 4.2%

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Cask Pale Ale G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

North Cotswold Brewery Freedom IPA 5.2% G GOLD: Mumbles Brewery

Triple Hop Pale 4.7% G GOLD: The Ludlow Brewing Co.

Stairway 5.0% S S ILVER: CBL - Cold Black Label Pirate Bay 5.0% S S ILVER: Stroud Brewery Budding 4.5% S SILVER: Brew Monster Phoenix 4.5% Three Tuns Brewery B BRONZE:

Clerics Cure 5.0% Salopian Brewery B BRONZE:

Paper Planes 4.6% Magic Dragon Brewing B BRONZE:

Dolphin 4.5% Tomos & Lilford B BRONZE:

Southerndown Gold 4.6% Goffs Brewery B BRONZE:

Cheltenham Gold 4.5%

Cask IPA - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Purple Moose Brewery Ltd Navigator 7.0% S SILVER: Clun Brewery Citadel 5.9% North Cotswold Brewery B BRONZE:

Black Jack IPA 6.0% Mumbles Brewery Albina 5.7% B BRONZE:

Wye Valley Brewery B BRONZE:

Glorious IPA 6.0%

Cask Speciality Light Beer G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Purple Moose Brewery Ltd High Hops 5.4% Goffs Brewery B BRONZE:

Jester Brew 6 - Mango IPA 5.0%

SIBA Wales & West competition winners 2022 Overall Winner of the Bottle SIBA South West competition winners 2022 & Can Beer Competition Sponsored by: Fulton Boilers Presented to: Gareth Moore Presented by: Roy Alkin

G DEYA Brewing Company ltd Steady Rolling Man 5.2% S Salopian Brewery Waters of Lethe 11.0%

B Salopian Brewery Automaton 7.0%

Cask Imperial & Strong Beer

Bottle & Can IPA

Bottle & Can Stout & Porter

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY: North Cotswold Brewery Millennium Monarch 10.0%

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Salopian Brewery Automaton 7.0% G GOLD: DEYA Brewing Company ltd

Into the Haze 6.2% S S ILVER: Clun Brewery Citadel 5.9% S S ILVER: Zerodegrees Cardiff Ultimate Synergy NEIPA 5.8% Purple Moose Brewery Ltd B BRONZE:

Navigator 7.0%

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Mumbles Brewery Oystermouth Stout 4.4% S S ILVER: Purple Moose Brewery Ltd Black Rock Stout 4.2% S S ILVER: Three Tuns Brewery Stout 4.4% S SILVER: Stroud Brewery Big Cat 4.5% Bragdy Tanat Telyn Deires B BRONZE:

(Triple Harp) 3.5% Wye Valley Brewery B BRONZE:

Wholesome Stout 4.6%

Bottle & Can Lager

Sponsored by: Abacus Flooring Solutions Ltd

- BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

DEYA Brewing Company ltd Tappy Pils 4.4% G GOLD: Wye Valley Brewery 1985 4.5% S SILVER: Bewdley Brewery Laxford Lager 4.2% S S ILVER: Purple Moose Brewery Ltd Mwsh 4.7% S SILVER: Zerodegrees Cardiff The Bohemian Czech Pilsner 4.8% Gloucester Brewery B BRONZE:

Lager 4.5% Brew Monster B BRONZE:

Premium Pilsner 5.0% The Hop Shed B BRONZE:

Brakel Pilsner 4.6%

Bottle & Can Amber & Dark Lager G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Zerodegrees Cardiff The Beast Black Lager 4.6% Geipel Brewing B BRONZE:

Golden Gate 5.0%

Bottle & Can Pale Ale Sponsored by: ekegplus

G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

DEYA Brewing Company ltd Steady Rolling Man 5.2% G GOLD: Stroud Brewery Hop Drop 4.5%

S S ILVER: Salopian Brewery Tailspin 5.4% S S ILVER: Three Tuns Brewery XXX 4.3% Old Farmhouse Brewery Ltd. B BRONZE:

Bwdi Bay 3.9% Purple Moose Brewery Ltd B BRONZE:

Antlered IPA 5.2% Mumbles Brewery B BRONZE:

Triple Hop Pale 4.7%

Bottle & Can Bitter - BEST IN CATEGORY: G GOLD

Three Tuns Brewery BEST 3.8% G GOLD: Hobsons Brewery

Twisted Spire 3.5% S SILVER: Old Farmhouse Brewery Ltd. Cwrw Clôs 4.2% S S ILVER: Stonehouse Brewery - Ceramic City Brewing Co Muffle 3.9% S SILVER: Magic Dragon Brewing Eyton Gold 4.0% Teme Valley Brewery B BRONZE:

This 3.7% Salopian Brewery B BRONZE:

Darwins Origin 4.3% Bewdley Brewery B BRONZE:

Red Hill 4.4% Wye Valley Brewery B BRONZE:

Butty Bach 4.5% Stroud Brewery B BRONZE:

Tom Long 3.8%

Bottle & Can Double & Triple IPA G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Brew Monster Behemoth 8.0% Clun Brewery Unk IPA 7.5% B BRONZE:

Bottle & Can Amber, Brown & Red Ale G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Salopian Brewery Sienna 4.4% S S ILVER: Hobsons Brewery Old Henry 5.2% The Hop Shed B BRONZE:

Redcap Ruby 4.2%

Bottle & Can Imperial & Strong Ale G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Gower Brewery Co Ltd Super Gold 7.0% S SILVER: Geipel Brewing Bock 6.5% Three Tuns Brewery B BRONZE:

Old Scrooge 6.5%

Bottle & Can Speciality & Flavoured Beer G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Salopian Brewery Waters of Lethe 11.0% S S ILVER: Purple Moose Brewery Ltd Chocolate Moose 4.5% Stroud Brewery Stinger 4.2% B BRONZE:

Bottle & Can Sour & Wild Ale G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

CBL - Lithic Brewing Lemon, Lime & Sea Salt Sour 3.9% DEYA Brewing Company ltd B BRONZE:

Brett Pale Ale 5.1%

Bottle & Can Wheat Beer G GOLD - BEST IN CATEGORY:

Brew Monster Drude 5.2% S SILVER: CBL - Lithic Brewing Wheat 4.5%

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

85

Gold members

Charles Faram Farms and our carbon footprint Charles Faram Farms is a UK grower group partnership created to strengthen the links between growers and brewers.

C

harles Faram Farms works closely with the Charles Faram team on all aspects of our Hop Development Programme and raising standards throughout the grower group through the sharing of knowledge and best practice.

The growers in the group already produce a wide range of varieties, offering top quality hops ranging from the traditional Fuggle and Golding varieties to the low trellis varieties Sovereign, First Gold, Endeavour, Archer®, and the aphid resistant variety Boadicea.

The group also grows a high proportion of the acreage of the Charles Faram varieties.

They are also very conscious of the environment and are looking at new practices to reduce the carbon footprint of the hops grown. This includes growing varieties that use less crop protection products, autumn planting of inter row cover crops, carbon neutral fuel in tractors and for drying in the kilns.

Charles Faram Farm hop growers are very keen to work closely with British Brewers to help them reduce their carbon footprint. Refrigerated shipping adds an extra 0.17kg carbon for every kg of US hops used. Our mission is to produce locally grown hops that can give the same fl avours as those US varieties. This is why we are investing heavily in our Hop Development Programme and encouraging brewers

to recognise the value in buying local, sustainably grown hops, reducing their food miles and helping the environment.

We are also working with growers to investigate the possibility of growing more organic hops. Although this is currently quite challenging, we are working with growers to encourage best practice. We are also adopting organic practices in conventional hop growing and continuing research into soil biomes (the bacteria and fungi in the soil) which we are hoping could provide more progress in the future.

Check out the Faram website or get in touch with the sales team for an up to date picture of all the products available. Whether its hops, malt, dried yeast, finings, kegs, sensory training kits, bottle tops or closures they are very keen to hear from you.

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Gold members

Two academies coming together

Fermentis Academy

We will be hosting a Fermentis Academy for the first time and bringing it to you the day before the Charles Faram Hop Academy.

This yeasty event from the hugely popular Fermentis Academy will be held at the Charles Faram site in Worcestershire. The aim of the event is to share knowledge and educate brewers about all things yeast and fermentation.

The day will cover topics such as: • Fermentation • Rehydration vs direct pitching • Bacteria for kettle souring • The impact of hopping regimes and much more!

There will also be a talk from our Group Technical Director on how to translate hop aroma into your beers!

Charles Faram Hop Academy A great opportunity to learn more about hop growing, processing, utilisation and trade globally.

Plus a hops in beer session, meal and pub tour the night before.

The hop academy is aimed at trainee, new, apprentice and progressing brewers to give a deeper understanding of the industry as a whole, with a main focus on hops.

Charles Faram technical advisors with award winning commercial brewing skills have designed a programme of seminars that contain a mix of lectures and interactive sessions to benefit rising stars of the brewing industry.

“An excellent day, well worth the time. a great opportunity to be able to ask all those questions that are rattling around the brewery. Key members committed their valuable time to assist brewers young and old get further insight into the world of hops. Highly recommended.“

“I would whole heartedly recommend the Academy to all in the business, the knowledge of all who gave there time as speakers and their obvious passion for the industry was impressive.”

Abbeydale CF247 Collaboration

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ur very own Faram Beth recently went for a collaboration day with the lovely people at Abbeydale Brewery.

They were brewing with an experimental hop (CF247) from the Charles Faram Hop Development Programme. CF247 comes from the same family as Jester®, Olicana® and Harlequin®. In their own words “It’s a sticky, oily hop with low bitterness, coming in at 7-8% alpha and promising notes of tropical fruits, red berries and a bit of dank!”

It’s a great time to be experimenting with British hops as their fl avours and complexity continue to develop. Abbeydale chose to brew a single malt beer as well as being single hopped.

The Abbeydale team found that on the rub that it had “an absolute cornucopia of fruit on the nose, with waft s of juicy pineapple sitting alongside homely and comforting raspberry jam.”

“Once infusing into the hot wort, spicier elements came through alongside that jamminess, with a fresh wave of citrus fruit – almost reminiscent of lime pickle!”

They also discovered that the finished beer had “a real lip smacking fl avour, with greengage sweetness and berry fruits, and a gentle bitterness in the finish, at a sessionable 4.2% ABV.”

Faramania Homebrew Competition

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ARAMANIA is a homebrew competition with a valuable input into making hop history.

In February a standard bittering hop and a sample of a Charles Faram experimental variety were sent to the participating brewers from Midland Craft Brewers, Hereford Homebrew Club and Worcestershire Homebrew club.

We watched the progress of the brews through social media and reports from the WhatsApp group as brewers excitedly made regular updates.

The homebrewers were able to trial Charles Faram experimental hop varieties where only a handful of hop cones are yet in existence. This quantity is too small to send to commercial brewers for trial, so this process enables us to fast-track brand new varieties through the Charles Faram Hop Development Programme.

In 2022 the judging took place Saturday 9th April at Sociable Beer in Worcester with commercial brewers and homebrewers on the panels.

The awards were presented to the winning brewers (some of who are pictured here) after the judging sessions.

We then took the judges comments, scores and the large amount of data gathered back to base to analyse and determine which hops to continue with in the programme.

www.wellhopped.com 01905 830734 Follow us @charlesfaram

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Gold members 2.1 Water The water must be potable and should be free of compounds, particularly disinfectants like chlorine, that could impart off-flavours to your final product.

Brewing liquor for pale lager beer (low in minerals) is a suitable starting point for an optimal fermentation. Water should be adjusted for calcium (50-150 ppm) if malted grains are used for hard seltzer production.

BREW YOUR OWN HARD SELTZER OR RTD-COCKTAIL – NUTRIENTS AND BEST PRACTICES 1. INTRODUCTION Consumer tastes, preferences, and trends are changing – constantly!

Expanding into new product offerings gives access to new markets and customers, helps to increase brand awareness, and provides a lucrative opportunity to both craft and large-scale brewers. The hard seltzer boom in the United States has shown that there is a high demand for lighter and low or no-calorie beverages, rather than full-bodied, and calorically rich beers.

Despite the undeniable global success of hard seltzer (valued at $8.95 billion in 2021 1), many brewers, particularly in Europe, are yet to be convinced of its longevity, despite it being expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.9% from 2022 to 2030! While hard seltzer may or may not stay, the concept of making neutral alcohol bases will stay and is a valuable trade to learn.

1.1 Diving into a ‘new’ world Typically, hard seltzers are aromatic, refreshing, low in calories, 4-7% ABV, highly carbonated and packaged in 330ml cans. The liquid is crystal-clear to lightly coloured, ‘spiced’ up with a great array of flavouring (fruit, botanicals, etc.) and accentuated with small amounts of the appropriate acid (e.g., malic, or citric acid). The alcohol in these hard seltzers derives either from a distilled spirit or from a sugar-based fermentation that produces a neutral alcohol base. The equipment required for the production (fermentation), mixing and blending are already present in most brewhouses and when comparing the cost of production, labour, ingredients, as well as energy and cleaning required, the manufacturing of a hard seltzer is significantly cheaper than brewing beer 2. Moreover - another often overlooked benefit - is that the this fermented base alcohol can be used for multiple types of drinks (hard seltzer, RTD-cocktails, one base used for multiple recipes, etc.) - no limit to a brewer’s creativity. Thus, the manufacturing of a neutral alcohol base represents a lucrative opportunity for both craft and large-scale brewers.

However, the process is sometimes plagued with long or stalled fermentations, as well as significant off-flavours in the final product. This is primarily due to i) the absence of succinct nutrients in the sugar solution required for a healthy fermentation, ii) wrong choice of yeast strain, or iii) insufficient aeration, particularly for high gravity ferments. The aim of this article is to review and summarise best-practice techniques for a successful, healthy fermentation to sales strength (4-7%), as well as high-strength bases (12-18% ABV).

2. KEY INGREDIENTS AND PROCESSING AIDS FOR FERMENTED (NEUTRAL) ALCOHOL BASES 12

Mg

Water

Yeast

Fermentables

Yeast Nutrients

• Dilute to ABV sales strength • Add flavouring, acidity • Carbonate • Back- sweeten

Figure 1 Key ingredients for your first (fermented) neutral alcohol base The key ingredients for making a (fermented) neutral alcohol base are simple: water, sugar, yeast and yeast nutrients. The sugar mixture is fermented by the yeast, whilst yeast nutrition is a crucial factor in the overall health and success of fermentation. Managing nutrient requirements not only allows for regular and complete fermentations, but enhances sensory quality. Brewers have to decide whether to ferment to sales gravity or a high gravity for subsequent dilution. The finished fermented product is expected to be as neutral, and low in colour and flavour, as possible (Section 3). Flavourings and other ingredients (acids, hops, sugar for back-sweetening, etc.) are typically added post-fermentation (Figure 1), followed by strong carbonation up to ~2.8 volumes of CO2.

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2.2 Sugar In a successful hard seltzer fermentation, almost 100% of the sugars are fermented by the yeast, resulting in a very dry finished product. Table sugar (white, granulated sucrose), glucose, or in some cases high fructose corn syrup are the most commonly used fermentable carbohydrates. If proportions of the carbohydrate source are derived from alternative sugar sources (e.g., malted grains) that contain levels of unfermentable sugars and colouring material, they will enhance the “body” or “mouthfeel” and colour of the finished product.

Additionally, the availability of different sugars can also affect the formation of volatile compounds, thus flavour, by yeast during fermentation 4.

2.3 Yeast Strains Provided, sufficient yeast nutrients are available, most yeasts will manage to completely ferment the “sugar wash”, leaving a fully attenuated neutral base with no or very little fermentables left. To keep the base neutral, it is recommended to use wine or Distiller’s yeasts for fermentations targeting >10% ABV or >8.0% ABV with or without the option of flavour/odour removal post-fermentation (e.g. activated carbon), respectively.

2.4 Essentials for a healthy fermentation 2.4.1 Nutrients A simple sugar wash, provides only a carbon source with no other factors needed for a successful fermentation. This would result in a fermentation that is incredibly slow and most likely incomplete. Therefore, the addition of yeast nutrition is an essential factor in the success of fermentation! For a healthy fermentation, yeasts additionally require a blend of nitrogen (organic and inorganic), minerals and vitamins, particularly zinc, magnesium and B-vitamins.

It is crucial to add sufficient free assimilable nitrogen for the yeast to accomplish its metabolic activities, particularly the synthesis of new amino acids and, hence, proteins. Whilst brewers are very familiar with the term Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN), wine or cider makers are more used to determining ‘yeast assimilable nitrogen’ (YAN) - the amount of FAN plus ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) in solution. The amount of FAN or YAN required for successful fermentation depends on the yeast strain, pitching rate and the gravity of the original sugar mixture.

Murphy’s ‘Just Add Sugar’ is a blend of nutrients, specifically designed to make clean, dry and clear neutral alcohol base or ready-to-drink hard seltzer. For low and high gravity fermentations- simply adjust your addition rates. This allows for flexibility based on sugar source, water source, gravity, product processing and final product specification.

2.4.2 pH control Sugar fermentations do not have buffering capacity, thus a rapid drop in pH is expected in the absence of a buffer, which could impair fermentation performance and result in a very slow or stuck fermentation. Murphy’s Just Add Sugar Buffer will keep the pH during the fermentation between 4-4.5, allowing for a healthy, dry fermentation.

MAGNESIUM SULPHATE

YEAST VIT

JAS BUFFER

• Keeps the yeast happy (Nitrogen + Vitamin + Minerals) • Prevent sluggish, slow or stuck fermentation • Off-flavour prevention • Improve yeast health during its critical growth phase • Easy to use liquid formulation

• Maintains optimal pH for • Magnesium – an healthy fermentations essential cofactor • Prevent sluggish, slow required in a vast or stuck fermentation number of catalytic • Improve yeast health reactions that protect during its critical yeast cells against & growth phase enhances fermentation • Buffer stabilizes pH performance which leaves room for acid additions post-fermentation to enhance flavours!

JAS MAGSUL

Figure 2 Just sugar is not enough – keep the yeast happy with the JAS components

Gold members 2.4.3 The need for oxygen Yeasts require oxygen to synthesise unsaturated fatty acids and sterols – essential components of membranes and thus yeast growth. The technique to propagate (oxidative growth) dried yeast, already ensures that the yeast has sufficient quantity of these sterols and unsaturated fatty acids and hence stabilises the cells against the drying process. Consequently, that’s why dry yeasts are capable of growth under strictly anaerobic conditions, allowing several rounds of cell division and thus healthy fermentation. However, when using dry yeasts for fermenting high gravity solutions, oxygenation will be necessary to allow healthy fermentation.

1. Fermenting the ‘Sugar Wash’ (up to 18% ABV, pH 4-4.6)

2. Yeast removal & fining

O2 MAGNESIUM SULPHATE

SUPER F

FINEST

3. OFF-FLAVOUR REMOVAL AND FLAVOURING Even with best practice techniques, the final product will contain some colour and flavour, that’s mostly described as wine or cider-like: • Stressed yeast will impart significantly more (off-)flavours, thus, the choice of right yeast strain, sufficient yeast nutrition and optimal fermentation conditions (aeration, temperature, etc.) are critical for gentle and clean fermentation.

• Some yeast nutrients will add a subtle yellow hue to the sugar wash.

Murphy & Son’s yeast nutrient was formulated to minimize colour pick up.

For some recipes, it won’t be necessary to remove residual flavours or colour, as the dilution with water to sales strength or the addition of your flavours of choice will simply ‘cover’ them. Nevertheless, it is quite simple to remove them, as these odours are very volatile. Here are some tips, that can be performed even on small scale: • Activated carbon: Carbon treatment is an excellent technique for colour and flavour reduction of a neutral alcohol base.

• Odour removal with CO2. Carbon dioxide bubbling can help to remove unwanted volatiles.

3.1 Flavouring The final product can be ‘spiced’ up with a great array of flavouring (fruit, botanicals, etc.), accentuated with small amounts of the appropriate acid (e.g., malic, or citric acid) and strong carbonation up to ~2.8 volumes of CO2.

Generally, a reduction in pH to 2.3- 2.5 accentuates flavours, but also aids (microbiological) stability of the product. AMS can be used as a flavourless alternative to malic or citric acid. If some sweetness is required in the recipe, sugar can be added post-fermentation (back-sweetening), however, the product must be pasteurised or stabilised by adding e.g., potassium sorbate as stabilising agent. Calorie content should also be considered when back sweetening.

3. Get creative

4. Package, serve and enjoy

Figure 3 A simple way to creating your first hard seltzer 1A. Adjust Acidity Post-Fermentation Ready-to-drink ferment (low to moderately strong ABV; pH: 4-4.6)

MAGNESIUM SULPHATE

1B. Natural Acidification Ready-to-drink ferment (low to medium ABV; pH: 2.5-3.3) MAGNESIUM SULPHATE

4. RECIPE BUILDING AND PRACTICAL EXAMPLES The following section includes a few recipes, that we successfully tried in our micro-brewery and should help you to get your new adventure started.

Naturally, there are multiple options, and it is your chance to get creative and develop your first hard seltzer or RTD cocktail in your brewery.

4.1 Brewing a neutral alcohol base As shown, in the Figure 3, a simple way to creating your first hard seltzer is by fermenting the sugar wash to sales strength and adding unfermentable flavourings into the finished product. However, if you are struggling with availability of fermenters, one possibility to creating several drinks from just one ferment is by making a high-gravity sugar wash and diluting to sales strength after fermentation.

For production simply add table sugar to water (30-40°C) and mix until fully dissolved. Check the solution strength, dilute as necessary with water and boil the sugar wash for 10 minutes. Cool down to <30°C and add all Just Add Sugar components (Vit+MagSul+Buffer). Cool to fermentation temperature and pitch your yeast. For (very) high gravity fermentations, aerate/oxygenate appropriately, to avoid sluggish or stuck fermentations. Once fermentation is finished, clarify the product by filtration and/or centrifugation. Alternatively, chill your fermenter and add finings (Isinglass or Super F) to remove yeast from bottom of the fermenter. As discussed before, you can optionally strip neutral bases of aromas, flavours and colour by using e.g., activated carbon or carbonation (volatiles only). Voilà – your neutral alcohol base is ready for your recipe of choice.

4.2 Keeping it simple?

Pick your flavoured juices or syrups and add them directly into the fermenter!

Better yet, the sugars sourced from these flavourings will be fermented and leave you with a dry product, with mild residual flavour or aromas present. You can simply adjust the pH of your ferment after fermentation with malic or citric acid, to add some ‘zing’ (Fig 4;1A) and even back-sweeten to taste. Alternatively, as these sugar-based fermentations lack buffering-capacity, you can take advantage of the natural acidification by not adding the buffer (Fig 4;1B). But be careful, as pH decreases, yeast will increasingly struggle to ferment to high strengths.

Figure 4. After 1a and 1b don’t forget your yeast removal and fining with Isinglass or Super F. Package, serve and enjoy!

5. SUMMARY With a few simple steps, you could extend your beverage portfolio and start selling sparkling alternatives and your very own cocktail creations to both beer and non-beer lovers. The key for creating your very first Hard Seltzer, is a successful and healthy fermentation. Provide the yeast with a pool of nutrients, including nitrogen, vitamins and minerals; choose the right yeast strain, and optimal fermentation conditions (temperature, aeration). The rest is simply recipe development, which is up to you – the brewer – to decide. Single, or multi-flavoured? Herbal or tropical? Low-calorie or sweet?

The sky is the limit!

GETTING THIRSTY FOR MORE? If you have any questions or want to discuss the process further, please get in touch with Celina Dugulin, PhD Celina.Dugulin@murphyandson.co.uk References and further reading 1 www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/hard-seltzer-market 2 byo.com/article/hard-seltzer-made-easy/ 3 Chris Colby, How to Make Hard Seltzer: Refreshing Recipes for Sparkling Libations. Brewers Publications, 2020.

4 He et al., Wort composition and its impact on the flavour-active higher alcohol and ester formation of beer – a review. 2014 https://doi. org/10.1002/jib.145 5 White, C & Zainasheff, J 2010. Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. Brewers Publications.

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Brewery news Docks Beers has added a new low strength lager to its range of accessible craft beers.

The 3.4% ABV session lager ‘We Only Sing When We’re Fishing’ is inspired by the town’s heritage and by one of the iconic chants sung by the fans of Grimsby Town FC. Shaz Shadan, Director of Docks Beers, explains the thinking behind the brew: “We have seen great success with our previous football related beers ‘Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Fish’ and ‘We P*ss On Your Fish’ and this new lager completes our hat-trick! We brewed it very deliberately at a lower strength because reduced ABV beers are really coming of age. While the trend used to be for craft beers to push the boundaries in terms of alcohol strength; it’s new lower alcohol alternatives that are resonating most with our customers. We hear increasingly from our drinkers that it’s not about consuming alcohol to get drunk. This new lager has already proved a big hit in the Mariners Trust family fan zone.”

‘We Only Sing When We’re Fishing’ is now available in 330ml cans at docksbeers.com or from their King Edward Street taproom shop. The session lager is also on draught in the taproom and in the Mariners Trust fanzone for the remainder of the season.

Find out more at www.docksbeers.com

To launch the promotion, pubs and venues serving Otter’s award-winning beer will each be sent a ‘Pints Mean Trees’ promotional pack that includes, 10x trees and 10x guards. These can be shared with customers on the signing of a pledge card that commits the new tree owner to care for and nurture the sapling. Also included within the packs will be ‘Pints Mean Trees’ bar

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‘Saving Devon’s Treescapes’ was created to lead the fight against Ash Dieback, which is expected to kill at least 90% of Devon’s Ash trees in the coming years. The aim of the project is to plant and nurture 250,000 trees across Devon in areas outside of woodlands.

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Otter Brewery has partnered with the Devon Wildlife Trust to launch an exciting and ambitious environmental initiative. ‘Pints Mean Trees’ is a specific campaign that will support the Trust’s, ‘Saving Devon’s Treescape’ project, and will commit Otter Brewery to plant a tree for every brewer’s barrel they sell in 2022.

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Otter Brewery launches Pints Mean Trees initiative

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Docks Beers launches new low ABV lager with a GTFC connection

Mike Richards, the head brewer at Docks Beers said, ‘We Only Sing When We’re Fishing’ is crisp, clean and refreshing. It’s a full-flavoured lager which packs a lot into its 3.4%. Building on a base of lager and extra pale malts, some classic German bittering hops lay the groundwork before Huell Melon delivers a hit that’s more refreshing than a stiff Easterly breeze battering the upper tier of the Young’s stand!”

BRE WIN

runners, beer mats, font clips and bar talkers, which operators can use to help communicate the initiative with their regulars.

Patrick McCaig, MD of Otter Brewery is thrilled with the partnership: “Otter has always been an eco-conscious brewery and as a family we’ve deliberately built every part of the business around being as green as possible.

We now believe that it is time to take this commitment to the next level and I’m delighted that Otter Brewery will be partnering with Devon Wildlife Trust to support their ‘Saving Devon’s Treescapes’ project. We are confident that pubs and venues serving Otter beers will be keen to show customers how they are not only backing the project, but also doing something for the environment and we are excited to get feedback and repeat orders throughout the year.”

To enquire about becoming involved in Otter Brewery’s Pints means Trees initiative, please contact Otter Brewery or visit www.otterbrewery.com

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Brewery news

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Salcombe Brewery Co Launches Belgica

Driftwood Spars Brewery raises over £4,500 to help clean the Cornish coast A small Cornish brewery has made a big contribution to the ocean cleanup, raising £4,543 (plus gift aid of £429.25) for the charity Fathoms Free and its Clean Cornish Seas campaign.

The Driftwood Spars Brewery is located in Trevaunance Cove near St Agnes, where, alongside its fellow business and famous brewpub The Driftwood Spars, it provides a little enclave of small-batch beer appreciation on the Cornish coast.

The money has been raised thanks to a decision by Head Brewer Mike Mason and Brewery Owner Louise Treseder to donate a percentage from every sale of the brewery’s Cove range of craft beers.

Mike explained: “Working in this stunning spot, you can’t help but be protective of the precious marine environment. Plus, I’m a keen surfer and Louise is a regular sea swimmer, so we’ve both seen first-hand the sad reality of marine litter.”

Louise added: “Recently, Fathoms Free were called here to the cove. A swimmer had

Salcombe Brewery Co has announced the launch of Belgica, a new Belgian pale ale, the first of a range of small batch beers to be released this year.

spotted an abandoned fishing pot with 50m of rope attached to it. It was posing a danger to marine life, with dolphins and seals at risk of entanglement, but it was also a hazard for the RNLI vessel which launches regularly from here. At sunrise the next day the dive team were here – they quickly gathered the rope and made the pot safe. It’s great to see our donations being put to work here in our own backyard.”

Some of the cash was donated through a Crowdfunding campaign; donations made in this way were doubled thanks to Cornwall Council's ‘Grow Nature Seed Fund,’ which helps local projects to deliver environmental growth.

The cash will be used to fund retrieval dives along the Cornish coast; the experienced team has already recovered a vast amount of ghost gear and aims to tackle 12 major sites in 2022 known to be littered with abandoned fishing equipment and marine debris.

Find out more at www.driftwoodsparsbrewery.com

Head Brewer, Sam Beaman, says: “We are very excited to be launching the first of our new small batch beer range. This novel collection is a fantastic opportunity for us to combine our creativity and expertise to deliver some stunning new beers to complement our award-winning ales. The first of these, Belgica, is a cracking traditional Belgian pale that sets the bar high.”

Belgica (5.0% ABV) is a light amber beer that has a smooth malt base, gentle hop character and bags of flavour from the yeast.

Sam continues: ”We are only planning to brew around three thousand litres of each of these new beers so fans will need to make sure they act fast to experience these limited edition ales. We are already working on perfecting others in the range which will probably include an IPA and a stout. It’s going to be an exciting year for us and our customers as we continue to extend our selection of beer styles!”

Visit www.salcombebrewery.com to find out more

Game set match to Derby Brewing Fresh off the back of its rebrand, Derby Brewing has announced its 6th site, The Clubhouse, a sports and experiential bar in the former Las Iguanas site in a prime location on Friar Gate in the city.

A premium bar sports bar, the site allows customers to enjoy multiple sports at the same time so you won’t miss that important game. The high energy group games include shuffle boards, beer pong, Foosball and a Karaoke booth creating a fun high energy

venue. As you would expect for a Derby Brewing venue there will be an extensive drinks range with Craft beers, world lagers, ales, artisan wines and spirits and for The Clubhouse a fun shot and cocktail menu.

Food wise there’s an exciting menu perfectly suited to this fun concept, featuring artisan pizzas, gourmet burgers and a range of southern style fried chicken again perfect for sharing amongst friends.

venue for a premium sport and high energy experience venue for some time and we are delighted to have secured such a fantastic site. We are hugely excited to bring this new concept to Derby, combining great sport, interactive group games, good times and excellent drinks and food. To combine interactive games and our take on a premium sports bar will make this a must for any Derby night out!”

Paul Harris, MD of Derby Brewing, said: “We have been looking for the perfect

Find out more at www.derbybrewing.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Brewery news

A new West Berkshire Brewery Managing Director is appointed The Yattendon Brewing Company Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yattendon Group plc has appointed Ian Rogers as the new Managing Director of West Berkshire Brewery (WBB).

Ian Rogers joins WBB with a wealth of knowledge and experience of building successful brewery and pub companies.

Having worked for Bass and Allied in the eighties, Ian founded Wychwood Brewery in 1990 at the age of 27. From small beginnings, with one brewer and one drayman, Ian with the help of 3i developed the company into a £30 Million turnover business with 36 pubs and created the famous Hobgoblin beer brand.

Between 2006 and 2020 Ian was MD of Randall’s of Guernsey transforming this sleepy Victorian company into the dynamic and muchloved brewery, distillery, pub and hotel company that it is today.

Ian takes over at the helm of the WBB with the intention of turning this state-of-the-art brewing and packaging company into a force to be reckoned with in the competitive UK craft beer market.

Ian Rogers said: “I am keen to turn WBB (new name coming; watch this space….!) into a cutting-edge craft brewer with unique beer brands, incredible tasting craft ales and English lagers in addition to our award-winning Good Old Boy Best Bitter. When I started my first brewery Wychwood 32 years ago I was at the vanguard of the Craft Beer industry, I basically want to see if I have still got it!”

Find out more at www.wbbrew.co.uk

Hogs Back Brewery marks 30th anniversary with Tongham TEA relaunch Hogs Back brewery is kick-starting the celebrations for its 30th anniversary in style, by putting its home village in Surrey firmly on the map with the rebrand of its flagship ale as Tongham TEA. The new name and accompanying stylish visual update for TEA, or Traditional English Ale, reflect Hogs Back's place at the heart of the community in Tongham and more widely across Surrey. For the first time, the ‘Farm Brewery' statement is included on bottle labels and pump clip.

Hogs Back Managing Director Rupert Thompson said: "TEA was the first beer brewed by Hogs Back when the brewery opened in 1992 and was originally called Tongham TEA. Returning to this name reflects the strong affection that beer drinkers in our Surrey heartland have

for both the beer and the brewery.

"The new TEA design is the deliberate antithesis of the abstract names and designs that currently characterise the craft brewing sector, but TEA is just as much a crafted beer. TEA is a local, natural, fresh beer, proudly from a specific location - everything a traditional English ale should be. The design communicates that simply, emphasising what's unique about Tongham TEA and now with its own distinctly authentic and individual style."

Tongham TEA was the first beer out of the brewery gates when Hogs Back was founded in 1992 and quickly became a favourite with local beer drinkers. It has been the brewery's flagship beer ever since.

Find out more at www.hogsback.co.uk

Yorkshire Wolds businesses collaborate to create unique beer The teams at Wold Top Brewery and sister company Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery have launched Crest, a limitededition lager that has been matured for over a year in casks that had previously contained Filey Bay Flagship whisky from Yorkshire's first single malt whisky distillery.

Of the launch, Wold Top's Brewery Manager,

Alex Balchin said: "The lightness of Landmark lager, with its notes of honey and fresh herbs, takes the smooth and creamy vanilla notes from the Filey Bay Flagship casks to create a delicious, fresh tasting beer with aromas of green apples and a gentle, warming flavour. At 7.9% ABV, this is a very easy drinking barrel aged beer, ideal for late summer evenings enjoyed with friends round the fire pit."

Find out more at woldtopbrewery.co.uk

Alex Balchin with Crest lager

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Brewery news

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Purity Brewing Co makes big impact with sustainable labels Warwickshire based brewer Purity Brewing Company has announced its move away from reliance on conventional plastic labels, which currently saturate the craft beer market, in favour of a new sustainable wood-based alternative.

A company dedicated to making a difference, Purity was founded in 2005 by good friends Paul Halsey and James Minkin who set about building a brewing business with sustainability at the heart of everything they do and has since been brewing with the same PURE ECO ethos ‘crafted with a conscience’ for the past 17 years.

Based on a working farm in the heart of the beautiful Warwickshire countryside, Purity is inspired daily by their local environment and has continually strived to be at the forefront of the sustainable brewing movement. Not

Marble still rolling after 25 years

only are the brewery practices designed to be environmentally friendly they are, where possible, environmentally enriching, as is the case with its unique wetland system, where any waste water is filtered through a series of pools and vegetation and returned clean to the river Avon.

At the peak of the pandemic Purity picked up Green Business of the Year at the 2020 SIBA Business Awards, inspired by the win and not wishing to rest on their laurels Purity set about on a new project. To redesign their labels to not only create impact and disruption at point of purchase but to do it in a way that was sustainable alternative to their current plastic based labels.

Head of Marketing Paul Brazier said: “As a business we’re constantly striving to make difference in the market. At the top of our

The Marble Brewery turns 25 years old this year, and the team have prepared a series of events, tap takeovers and celebratory beers for release over the course of the year.

Head of Sales, Paul Plowman, says: "We decided to pull out all the stops - we know that not every brewery gets to celebrate a quarter of a century in the trade and we're working with friends across the industry to produce some brilliant beers that sum us up from '97 to '22, with an eye on the next 25 years."

The first beer, Birthday Beer No 1, was launched on Friday 22nd April. Head of Production, Joe Ince, says of the beer: "Brewed with our friends at Brewsmith Beers, we really wanted to capture the charm in their oatmeal pales. It delivers a beautiful soft body and a joyful expression of hops."

agenda is working with our suppliers and likeminded partners to find new and alternative ways of working to ensure sustainability stays at the forefront of what we do. Having been recently introduced by Eclipse Labels to a new renewable and sustainable alternative to our existing labels this felt like the right project to championing.”

Applied across their packaged range Purity was first introduced to UPM Raflatac’s Forest Film material by a leading UK label printer Eclipse Labels and was instantly charmed by its sustainability aspects. Forest Film is a 100% renewable alternative to plastics, using UPM BioVerno naphtha, a 100% wood-based solution.

Find out more at www.puritybrewing.com

releases from the brewery's barrel aging programme, one off specials and returning fan favourites.

The Marble Arch Inn, the brewery's flagship pub, will get in on the act too, with a photographic exhibition running throughout the year and Tap Takeovers from friends in the trade. There are also talks from local history and beer experts planned, to celebrate Marble's place in the Manchester food and drink scene.

The team will be holding Meet the Brewer and Tap Takeover events up and down the country, where Joe says: "We want to say thank you to people in the trade and customers alike whose support has kept us going through the years."

Find out more at www.marblebeers.com

There'll be more collaboration beers released through the year, alongside some very special

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Brewery news

Unity Brewing renames flagship beer 'Collision' as 'Only The Sea'

Bluestone Brewing Company launches its first new beers in cans In a constant effort for more sustainability, Pembrokeshire based Bluestone Brewing launched four beers in cans in April.

Bluestone Brewing Co, like many small companies, is always looking for ways to reduce its carbon footprint. The brewery has won several awards over the years for its efforts in sustainable production and is continuing its quest to become a carbon neutral company.

The switch of some of its production to cans was long overdue, and the new core range will be joined by some seasonal and limited editions through the year.

Simon Turner, the Founder of Bluestone Brewing Co, says: “We believe that there is a social responsibility, on all businesses, to reduce their footprints for the benefit of everybody. We want to ensure that our business has a positive impact on the welfare of the next generation. The benefit of cans for the environment has been amply demonstrated, and the fact that it also respects the fantastic flavours of our beers is just a bonus!”

Bluestone Brewing Co’s new can range will be joining the more traditional production of the Welsh brewery that will, for the moment, keep being bottled.

The new cans are: Al Fresco 4.3% - Hazy Pale Ale, Pyjama Republic 4.5% - Wheat Beer, Saint Croix 5.6% - New England IPA and Engelberg 3.8% - Berliner Weisse.

They will be soon joined by a new seasonal in July 2022: The Sicilian 6.1% - Lemon Meringue IPA.

Southampton’s Unity Brewing Co has revealed its renamed signature 6.2% hazy IPA, Collision - now known under its new name of Only The Sea. “This is one of our original and best loved beers, but the name Collision has never felt quite right for a brewery that stands for togetherness,” says Founder and Head Brewer Jimmy Hatherley. “Now, five years on from its first naming, the time was right to reboot its name and artwork. The beer itself is just the same - rich, soft and satisfying.”

Only the Sea - or OTS - reflects how the beer takes inspiration from East and West US coast styles, before bringing it all back home to Southampton shores to become its own thing. It’s taken from French film director Claude Chabrol‘s quote about new wave cinema - ‘There is no new wave, only the sea’ - reflecting the fluidity, fairness and the power of blending ideas.

“We feel beer names are really important and we wanted to move away from the associations of the word ‘collision’ to something more optimistic that also proudly reflects our maritime location,” explains Jimmy.

The distinctive new artwork was developed by Unity’s senior designer Matt Canning. “We came up with the ship's wheel idea, with lots of characters collaboratively steering, giving a visual cue to Unity’s values,” he says.

Find out more at www.unitybrewingco.com

Find out more at www.bluestonebrewing.co.uk

Arran Brewery brews a beer for Ukraine The Arran Brewery has launched a beer called Solidarity, a 2.7% ABV session dark beer, with all the profits going to the British Red Cross.

In the first few weeks Arran had already raised £313 which will be donated directly to the British Red Cross’s Ukrainian appeal.

Arran’s Managing Director Gerald Michaluk said: “It is important we support the people of Ukraine. It’s almost unbelievable that a westernfacing modern country can be reduced to a war zone in days. While we must all unite against aggressors and condemn Putin's war, it is still the reality that words don’t count for much, but actions do.

“It is heart breaking to see such a historic country torn apart by war and we can only hope these funds go a little way to helping those in so much need. All the profits that we make from

the sale of the beer will go to help and we are encouraging retailers to donate the profits they make from the sale of the beer likewise to the British Red Cross appeal. We have produced a first batch of over 2,000 bottles, and if these sell we will brew more and more and more, with the profits always going to the Red Cross.

“When this war ends, as all wars eventually do, it is my earnest wish to see the Ukrainian craft breweries return once more to making beer rather than weapons and we hope to help them do that in any way we can.

“Beer is brewed all over the world and enjoyed by almost every nation, whether with or without alcohol. It is a symbol of what can unite us, Russian or Ukrainian, let’s hope before long they can once more enjoy a beer together’.”

For more from Arran Brewery go to www.arranbrewery.co.uk

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Brewery news

Tap Social Movement upgrades to bigger and better brewery In May 2022, Oxford-based Tap Social Movement completed its move to a new custom-built brewery located in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, just outside of central Oxford.

The move has added 8,000 litres of fermentation tank space with plans to triple annual brewing volume/capacity.

In addition to the core range, Tap Social plans to brew more seasonals at the new site and has several collaboration beers scheduled for the second half of 2022.

Experimental small-batch beers will continue to be brewed at Tap Social’s original brewery and taproom to complement beers from the main brewery.

To date, Tap Social Movement has created

Skinner’s looks to the next generation

more than 50,000 hours of paid employment for people from prisons. The brewer employs former inmates in the brewery, as well as in hospitality roles at its venues and in culinary roles in its kitchens and bakery, as well as across its warehousing and delivery operations.

Tap Social was set up as a social initiative to help retrain former prison inmates, reintegrate them into society and place them in permanent job roles to help avoid reoffending. Amy Taylor and Paul Humpherson – two of Tap Social’s three co-founders/directors – were recently appointed to the Employment Advisory Boards (EAB) at HMP Bullingdon and HMP Spring Hill prisons as part of a new scheme supported by the Ministry of Justice.

Tap Social now has plans to open a commercial bakery this summer in partnership with a local

Truro-based Skinner’s Brewery has embarked on a new phase in its 25-year history, with post-pandemic recovery well underway and new beer releases coming thick and fast.

The new era gathers pace with the release of Skinner’s first new core beer for some time; Summerleaze is a hazy pale ale made in the New England style, with a hop-forward, tropical fruit character.

The major launch follows the release of the brewery’s Hellup! lager in bottle earlier in the spring, the announcement of limited-edition beers - Royal Wave and Kick Off - brewed for the Jubilee and World Cup respectively, and the return of popular seasonal beers Cornish Knocker and Hops & Honey.

National Wholesale Sales Manager, Stuart Hughes, commented: “We had to really pull

coffee roaster.

“Following a really tough couple of years for the brewing and hospitality sector, it's been fantastic to see trade picking back up and renewed enthusiasm from customers for supporting brands with a social purpose. We're incredibly excited to be up and running at our new brewery site and plan to use it to build out our range to enter new markets, and include more seasonals and collabs and enable our beer to reach a wider audience. Every can or keg out the door helps us support roles in brewing and hospitality for some of the most marginalised folks in society, so we're super happy to be growing and are looking forward to a bright 2022,” says Matt Elliott, Director at Tap Social.

Find out more at www.tapsocialmovement.com back to core production during the pandemic, but we’re now switching up a gear again.

We’re back to being the playful brewery people know and love, with limited edition beers and new products to try.”

He added: “We’re especially excited about Summerleaze, as this is a brand which really represents the direction we’re moving. We want to make hazy, hop-forward beer styles, alongside our more traditional and perfectly balanced bitters and ales. Moving forward we’ll have beers that appeal to every type of drinker, using all the knowledge and skill we’ve built up over the years.”

Throughout 2022 Skinner’s is celebrating its 25th anniversary, during which time the independent Cornish brewery has created iconic beers like Betty Stogs, Lushingtons and Porthleven.

Find out more at www.skinnersbrewery.com

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Brewery news

Hand Brew Co celebrates Gold for Shaka and buys a new pub Hand Brew Co is celebrating after Shaka pale ale won a SIBA Gold award at BeerX in March for a session IPA in a bottle/can under 4.3% ABV. “We’re incredibly proud of Shaka - it’s one of the first beers we made, and it quickly became the most popular of our range,” said Jack Tavare, MD at Hand Brew Co. Shaka is a 4% ABV pale ale, bursting with lime zest, grapefruit and orange thanks to a combination of Cascade, Chinook and Citra hops.

The South Coast brewery - consisting of a tower brewery in its Brighton brewpub and a 6000sqft production site in Worthing - has also just bought a new pub in Worthing, The Toad in the Hole. The new site, like Hand Brew Co’s Brighton pub, the Hand in Hand, offers mainly the brewery’s own range of beers with a few select guests. This means it has to offer a wide range for everybody at the bar both in terms of cask and keg and across the ABV range, with the addition of some adventurous specials and collaborations.

“This year, we created a Kviek IPA called Mimir with London’s The Rake bar,” says Jack. “We

Anna Maxwell Martin Launches ‘Thank Brew’ Charity Beer to mark Jubilee celebrations

created a Chocolate Orange Fudge Porter in collaboration with The Fudge Patch. We started our Jukebox series, where each version has a different take on it, but it’s always dank and juicy, and always around 6% - we’re up to Track Three now. We worked with Brookhouse Hops to create a pilsner-style beer with UK hops and malt - we’re trying to work on beers that reduce the miles on the ingredients. This one comes in at 795 miles. We’re about to head out foraging again to the South Downs for our annual Elderflower Saison, called Dayglow Hedgerow.

We love our specials. Now we’re making so much of our core range, we need to keep things interesting - not just for the trade customers, but for our pubs and our team.”

Line of Duty and Motherland actor Anna Maxwell Martin poured the first pint of Thank Brew along with lead Thank Brew brewer Fergus Fitzpatrick at The Old Queen’s Head pub in North London in May. The new limited edition beer was brewed for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.

All profits will go towards supporting Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK and community focused groups across the country. Thirty five breweries - including iconic brands like Adnams, St Austell and Budweiser Brewing Group, the UK arm of AB InBev - and up to 5,000 pubs - including Punch and Greene King - signed up to brew and serve the beer and host events.

Every UK pub, bar, licensed premises and brewery in Britain was invited to take part – a perfect opportunity to say their own big thank you to Her Majesty the Queen and to their local customers and communities.

The initiative has been backed by leading trade bodies including SIBA, UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the Campaign for Real Ale, the British Institute of Innkeeping and the BFBi - the trade body representing the entire supply chain into the

The biggest event Hand Brew Co has put on this year so far was its Unite Brew International Women’s Day collab. Production Manager and Brewer Kate Hyde led the event at the Worthing brewery with a 70+ group of women from all over the South coast and beyond. The main focus of the day was creating a collaboration brew but the day was punctuated with workshops, talks and performances.

Surround Sound is the 5.5% ABV Hopfenweisse that was brewed by the group, with a share of profits going to two important charities: Strut Safe and Common Ground.

For more information go to www.handbrewco.com

beverage industry.

Alcohol free Jubilee IPA from Big Drop was also on sale to public, pubs and licensed premises across Britain.

Launching Thank Brew, Anna said: “This special Thank Brew beer gives us all the chance to do good whilst having a good time on Thank You Day and as we celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. All profits go towards Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK and community groups across the country, so you can rest assured that every sip is all in a good cause.”

Profits from Thank Brew sales will go to help build stronger communities through Eden Project Communities - which runs The Big Lunch, and /together Coalition which runs Thank You Day, and to support Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK to live with families in communities across Britain.

As Thank Brew’s ‘Chief Brewer’ Fergus crafted an easy-drinking 3.5% ABV pale ale, using a classic British ale yeast. And he teamed up with Big Drop to oversee the creation of the unique 0.5% ‘Jubilee IPA’ version, brewed and bottled exclusively by the alcohol-free specialist.

Find out more at www.thegoodbeerco.co.uk/thankbrew

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Supplier news

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Muntons wins Global Brewing Supplier of the year award Muntons has been announced as the winner of the Global Brewing Supply Awards 2022 at the 11th RMI World Barley, Malt and Beer conference held in Antwerp, Belgium in March.

The award highlights excellence in the supply of malt products to the brewing industry throughout the world and is highly competitive.

Muntons was selected in recognition of its outstanding programme of sustainability commitment and action. The company started its sustainability journey back in 2007 because it was the right thing to do and has

Sustaining the ‘pour’ and saving water with the Vegapoint 21

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continued momentum ever since. In the past few years, it has invested in a biomass plant at its Bridlington site, an anaerobic digester at its Stowmarket site and this year has opened the doors to a new biomass energy centre at its headquarters in Stowmarket. Once fully on stream, the firm anticipates it will have decarbonised its maltings by a staggering 83%*.

Muntons is not only limiting its actions to its own business but working collaboratively across the supply chain. Developing partnerships with UK farmers to grow 100% sustainable barley and working with them and global brewers, Heineken, to pioneer

Vega’s innovative new point level switch, the Vegapoint 21, has been installed at Bell’s Brewery in Comstock, Michigan, in the first installation of its kind in the US. The switch solves a major issue for brewers while being kinder to the environment.

With every batch, beer ingredients ferment, and as they ferment, carbon dioxide (CO2) forms. The right amount of CO2 is good for beer. It’s a sign of healthy fermentation, which turns sugars into alcohol and gives it the sudsy quality we all know and love.

During this process, however, excess CO2 forms, and it needs a place to go. That’s where the foam trap comes in.

The CO2 gas can’t be directly vented into the cellar space where people are working because it would create a dangerous work environment. The CO2 can’t be directly vented outside, either, because beer foam commonly travels with the gas. Instead, as pressure builds in the fermentation vessel, the excess CO2 and some foam travel into the foam trap.

As the excess CO2 and the foam fill the foam trap vessel, the foam is suppressed by spraying water on top of it with a spray

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

regenerative agriculture trials with the aim of growing carbon negative barley.

Mark Tyldesley, Group Managing Director of Muntons, said: “This is an award that recognises the outstanding achievements we have delivered together in sustainability so far and gives us every incentive to do even more.

Everyone who works at and with Muntons should be very proud of the work we have all done. The leadership and example we have been able to show on sustainability is inspiring our entire industry.” *Scope 1 & 2 emissions Find out more at www.muntons.com

ball. At the same time, a valve at the bottom of the vessel opens and drains the excess water.

Without any instrumentation on this vessel, the spray ball would constantly run water, whether excess foam was present or not, only to eventually flow down the drain.

Operating the foam trap this way wastes water, and Bell’s saw this as an opportunity to reduce their water consumption.

To achieve overall control of the process, they needed two point level switches – one that could switch the spray ball on when it sensed the foam was too high and another that would switch the spray ball on if the water level dropped too low.

At the same time, Vega was preparing to launch a new set of compact, affordable point level switches specifically designed for the food and beverage industries. The Vegapoint series of capacitance switches hadn’t been launched yet, but Vega Americas had a few early samples available. After learning about Bell’s Brewery’s latest challenge, Vega recommended the upcoming Vegapoint 21 to ensure the water level remained at a safe level.

Find out more at www.vega.com/uk

Supplier news

New CEO at Crisp Malt Stuart Sands has joined Anglia Maltings (Holdings) as chief executive officer.

The group, which comprises Crisp Malt, EDME and Micronized Food Products, was previously led - and significantly developed - by David Thompson, who sadly passed away last July.

In addition to building on David’s legacy, Stuart brings his own skills, ethos and ambitions.

“I’ve joined a fantastic business with great people, and am really looking forward to working with them to see just how much more we can achieve for our customers,” he says. “It’ll be an exciting challenge for us to take the already-strong customer support to new levels. That’s as well as driving forward on our sustainability goals and the innovation work with the ingredients we produce.”

The most recent of his roles was in the USA with the rapidly expanding Country Malt Group. His five and a half years there, first as director of finance, then general manager, embedded him in the captivating world of malt. During his tenure, the Group served the American craft brewing industry whose members numbered over 10,000. This gave him considerable experience in the craft sector and delivering for customers.

A chartered accountant with an MBA (Master of Business Administration), and an impressive track record of leadership with international players, Stuart brings strategic skills, energy and experience to Crisp and Anglia Maltings.

“I’ve joined a company with a century and a half of tradition and heritage. That’s a contrast to Country Malt Group’s mere 25 years of operating. There are lessons from the success of the new kid on the block and we’ll be drawing on some of those as we investigate opportunities for the business. We’ll be paying particular attention to the ones that help us deliver more for our customers.”

Find out more at www.crispmalt.com

Worldwide brewers and cider-makers celebrate at industry ‘Oscars’ Winners from across the world have been awarded for their outstanding beers and ciders at the world’s most historic international beer and cider competition, the International Brewing & Cider Awards.

The prestigious ceremony, held at the Guildhall, London in April, crowned 12 trophy winners – nine beers and three ciders – from around the world in their respective categories.

They included Yorkshire’s Elvington Brewery, which only started brewing in 2020, which scooped the International Keg Lager Trophy for its Mittel Pils. Tokyo-based Spring Valley Brewery’s Juicy Hop won the Speciality Beer

Trophy, while Ise Kadoya Beer, also from Japan, won the Strong Beer award for its Nou ga Trokeru Ultra Heaven 3xIPA. Malta-based Simonds Farsons Cisk won the Non & Low Alcohol category for its Cisk 0.0 and Jersey’s Liberation Brewing Company received the Cask Conditioned Ale trophy.

A three-day judging process to decide the winners took place in November 2021 at the National Brewery Centre in Burtonupon-Trent, UK and comprised working professionals in the brewing and cider making industries from across the globe, led by Chair of Beer Judging, Rob McCaig and Chair of Cider Judging, Gabe Cook. The judges were chosen to reflect the current expertise in the

tasting and commercial evaluation of beers and ciders going into the market.

Ruth Evans MBE, Director of the International Brewing & Cider Awards, said: “Despite being forced to postpone the Awards due to the pandemic, we felt it vital to hold the ceremony to publicly recognise and reward the extraordinary products that have emerged over the past couple of years. Awards like these are so important in raising a company’s profile and help their beers and ciders stand out from the crowd.”

See the full list of winners at www. brewingawards.org/news/internationalbrewing-and-cider-award-winners-2021

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Supplier news

Evolution of bottling at Black Sheep Brewery

Evolution Bottling and Packaging Solutions has recently installed and commissioned a new 6,000bph bottling line at Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire.

Black Sheep Brewery has a long heritage in independent beer production, founded in 1992 by Paul Theakston and now managed by son Rob. Recent expansion of its operations includes a new bottling line installed and commissioned by Evolution’s team of UK based engineers.

At the heart of the beer filling line is an MBF Rinser Filler, Crown Capper, filling 500ml glass bottles. Filling represents a critical stage in the life cycle of beer, and for this reason it must be managed with competence and accuracy, maintaining product integrity throughout.

Talking of the partnership with Evolution BPS, Managing Director Rob Theakston says: “We wanted a machine that was flexible in terms of pack types given the market, and service and maintenance is really important so having a UK based support team in Evolution was critical to us. We are delighted with the relationship we have forged with Evolution.”

Find out more at www.evolutionbps.co.uk

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Thielmann joins keg industry leaders as a founding member of the Steel Keg Association

Thielmann has joined together with other leading keg supply chain players to form the Steel Keg Association.

The Steel Keg Association is a marketingfocused non-profit organisation that aims to increase the volume of beer and other beverages served from stainless steel kegs.

These partners include BLEFA, Hillebrand Gori, Micro Matic, MicroStar Logistics, and Schaefer Container Systems.

The Steel Keg Association’s mission is underpinned by stainless steel’s sustainability credentials. A single stainless steel keg has an approximate lifespan of over 30 years, and at the end of its life, is 100% recyclable. Combined with quality, durability, and hygiene, this makes stainless steel kegs the optimal choice for

transporting and storing beverages.

Dan Vorlage, Executive Director of the newly formed association and MicroStar Logistics VP of Global Marketing, said: “When you choose draft from steel kegs, you’re making the most sustainable choice by removing single-use packages from recycling and landfill streams.”

Research supports this statement. The new ISO-14040 framework Life Cycle Analysis published by Deloitte demonstrates the use of steel kegs is key to a circular economy. Kyle Tanger, Managing Director of Deloitte’s US sustainability practice, said: “Steel kegs are truly one of the best examples of reusability and circularity, with decades of reuse potential. In the US, compared to single-use containers, steel kegs save over 400,000 metric tons of greenhouse

gasses (GHGs) and keep roughly 500,000 tons of packaging out of landfills each year.”

The Steel Keg Association’s mission resonates with Thielmann’s commitment to sustainability. We believe that stainless steel will play a vital role in making the brewing and beverage industries environmentally sound, so we can enjoy quality drinks and protect the planet.

The Steel Keg Association’s efforts will be focused on the US beer market initially, expanding to the UK and Western Europe later in 2022. We look forward to working with the Steel Keg Association to promote the use of stainless steel kegs as a sustainable solution.

Find out more at www.steelkegassociation.org

Oasthouse Engineering invests in new can printing technology Oasthouse Engineering is making a £3 million investment in an automated digital printing solution for formed cans.

This will be the first time in the UK that brewers and drinks producers will be able to have printed cans from an MOQ of 1, with a 360-degree print all the way up the neck of the can. The machine will be able to print to 1,200 DPI photo quality graphics with a number of finishes including textured, gloss, matt and patch finishes. Producers will be supporting sustainability with the removal of labels and sleeves whilst being able to choose several options to support their branding and marketing requirements. The machine can handle all can sizes available to the market 150ml and 250ml slim, 330ml, 440,ml, 500ml, 568ml standard and 330ml sleek.

The machine will be up and running in September.

Find out more at www.oasthouse-engineering.com www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Summer 2022

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Retail Packaging

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SUBSCRIPTION CLUB BEER

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Subscription Packaging

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Transit Packaging

Supplier news Supplier Viewpoint

How Augmented Reality is transforming the drinks industry The team at LemonTop looks at how AI is already impacting the sector…

“Augmented Reality is transforming the drinks industry and at LemonTop Creative, we have embraced this technology, providing a greater interactive experience for our customers. Augmented reality (AR) is a technology we all have access to through digital devices like mobile phones and tablets, that lets people superimpose digital content (images, sounds, text) over a real-world environment.

AR is a great tool to enhance your brewery’s brand awareness to larger audiences. Mobile apps with AR functionality provide a unique brand experience to their users. The use of AR for retail marketing gives a lot of leverage for brewers and suppliers to find ingenious ways for interactions, creating a tunnel for instant feedback.

When you’re selling your beers and products online, AR allows you to provide an interactive and visual experience so that customers can have a more detailed picture of your products and brand while shopping, rather than just seeing a twodimensional image on an ecommerce site.

Recent studies show that 32% of shoppers regularly use augmented reality and 73% of smartphone AR users are happy with their experiences with it. Augmented

Try this sample of Augmented Reality for yourself by scanning the QR Code here and following the instructions on-screen.

Reality statistics prove how the market has adopted the technology and is growing exponentially.

We have always been a company that embraces new technology. In fact, it is one of our core values which meant we couldn’t resist AR. The real benefit of AR over VR certainly from a customer’s point of view is their investment is practically zero, as most people these days have a smartphone or tablet. Android and iOS both have built-in technology to have you experience AR in a few clicks.

Our latest brochure is full of products to view using AR to make it both a tactile and virtual brochure, giving a truly interactive experience. Newly designed products can now be approved by our customers with full 360 degrees of interaction. You can place the product on the desk in front of you, have one 20 feet tall, and take photographs of them in real-world places such as offices, parks, and supermarket shelves, wherever you take your phone.

Our customers also have products they wish to show to potential and existing clients around the world. The cost of shipping, especially in small quantities, can be expensive and time-consuming, so this is where AR can help. AR allows prototype products to be created and accessed anywhere in the world as soon it is ready,

with no shipping needed.

What is the future of AR in retail?

Augmented Reality is often seen as a far-off futuristic technology and a thing of science fiction but that’s not true. AR has already made its way into almost all sectors of the retail industry. We’re not too far from a time when you can be sitting in the comfort of your sofa or drinking your favourite beer in the kitchen, wearing your AR-enabled glasses and experiencing all manner of AR experiences from buying your groceries and checking their ingredients to seeing how your new coffee table might fit with the rest of your furniture without having to step out of the comfort of your home.

The challenges with Augmented Reality E-Commerce will also be worked upon.

To reach a wider range of customers it will need to be able to retain its existing users. As the technology is worked upon and devices become more affordable and readably available, Augmented Reality E-Commerce will become a part of our everyday lives just as going to the shops and browsing products are today.”

If you would like to know more request an augmented reality brochure by emailing hello@ lemontopcreative.com

Bulk Storage & Process Systems installs new bulk malt silo at Felinfoel Brewery Felinfoel Brewery, one of the oldest in the UK, has been brewing on its site in Wales since 1878, producing quality cask ales.

The production of its beer in cans commenced in 1935, making it the oldest canner of craft beer in the world.

The traditional Mash Room is situated on the top floor of the building and until 2020 50Kg bags of malt were delivered for milling and lifted with a sack elevator.

Two years ago a bucket elevator was installed to enable the bags to be unloaded at ground level before being weighed and lifted. Burt with demand to reduce raw material costs the idea of a bulk malt

silo was investigated to bring in the malt using 27T bulk lorries thus eliminating the need to handle the bags manually.

So Felinfoel looked to Surrey and Northampton based company, Bulk Storage and Process Systems (BSPS) to design and install a bulk malt silo and conveyor to the malt elevator.

The design and implementation of the new silo needed to be in keeping with the historic building and BSPS were able to achieve this by designing external wood cladding system around the silo.

BSPS undertook all planning, design and installation with their own fitters.

Find out more at www.bulksystems.co.uk

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

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Supplier news

Rudd Macnamara launches new line of tap handles With the rising popularity of bespoke tap handles to boost the appeal of on bar branding, Rudd Macnamara have added some new products to their portfolio.

Tap handle branding is nothing new, but in the past where they have mostly been popular in the US, the vast majority of offerings here in the UK come from the Far East directly or indirectly via UK agents.

“Though we’ve offered simple wooden variants in the past it wasn’t something we were initially seeking to add to our range due to the foreign competition,” MD Chris Dickinson says. “As with all that is going on in the world with pandemics and the attack on Ukraine, businesses the whole world over are being crushed with supply chain issues, massive cost increases on materials and energy, it’s really trying times.”

During the lockdown period Rudd had the time to develop and hone their processes that have spanned three centuries no less and make production more efficient across all areas of the business. They have looked closely at the ways in which they can make a slick, quality, low-cost tooled tap handle that is on a swift lead time to customers specification.

What Rudd have come up with is in line with their resin filled pump clips. The outer profile can be anything your imagination wants printed externally with your design to either your specification or with advice and input. The business has always had the flexibility to manufacture small and large batch sizes in short or ongoing repeat orders but with new investment in a HP Latex R1000 Printer this now further strengthens the companies capacity for even swifter small batch runs and conversely even larger quantities on time.

Visit www.beerbranding.co.uk or www.ruddmacnamara.com

Clearmark’s flexible labelling system taps into Fourpure’s expansion thirst Located on London’s famous Bermondsey Beer Mile, the Fourpure Brewing Company recently installed a flexible and moveable case coding system from Clearmark Solutions to complement its £2.5million expansion investment, which now comprises a fully automated canning line.

Replacing a legacy ink coder on the case packing line, the ICE Vulcan print and apply labelling system now fully satisfies supermarket GS1 barcoding requirements

by ensuring every single SKU contains a clearly legible Grade A barcode and is positioned in a uniform way.

Supplied with a modular conveyor, engineered to address several specific automation challenges, Clearmark designed, built and delivered the print and apply labelling system to accommodate multiple pack formats, in less than 10 weeks.

Kurt Fletcher, Packaging Manager at the Bermondsey brewery, said: “Before the Vulcan we were hand labelling boxes for a good percentage of our production runs.

It was hard. Either we printed too many

labels which meant lots of excess, or too few labels and were running around to source more. The Vulcan on cue printing is great for us and reduces our wastage.

The physical application is seamless and places the label in the same spot every time, keeping up with our 30 packs per minute.

This would be a tiring and repetitive job for staff to perform.”

Find out more at www.clearmark.uk

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Batch Traceability SALSA data collation

Supplier news

Foss launched new BeerFoss FT Go at BeerX 2022 BeerX 2022 provided the perfect platform to launch Foss’s brand new beer analyser to the industry, the BeerFoss FT Go. It was an opportunity for the Foss team to showcase this innovative analyser and to be able to meet and talk with industry experts nationwide.

The BeerFoss FT Go can simultaneously test multiple essential brewing parameters in wort, fermentation and finished beer (at an affordable price!) ...in fact, many delegates tested their own beers on the analyser at the show, whether it was hazy IPA’s, sour and fruity beers and stouts, it was all in a day’s work for the Beerfoss. All were impressed with the ease of use, time it takes to run a test and performance. The fact that it can connect to the cloud and real-time results can be accessed anytime was a huge hit. Users could really see the benefit in tracking the brewing process in a data driven way; it was as they say, a light bulb moment. It was great for the Foss team to hear such positive feedback from the market.

If you are interested in learning more go to www.fossanalytics.com/en/products/ beerfoss-go

Supplier Viewpoint

Style or substance?

In this issue, Myles Pinfold from WPA Pinfold looks at the challenges of building brand equity…

“For brewers across the UK, disruption continues with both brands and beer styles evolving at a phenomenal rate.

Whilst there is a rush to be seen to be at the style-driven, cutting edge of the market, this is in the face of the significant challenges of supply chain and pricing, as well as the rapid growth across the rest of the alcoholic drinks sector. Brand planning is a challenge at the best of times, never mind in this unpredictable environment.

The USA beer market could help provide insights for those who are reviewing their brand strategies. It has been a bellwether for the craft brewing industry for over two decades, with the likes of Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn, Stone, Odell, Samuel Adams and many other famous names helping to pioneer the craft beer revolution that has made the industry what it is today. Recently the Brewers Association (the trade body for US craft brewers) gave an overview of the state of the sector at its annual conference and there are some interesting learnings and parallels for the UK. Overall annual production for craft beer in the USA in 2021 had bounced back to an all-time high and whilst the volume share for craft of the beer market was over 13%, the value share was double that at a breathtaking almost 27%.

This demonstrates a significant and continued growth in the added value category where brand premiumisation is paramount.

There are also predictors for how the sector is expanding – with over 9,000 US breweries in 2021 and still growing – however overall expansion is slowing and there is a trend towards the philosophy of ‘small is beautiful’.

Brewery taps and brewpubs dominate the market by volume, and percentage growth in microbreweries is significantly outnumbering the regionals.

For the US there is also the threat that craft beer is in danger of losing its crown, with the rest of the alcoholic beverages sectors (especially RTDs) moving into the premium beer territory, by applying craft learnings of strong branding and innovation.

In my experience, we have largely mirrored the craft beer trends of the US and these statistics provide interesting insights for brewers in the UK who are planning for growth. The key learnings are that premiumisation is still in the ascendancy and whilst there is a growing prevalence of beer styles and innovation, as the Brewers Association report states, ‘brand trumps style’.”

Myles Pinfold is founder and strategic director of WPA Pinfold.

Find out more at www.wpa-drinks.co.uk

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Supplier news

The Charles Faram International Hop Awards 2022 The Charles Faram International Hop Awards were established to recognise the commitment of growers in the Charles Faram Hop Development Programme.

The programme was set up to develop new varieties and combat environmental issues.

The growers are also given in-depth feedback based on characteristics they’re looking for, plus aroma & quality.

The results are an excellent way to benchmark best practices and raise quality across all farms.

So, who were the winners?

The Jester®, Olicana® and Harlequin® Cup are all from the UK, where the programme started, so it’s further ahead in releases and development. These cups were all won by Richard Capper of Stocks Farm in Worcestershire.

The overall winner of our commercial varieties again went to Stocks Farm with Harlequin®. It is very apparent that of the 70 varieties judged from different countries around the world, Richard showed consistency in quality and found a formula to be followed.

The early-stage variety category was won

by Mark Andrews for Charles Faram experimental variety CF276.

The winning new variety category was CF321. The feedback and judging means Charles Faram has already instructed CF321 to be propagated ready for the trial plot stage.

Read more at www.charlesfaram. co.uk/news/the-charles-faraminternational-hop-awards-2022/

How to rise to the challenges and sales opportunities of 2022 The team at sales-i shares 8 key trends defining 2022 and impacting revenue for the next year…

“The first quarter of 2022 has proved challenging, on the back of two years of the pandemic. We share these key trends to help Brewers maximise the rest of 2022 and beyond.

1) Insights are imperative. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) offer fast-learning of data to improve customer and product insights. From predicting the best products to sell to digging up new opportunities to cross-sell, upsell and link sales. Making sales teams more efficient with that data they need instantly at their fingertips.

2) Attract & retain talent. Many young people in the workforce, want to know how much a potential employer utilises technology, or is willing to embrace innovation as part of their working life. By offering an effective sales enablement tool, to make data-mining less time consuming and be willing to embrace new technology.

3) Create synergy in your team. With teams demanding more hybrid working, comes the challenge of managing more remote teams. Many sales reps are eager to get back on the road, to succeed, your team needs to be unified. A centralised system and sales enablement tool means your team

can work flawlessly together, improving efficiency for the team, with full sight across all accounts and opportunities.

4) Personalisation is everything.

Comprehensive business reports for every call is a powerful way to do this, and to quickly react to any slip in sales and pick up the phone. Taking a personalised approach to each customer doesn’t need to take a lot. Instead of personalisation being timeconsuming, make it effortless with sales tech removing the complexity so you can go that extra mile to show customers you care.

5) Customer retention is imperative.

With a shift towards sales teams focusing on cultivating relationships with existing customers, there’s a drive towards better customer relationships. Having the right CRM in place maximises conversations, making sure your customers feel appreciated and no customer is forgotten about.

6) The art of value-selling. People have seen or heard most of the tricks of the trade when it comes to being sold something. “Bonding over football or fishing is no longer enough.” They are able to see right through any sales gimmicks. Sell the value or benefit first, not the product features. With a value-based approach to selling, reps will be able to add more value

Supplier Viewpoint

in their pitches.

7) Digital spaces. More interactions will happen in digital spaces. Be fully informed about what you're (virtually) walking into so sales can be boosted, thanks to insights for cross-selling, upselling and link sales.

8) The power of social selling. Social selling enables salespeople to find, contact, and interact with prospects through social media.

When teamed with a value-first approach, you can focus on building genuine connections with prospects and customers.

This helps to grown trust in you and your company, and as trust plays such a huge part in the decision process.” sales-i is a sales tool that brewers use to become more effective with actionable insights into every customer, product, and sale. Book a free a demo at www.sales-i.com/ book-demo or email marketing@ sales-i.com

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Gold & Silver members

Gold members Brewers Select

Silver members

Alfa Laval

Ken Steer Jones sales@brewersselect.co.uk

Rebecca Halpin rebecca.halpin@alfalaval.com

Charles Faram & Co Ltd Any of the Team sales@charlesfaram.co.uk

Anton Paar Ltd

Tertia Rimell tertia.rimell@anton-paar.com

Paktech OPI

Breww Ltd

Pentair Food & Beverage Solutions

Murphy & Son Ltd

Debbie Larkin debbie.larkin@pentair.com

Rankin Brothers & Sons

Jonathan Chaplin sales@core-equip.com

Jim Rankin sales@rankincork.co.uk

Crisp Malting Group

Hannah Waterfield hannah.waterfield@murphyandson.co.uk

Quality, Consistency & Support

Rob Moody rob.moody@crispmalt.com

Festival Glass

Kelsey Cheesbrough sales@festivalglass.co.uk

Premier Systems Ltd Sam Williams Sam@premiersystems.ltd.uk

Thomas Fawcett & Sons Ltd

James Fawcett james@fawcett-maltsters.co.uk

Sales Team sales@vigoltd.com

Framax UK Limited

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Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Timo Leukel timo.leukel@rastal.com

Mike Impson mike.impson@smurfitkappa.co.uk

Elizabeth Smith esmith@framax.co.uk

6ix Process Design

IGC Engineering Ltd

Lewis Russell sales@6ix-pd.com

Chris Hamlett chrishamlettigc@onetel.com

Kegstar

Vale Labels Ltd

John Riches john@valelabels.co.uk

Willis Publicity

Lallemand UK

Sarah Young syoung@lallemand.com

Rastal GmbH & Co KG

Saxon Packaging Ltd

Oliver Baldwin oliver@kegstar.com

Vigo ltd

James Allison James.Allison@napthens.co.uk

Nancy Baker nancy.baker@paktech-opi.com

Core Equipment Ltd

Tim Croxson Tim.croxson@croxsons.com

Vanessa Makings vanessa.makings@muntons.com

Beer Box Shop

Max Andrew max@breww.co.uk

Croxsons

Muntons Plc

Napthens

Simon Hulse sales@beerboxshop.co.uk

Reem Mohsen Reem.Mohsen@closebrothers.com

Andy Mogg hello@lemontopcreative.com

Beatson Clark

Charlotte Pike charlotte.pike@beatsonclark.co.uk

Close Brothers Brewery Rentals

Lemon Top Creative

LALLEMAND BREWING

Carl Andrews carl@willispublicity.co.uk

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SIBA contacts

PO BOX 136, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 5WW

SIBA Head Office: 01765 640441

SIBA Team James Calder Chief Executive james.calder@siba.co.uk Sara Knox Company Secretary sara.knox@siba.co.uk Rachel Harriott Head of Membership Services rachel.harriott@siba.co.uk Neil Walker Head of Comms & Marketing neil.walker@siba.co.uk Barry Watts Head of Public Affairs & Policy barry.watts@siba.co.uk Will Lockwood Public Affairs & Policy Officer will.lockwood@siba.co.uk Louise Henley Membership Services Administrator louise.henley@siba.co.uk Jenna Barningham Membership Services Administrator jenna.barningham@siba.co.uk Elle Spencer-Blanchard Membership Services Assistant elle.spencerblanchard@siba.co.uk

All General Enquiries contact office@siba.co.uk

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Board of Elected Directors Existing members wishing to contact your regional representatives can use the relevant regional e-mail addresses listed below.

For individuals, just type firstname.lastname@siba.co.uk Chairman of the Board Roy Allkin Boss Brewing

East east@siba.co.uk Chair Richard Naisby Ian Rydings Marcus Beecher

Milton Brewery (Vice Chair of the Board) Leigh on Sea Brewery Elgood & Sons Ltd

Midlands midlands@siba.co.uk Chair Anneli Baxter Anthony Hughes

Loose Cannon Brewing Co Ltd Lincoln Green Brewing Co Ltd

North East northeast@siba.co.uk Chair Ian Fozard Joe Joyce Alex Balchin

Rooster’s Brewery Ltd Harrogate Brewing Wold Top Brewery

North West northwest@siba.co.uk Chair William Mayne Paul Jones

Bullhouse Brewing Co Cloudwater Brew Co

Scotland scotland@siba.co.uk Chair Christie Slater Jamie Delap Fiona MacEachern

Consolidated Craft Brewers Fyne Ales Loch Lomond Brewery

South East southeast@siba.co.uk Chair Andy Hayward Peter Hills William Harris

Thames Side Brewery Hackney Brewery Wild Card Brewery

South West southwest@siba.co.uk Chair Paul Arrowsmith Darren Batten Alan Collyer

Isca Ales Ltd Palmers Brewery The Exeter Brewery

Wales & West west@siba.co.uk Chair Buster Grant Rob Lilford Roy Allkin Glenn White

Summer 2022 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Cold Black Label Ltd Tomos & Lilford Brewery Boss Brewing Brew Monster

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