From using up leftover bread to tackling climate change, our pick of three projects that use brewing as a force for good
Use your loaf: Toast Ale
Raise a toast! say those at Toast Ale – and it makes sense in more ways than one. The team makes award-winning beer brewed using fresh surplus bread that would otherwise be thrown away. All profits go to food waste charity Feedback. “To change the world, you have to throw a better party than the people destroying it,” says the company’s ‘chief toaster’ Rob Wilson.
Toast Ale founder Tristram Stuart. Image: Tom Moggach
Social lubricant: Brewdog
Make Earth Great Again is a limited edition ‘protest beer’ by craft brewer BrewDog, launched in response to the decision to pull the US from the Paris climate accord. It contains ingredients sourced from areas particularly affected by global warming – such as Arctic cloudberries – and all proceeds are being donated to 10:10, a charity lobbying for legislation to tackle climate change.
Holy spirits: St Mary’s Brewery
St Mary’s church in Primrose Hill, London, has launched its own brand of craft beer, brewing it in its crypt to raise money for youth outreach work. It got the support of the Bishop of Edmonton, the Rt Rev Rob Wickham, on two conditions: that he got to taste the first pint and that non-alcoholic drinks are also produced. Church-goers have helped refine and name the brews, and sell them on market stalls.
Read more: Eating with strangers: bringing people together through food
Read more: A place at the table: two inspiring UK food projects
Featured image: Tom Moggach
