FOOD & DRINK

A BIG JOB WELL DONE

St Austell Brewery came away with four medals from the recent World Beer Awards, including a gold for Big Job double IPA.

The news comes in close succession to award wins at both the British Bottlers’ Institute Awards (BII Awards) and Europe’s Alpha King Challenge.

The internationally recognised World Beer Awards were held in London during the summer. Big Job was named Country Winner and Gold Winner in the Imperial/ Double IPA category. Proper Job IPA and Mena Dhu stout both won silver medals, while korev lager earned a bronze. Big Job double IPA also came third in the Alpha King Challenge. The competition, run by 3 Floyds Brewing, saw over 80 breweries from across Europe enter to be ranked among the world’s greatest hoppy beers.

The British Bottlers’ Institute revealed the winners of its annual BBI Awards in July, with St Austell earning silvers for its flagship Tribute pale ale and Big Job double IPA, while korev lager was awarded a diploma. Brewing director Georgina Young said: “We are proud to be representing Cornwall on the world stage again this year. Earning national and international recognition from industry experts is the result of many years of hard work from our brewers and beer quality experts.”

SABZI TAKE TWO

Following three years on the high street in Truro, popular takeaway deli Sabzi is expanding and opening a second site in central Falmouth.

Established and owned by former Masterchef quarter finalist Kate Attlee, Sabzi aims to offer something different within Cornwall’s established food industry.

Attlee was born in Cornwall to an Iranian father and British mother - she has been surrounded by international flavours throughout her life.

“The business is very much designed to give people truly delicious and creative food coupled with exceptional service,” she explained.

“As a mixed race woman heading up a business in hospitality, I am keen to demonstrate that we can scale a food concept that has sustainable cooking at its heart, without compromising on style, service or how we look after our team.”

While Falmouth is the newest addition to Sabzi’s portfolio, there are plans to open a third shop in the spring.

Two Cornish brewing opposites have united to produce a new limited edition beer available in both keg and can

From an outsider’s viewpoint, it might appear that one of Cornwall’s largest producers of ales - Sharp’s - and the county’s smallest nanobrewery, Bluntrock, would be natural adversaries: they’re on opposite sides of the road, they have vastly contrasting scales of production and even their names are ‘opposing forces’.

Yet due to their close proximity and shared love of brewing and history, the two actually couldn’t be more excited to be working together. Their first co-conceived small batch brew, Camel Trail Pale Ale, is a hoppy, hazy 4.5% beer, brewed using a

WHEN OPPOSITES COLLIDE

special American IPA yeast strain, and it launched last month.

George Collins, Bluntrock’s head brewer started his career in beer when he moved from his home in Burton-on-Trent, aged 19, to take up a position as a brewer at Sharp’s. He then went on to work at Padstow Brewery before co-founding Bluntrock with Hugo Roads.

Sharp’s technical brewer, Jon Wide, said: “It’s been really fun to work with George and to create the same brew on both of our brewing kits. George’s nano-plant makes 150 litres and our small-scale pilot plant makes over 1,000 litres per batch, whereas our normal scale is up to 25,000 litres per brew so it’s great to brew at different scales and on different equipment.”