Independant Brewer Autumn 2021 by SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers

Issue 7

Autumn 2021

40ft and rising

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Editor’s comment

Welcome to the Autumn edition of SIBA’s Independent Brewer Magazine. Comment on page 8 and also a special Big Interview section on pages 22-27). In our two Business Profiles this time round we meet two very different brewery businesses. Marko Husak, the co-founder of North West food and beer retail chain Bundobust, tells us about the ethos behind the brand and how he has been championing the matching of craft beer with quality Indian street food as well as working on the launch of his own brewery where the beers will feature flavours more commonly found in the street food he serves (see pages 38-45). Time seems to move at a very strange pace since the start of the pandemic, and with the nights now drawing in Summer appears to have been over in a flash this year. This time last Autumn, little did we suspect that we were headed for two more lockdowns and a start to 2021 that most of us would rather forget. But with hospitality finally fully back open and cask and keg beer moving out of your brewery yards again, I hope you are all at least able to begin your journey back to full profitability. Albeit some major challenges remain. Inside this issue we have tried to bring you the usual selection of news, views and inspiration to help you on that journey, and we hear from our new SIBA National Chair Roy Allkin of Boss Brewing about how SIBA is working to support your recovery (see Chairman’s

Meanwhile, Steve Ryan is the founder of 40ft Brewery in London, a business named after the two 20ft shipping containers in which it was started. I rudely interrupted Steve’s summer holiday to chat to him about how the business has grown from its modest roots and learn more about his award-winning retail space, which was named SIBA Best Independent Craft Brewery Taproom at this year’s SIBA Business Awards (see pages 28-35). Beer writer Susan Boyle has taken a look at the Irish craft beer market for this edition of the magazine. It is a market that has changed and developed a lot over the last two decades and has been permanently altered by the pandemic as more consumers have been able to access beers from small breweries than ever before through online sales. She very much hopes this trend will continue and grow in the on-trade as well (see page 19).

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

One of the things the SIBA team has missed the most over the last 18 months is our inperson SIBA Beer Competitions which give us the opportunity to not only taste some fantastic craft beers but also meet our Members faceto-face to find out more about their businesses and how SIBA can support them best. And I’m delighted to report that they’re back! As of August a selection of SIBA Regions are back to running live events, with more returning next year. The ones that we can’t yet bring back will be held virtually, and you can find details of how this will all work on pages 58-59 with the winners of the North East competition on pages 60-61. Until next time, I hope the next three months prove less challenging than the first nine months of 2021 for you and your business. 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 Winter edition will be October 27th. 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)

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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 | Autumn 2021

Contents

News

28-35

9-15 58-59 60-61 62-77 83-95

SIBA news All the news from SIBA HQ SIBA beer competitions An update on our beer competition programme Regional beer competitions The winners and finalists in our North East Beer Competition Brewery news The latest from our Brewing Members around the UK Supplier news Updates from SIBA’s Supplier Associate Members

Comment 7 8 16-17 19 55-57

38-45

Issue 7

Autumn 2021

CEO’s update James Calder pens an ode to independent brewing Chairman’s comment Our first column from Roy Allkin, SIBA’s new National Chair The view from Westminster Our regular political update Irish overview Susan Boyle looks at where the craft beer market in Ireland is headed Technical focus The Brewlab team looks at uses for spent grain and First Key Consulting outlines how to measure your mill output

Features 20-21 22-27 28-35 37 38-45 47-53 78-81 96 98

SIBA membership update Learn more about the latest benefits The big interview Get to know new National Chair Roy Allkin Business profile We meet Steve Ryan, founder of 40ft Brewery Meet the regions Profiles of two of our Regional Directors Business profile Bundobust’s Marko Husak talks about his new brewery and expansion plans Business advice Legal, consumer insight, social media promotion and going green Gold Members Close Brothers and Thomas Fawcett Gold & Silver Members Listing of our key sponsors Contacts Key SIBA contacts

40ft and rising Cover Our cover for this issue features the team from 40ft Brewery pictured on site in Dalston in London’s Hackney. Read more about 40ft in an interview with founder Steve Ryan in the Business Profile on pages 28-35.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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CEO’s update

An Ode to Independent Brewing I’d like to use my column in this edition of Independent Brewer to do something a bit different. This is my ‘love letter’ to the independent brewing industry. But first, and perhaps more importantly, here is why I’m regressing to teenage ways. Over the last 18 months we have had our heads firmly ‘in the trenches’ of Coronavirus. We all have. My team and I have been working tirelessly to try and secure financial support, to communicate and interpret the latest restrictions, to tell Government how wrong they often had it and to call out bad business practices. We have provided support and ‘softer’ benefits too, including linking brewers and suppliers together where we know they could help one another. We’ve also been here whenever you needed to pick up the phone, to rant or to ask for advice. Through all that fighting and through all the isolation the last 18 months has brought, it is easy to forget the reasons why we have fought so hard. Like in any relationship, if you go through a rocky patch it’s wise to spend time ‘falling back in love’, as it were. It’s a difficult thing to say but for many in the brewing industry, myself included, at the lowest points of the pandemic when things have seemed hopeless, even futile, we have asked ourselves, why do we work in this industry? Well, my resolve has never been stronger. These are the reasons I kept coming back to, and will keep coming back to: People. I constantly think about the folks who I have met, and have yet to meet in this industry who care about beer as much as I do. I’ve worked in a fair few industries over the years and I can say with some authority that brewing folks are nicer, more caring, more patient and more passionate than average folk. I’m not going to pretend this is universal or that our industry is perfect. Accuse me of being naïve – but I think more often than not that this is a truism. There is a generosity to share knowledge, to work hard and to have a

good time. Being nice folks will only get you so far, however, which is why our industry needs an organisation like SIBA that can bring us together, to help us organise and work together. Quality. The thing that we all have in common, from hop merchants to kit manufacturers to brewers, is that we all want what we do to be the absolute best. I was brought up to think that if you do your best, you cannot do any more. But if you do less than your best, you will always be left wondering what might have been. I think that most in the brewing industry share that mantra whether they know it or not. That’s an admirable quality. The experience you provide. At its core, working in independent brewing is about providing an experience. It’s about making a product (not just any product, of course!) that connects with people. It can take you back to a different time, or it can be one that provides a totally new experience. A couple of weeks ago, I was sat in a pub with my laptop. This pub had on a best bitter, from a well known regional, and it had some fantastic independent craft beers too. A Grandpa and a Granddaughter walked in. Grandad ordered the best bitter, Granddaughter ordered a fruited sour. So far, so stereotypical.

They went to their table and took a sip of their own beers. They then took a sip of each other’s. At the exact same point in time, they both said words to the effect of ‘not bad that’ and both seemed genuinely surprised and happy. They shared a joke. For the second round they had they swapped, with Grandpa having the sour and Granddaughter the best. In that pub, the presence of good independent beer meant they both enjoyed something they may not have tried before, had an experience, and made a memory. You did that. And you do it countless times in countless places in countless different ways across the UK every day. That’s really cool. Call it a catharsis, but it feels good to remind ourselves once in a while why we do what we do. Give it a try, and fall in love with brewing all over again.

James Calder Chief Executive SIBA

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Chairman’s comment

Introducing our new Chairman I’d like to start by thanking my fellow Board colleagues for electing me to be your National Chairman, a position which I am very proud to hold, but one which I know is not without its challenges. I’ll use this column to talk about those challenges, how SIBA is facing them on behalf of members and the opportunities we have to work together, collaborate, and drive real change in the independent brewing industry. We are as a Nation still reeling from the effects of Covid-19 but I’m keen to look forwards and myself and my colleagues on the SIBA Board, made up of your Elected Directors from breweries across the UK, have our sights set on rebuilding back to a vibrant, growing beer market. Covid has undone years of growth in our industry but it has also changed the way consumers think about beer and more people than ever have discovered their local breweries for the first time, we need to grasp these opportunities where they present themselves and make the most of a changing environment. To do that we need to fight on many different fronts and ensure that breweries are not being hurt by damaging legislation, unfair industry models, or changes to the way we can successfully run our businesses. Of course this means being tougher with Government where necessary but it is also important that we increase the impact of our collective voice – and to do that we need to grow our membership, so that SIBA as a trade body represents as many independent breweries as possible.

Over the last 12 months SIBA gained new member breweries who launched during the pandemic, but sadly we have also lost breweries which were forced into closure by the incredibly tough conditions. Cask beer has, inevitably, been particularly hard hit and whilst volumes are now beginning to slowly return to their preCovid levels, this has not come soon enough for the many breweries who built successful businesses around our beloved cask beer and have now closed their doors. We need to fight on many different fronts and ensure that breweries are not being hurt by damaging legislation, unfair industry models, or changes to the way we can successfully run our businesses. SIBA has to put members first. Not only growing membership by attracting new breweries but by protecting the businesses of our existing members, supporting and growing the cask beer market alongside quality keg, bottled and canned beer, offering new member benefits, services and opportunities, and creating a beer market that allows all independent breweries the ability to trade profitably and sustainably. Increasing membership will only happen when SIBA can clearly set out what we as an organisation stand for, and can expand on and clearly communicate the benefits of membership to all independent breweries. I look forward to bringing my experience of leading other membership associations to the table and helping SIBA grow its reach and its voice, both in Government and the industry.

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

As many of you will know, my brewery, Boss Brewing, is based in Swansea so I know first hand the importance of SIBA being a representative for all breweries, across the whole of the UK - Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England – particularly where legislation such as the proposed Deposit Return Scheme makes trading across borders more difficult. SIBA needs to be a voice for breweries in every corner of the UK, not only working with the Westminster Government, Welsh and Scottish Devolved Administrations and Northern Ireland Assembly, but giving members access to up to date information and advice on the issues that affect your country specifically. During Coronavirus this was particularly important and it’s something I see as an integral part of SIBA’s function moving forwards. As I opened by saying, the industry is going through a period of unprecedented challenge on many fronts and SIBA has to lead that fight, moving towards a better beer industry for as many brewers as possible. Thankyou for your support and for reading my first ever column in Independent Brewer magazine, I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at SIBA events in the future and in particular our flagship BeerX UK event in Liverpool next year. I for one can’t wait to be back and able to share a pint with colleagues once more.

Roy Allkin Chairman SIBA

SIBA news

Free tickets for BeerX UK 2022 for all SIBA Members and your teams

The SIBA team is absolutely delighted that BeerX UK is returning to Liverpool Exhibition Centre from March 1617th 2022 – and we are offering free tickets to all SIBA Members and their teams who pre-register for the event. In the past SIBA has offered one free ticket to all SIBA Brewing Members and Not Yet Brewing Members, but now we’re going even further and offering free tickets for you and your whole team. Supplier Associate Members of SIBA, or breweries that have multiple members of staff who would like to

Apply for a Government Kickstart Scheme grant with help from SIBA

attend, can all do so for free providing you pre-register for your tickets before the event. All you need to do is make sure you preregister before the cut-off date of Friday the 11th March - walk-ins at BeerX UK 2022 will be charged at the standard £30 + VAT ticket price. BeerX UK is the UK's biggest beer and brewing trade event and 2022 is set to be our best ever, with a huge industry trade show, regional beer bars and trade-only beer festival, the SIBA AGM and Members' Conference, the independent Beer and

The Government's Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new jobs for 16-to-24-year-olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment. SIBA is an appointed 'Gateway' for the Kickstart Scheme meaning we can make applications on behalf of members should you ask us to, and has so far helped dozens of SIBA member breweries gain access to the scheme and grants. The Kickstart Scheme was recently changed so you no longer need a minimum of 30 job placements to apply for a grant. You can now apply for a Kickstart Scheme grant by either applying online yourself or getting help from a Kickstart Gateway like SIBA that is already working with the Kickstart Scheme

Business Awards presentations, plus a packed schedule of seminars, talks and panel debates from the beer industry's leading voices. Add to that an expanding schedule of fringe events and after-parties around Liverpool and BeerX UK 2022 is already shaping up to be a must-attend for anyone in the UK beer and brewing industry. Registration for the event will open in due course but in the meantime make sure you mark the 16-17th March in your calendar as BeerX UK 2022 is not to be missed! Find out more at www.beerx.org

Businesses of all sizes can apply for funding which covers: • 100% of the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending on the age of the participant) for 25 hours per week for a total of 6 months • associated employer National Insurance contributions • minimum automatic enrolment pension contributions. Employers can spread the job start dates up until 31 December 2021 and you’ll get funding until 30 June 2022 if a young person starts their job on 31 December 2021. For more information on how we can help you enrol in the scheme simply email membership@siba.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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SIBA news

Help SIBA share ideas on sustainability to improve the industry Sustainability is an important part of SIBA's renewed strategy and we are in the process of developing new tools and advice for brewers in order to help you make your businesses more sustainable in a variety of ways. In the meantime, we want to hear from brewers about existing sustainable elements of your businesses. Are you doing something innovative to make yourself more sustainable? Offering a product or service that will help brewers be more green? Has hydrogen or steam power made a difference to your environmental impact? Has carbon capture for your fermenters reduced the reliance on purchased gas?

Metalhead Brewery wins overall Gold at the SIBA North East Independent Beer Awards SIBA’s programme of regional Independent Beer Awards are back, and nanobrewery ‘Metalhead’ in North Shields has taken home the Overall Champion Cask Beer Award at its inaugural SIBA North East Independent Beer Awards 2021. Having been founded only a year and a half ago and joining SIBA in May 2021, Metalhead won the top award at its first competition, with its beer ‘Pretty Vacant’ – a double dry hopped blonde ale. The other top award for Overall Gold in the Bottle & Can competition went to Swaddle Micro Brewery, that trades as Black Storm Brewery & Taproom in North Shields, which won with its Czech-style Pilsner lager. The awards took place ahead of the Gateshead Beer & Music Festival and are judged by fellow brewers and other representatives from the industry, making these the much coveted ‘brewers’ choice’ awards in the North East – including beers from breweries from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Sheffield. Accepting the top cask beer award for Metalhead was Lydia Soucy, Co-Owner of Metalhead Brewery: “We’re absolutely ecstatic to win! We’ve only been going for a year and a half so to take away the Gold in

our first ever awards is absolutely amazing, we’re over the moon. The brewery is just me and my husband and this means so much to both of us.” “With this beer we wanted to make something which had all the aromatics of a big American IPA but at a more sessionable, drinkable strength,” Lydia added, referring to the relatively modest 3.8% ABV which makes this delicious blonde ale a ‘session IPA’. The winners of the North East Independent Beer Awards will now go on to the National Finals at BeerX UK in Liverpool, March 2022. Hosting the awards on behalf of SIBA was Neil Walker, Chair of SIBA’s Competitions Committee: “This competition was our first in over a year and on behalf of all of the brewers involved I’m very happy to say we’re back! Huge congratulations to all of the breweries who took away awards, the competition was incredibly tight and you should all be very proud of the impressive quality of beers in the judging – and of course particular congratulations go to our overall Gold Champions Metalhead Brewery and Black Storm.” For the full list of winners see pages 6061 in this issue

SIBA wants to pull together the best advice and ideas from across the brewing industry to help improve the brewing industry and make that knowledge available to all. Email membership@siba.co.uk with your thoughts

Government calls on all small businesses to lead the charge to net zero Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng have called on every small business in the UK to take small, practical steps to cut their emissions as part of the UK's journey to net zero by 2050, in the run up to UN Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow this November. Together they have launched the Together for our Planet ‘Business Climate Leaders' campaign, a new drive to encourage small and micro businesses to commit to cutting their emissions in half by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 or sooner through the new UK Business Climate Hub. Find out more and get involved here at www.businessclimatehub.org/uk/

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

SIBA news

FOR

DELIVERING BREWERS

SIBA’s Strategy 2021: Delivering for Brewers

SIBA’s Chief Executive James Calder set out the key pillars of SIBA’s strategy at the SIBA Virtual AGM held this summer. Details of the strategy can be found on the Toolbox part of the SIBA website, with the below one page summary highlighting the key points:.

SIBA’s 5 Pillars 1. Our Vision The United Kingdom will have a vibrant, thriving and sustainable brewing industry. We want consumers to choose, and be able to choose independent beer at a fair price to all.

1. Members’ share of the beer market increases 2. All Member breweries trade profitably 3. SIBA represent all UK independent breweries

Believe in:

96% of Scottish small independent brewers unprepared for Deposit Return Scheme

The overwhelming majority (96%) of small independent brewers in Scotland are unprepared for the Deposit Return Scheme due to be introduced next year, according to a survey by SIBA. The new Government recycling scheme due to be introduced in July 2022, known as the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), will see a refundable deposit added to every bottle and can sold in Scotland as well as hefty enrolment and administration fees for independent businesses and breweries. Although broadly supportive of the scheme there are concerns about its costs and impacts, with 77% of small independent brewers expecting to sell less beer in bottles and cans and two thirds intending to reduce their range of beer available, hitting consumer choice in Scotland.

•

Inclusivity

•

Fairness

Independent Beer is Better

•

Quality

•

Working Together

This comes as the Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson is due to update the Scottish Parliament shortly on his review of the go live date of DRS. Small brewers are calling on him to adopt a stepped introduction of the ambitious scheme and to review the inclusion of internet sales. A stepped introduction would allow Global producers to deliver the scheme first and delay it for small businesses providing them with much needed time to recover from Covid-19 which has seen small brewers lose 10 years of growth and accumulate debts of around £30,000 each. Under DRS, small brewers selling beer in cans and bottles face significant changes and costs including labels, new fees and charges costing thousands of pounds. Cashflows could be hit by having to pay these fees and the deposits up front to the Scheme Administrator. It would also require small companies to provide a takeback service for online sales, which have become essential during the pandemic. According to the survey, 90% of small brewers now have an online shop which provide around a quarter of their total sales. For some brewers up to 75% of their sales are now online. Under DRS, small brewers are expected to provide a way for empty containers to be picked up from people’s homes though a takeback service, even though the vast majority will be returned to local shops directly. Small brewers lack the technical resources to make the changes work, no guidance has yet been provided and the costs of returning containers could be higher than the beer itself.

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Fairness in the

industry, by and for brewers

Delivering for Brewers

Sustainability

To increase

Market Share

Promote Independence

and challenge the dominance of global brewers

•

2. 3.

Our Ambitions

SIBA

To create the conditions for member breweries to grow

Empower Members to

increase profitability

To put

Sustainability

at the

centre of everything we do

SIBA Scotland Director and Managing Director of Loch Lomond Brewery Fiona MacEachern said: “Small independent brewers in Scotland have been hit hard by the pandemic, with pubs closed and sales restricted they have been running on empty for some time. While DRS is a laudable scheme, small brewers just don’t have the spare cash or ability to prepare for its introduction next year. Inevitably given the costs and requirements there will be less choice for consumers and a setback for craft brewing in Scotland.”

The recent survey of SIBA’s Scottish members shows that: • 96% are quite or very unprepared for DRS • 77% said they expect to sell less or much less in bottles and cans as a result of DRS • 77% say they expect to sell less or much less online, with 50% saying they would sell much less • 66% intend to reduce the range of beer available in cans and bottles

SIBA news

Small independent brewers left in limbo over Small Breweries’ Relief changes SIBA wrote to the Chancellor this summer asking for urgent clarification on details of the Government’s plans to make changes to Small Breweries’ Relief. On the eve of the one year anniversary of the Government announcement in July, SIBA urged the Chancellor to end the limbo small brewers find themselves in and clarify what changes would be made. These changes could see more than 150 small brewers paying up to £44,000 extra per year to the Treasury. They could come into force within months leaving small brewers little time to prepare. New academic research shows that Treasury plans could weaken small brewers’ ability to compete with much larger breweries. For over 12 months small brewers have been living under a cloud of uncertainty, unsure what the final changes will be or when they will be introduced.

Cask & Keg

“Small Breweries’ Relief is pivotal for brewers' survival, and we have now faced over a year of uncertainty not knowing when changes will be made or how much extra brewers will have to pay,” said Chief Executive of SIBA James Calder. “This is at a time when pubs have been closed for most of the past 18 months and small brewers are struggling to survive and repay debt. We therefore urge the Chancellor

to support the sector and provide the certainty we need by not reducing SBR for those below 5,000hl.” Currently the UK’s smallest breweries pay 50% of the duty if they produce less than 5,000 hectolitres (hl) per annum, which is the equivalent of 900,000 pints or enough beer to fully stock 15 pubs for a year. Under new Treasury proposals, this 50% threshold will be reduced to 2,100hl, meaning that around 150 small breweries will have to contribute more in taxation to the Government.

Around 150 small breweries will have to contribute more in taxation to the Government. Analysis by two economists, who have previously written extensively on SBR, shows these changes could weaken brewers’ competitiveness against the breweries further up the scale, especially those up to 10 times as large, above 20,000hl. Instead, Professors Pugh and Tyrrall argue: “If there is a wish to remove an anomaly in the current structure, one way to do this would be to improve the duty relief for the 5001- 10,000hl category, rather than withdraw or reduce it for the 2,501-5,000hl category.”

IPA

SIBA Practical Guide to Labelling Issue 6 is now available BEER

Alc. 5.0% Vol.

330ml

SIBA’s practical labelling guide has become one of our most used and valuable member tools and as such we regularly amend and update the guide to ensure that all of the advice is fully up to scratch as guidance changes/develops.

The latest update includes: • Revised allergens labelling

A 3 3

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Bottle & Can

IPA

• Visibility and text clarity guidance • Revised 'e' symbol guidance

BEER

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Alc. 5.0% Vol.

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• Revised Drinkaware guidance link M C

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

Alc. 5.0% Vol.

330ml

To download the guide log in to your account on the SIBA Members’ online Toolbox. If you have any questions regarding the guide, or need help accessing it, please email the office via office@siba.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

for-food-

I Store Cold, Drink Fresh.

IPA

The Guide also includes a link to the Toolbox filing cabinet where you can download all of the relevant logos and symbols you need for your labels, including SIBA's free-to-use 'Vegan Friendly', 'Gluten Free' and 'Independent Craft Brewer' symbols.

SIBA news Obituary

Philip Maile

SIBA’s response to publication of Government's "Hospitality Strategy: Reopening, Recovery, Resilience" Reacting to the publication of the Government’s strategy for the recovery of hospitality this summer, SIBA said the proposals were 'very positive', but that more needs to be done to support brewers, including the introduction of a differential duty rate for draught beer and positive reforms of Small Breweries’ Relief which don't leave small independent brewers worse off.

not receive the same support as the rest of the hospitality sector, leaving hundreds of breweries facing closure.

James Calder, SIBA’s Chief Executive, said: "It is very positive to see the Government tackling head-on the challenges that face the hospitality and brewing sector with the publication of their ‘Hospitality Strategy: Reopening, Recovery, Resilience.’ which includes a case study of SIBA member Purity and the strides it has taken to limit its impact on the environment.

It is essential Government ensure no small breweries see their tax hiked and a preferential rate is introduced for draught beer.

“Importantly Ministers have acknowledged the fact that despite support hospitality businesses have struggled to break even during Coronavirus and the road to recovery is only just beginning. “Small independent breweries had their businesses cut-off at the knees when pubs were forced to close - as 80% of the beer they produce is sold in pubs - but they did

“The measures set out in the strategy to promote and support hospitality businesses are important, but if the Government’s proposed changes to Small Breweries’ Relief go ahead then it will all be for nothing and hundreds of local breweries across the UK could be forced to close.

To safeguard the future of our small independent brewing industry, and give the great British pub a chance to recover, it is essential Government ensure no small breweries see their tax hiked and a preferential rate is introduced for draught beer. “SIBA looks forward to working closely with BEIS to ensure our vital hospitality and brewing industry is given the means to recover and prosper once more."

The SIBA team was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Ludlow Food Festival Chairman Philip Maile this summer, and all our thoughts are with his family and friends. Norman Pearce from Corvedale Brewery, who is part of the Ludlow May Festival team, knew Philip well, and shares some insight into the huge contribution he made to the beer and food community in the region over the years: “A lot of SIBA members and judges would remember Phil as the larger-than-life Chairman of Ludlow Food festival, Phil was the Chairman for a great number of years. Some 13 or 14 years back, Phil asked Peter Amor and myself to look in to holding a beer festival using only SIBA beers so we could hold our beer competition all in one place. "The first year we had 100 beers and the festival lost around £25,000 but Phil had faith in SIBA and its beers. The second year it unfortunately lost money once again, but he still believed that we could turn things around and make the festival as successful as he presumed it could become. Our third year we had over 200 beers and finally it began to make money, if it had not been for the trust and hope Phil bestowed upon us, Wales and West would have been looking for a new home. "With the festival sadly being cancelled like so many events for the last two years it has been hard to think if we would ever get back to our wonderful competition in the castle grounds. Phil was told he had cancer back in April/May time, however the last time I spoke to him back in June he was still trying to sort-out a venue in Ludlow for September. "Sadly, Phil passed away in July of this year. So, let's hope next year will be the best year yet at the festival in memory of the man who had always kept faith in SIBA beers throughout all these years,” Norman Pearce, Ludlow May Festival team and Corvedale Brewery.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

The view from Westminster

Why it might be time for the Government to introduce a lower duty rate for draught beer In recent months there has been growing speculation that the Government is considering a lower duty rate for draught beer. In this article SIBA Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Barry Watts, looks at the implications for small brewers….

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

The view from Westminster

As brewers, we all know that currently beer is taxed (far too highly) according to its alcoholic strength. But what about taxing it on the basis of where its sold? As part of the Alcohol Duty Review, the Government has been giving this some serious thought, raising the possibility that drinks sold in pubs or at the brewery could attract less tax than those sold in supermarkets or off-licences. This could, on the face of it, be a win-win for pubs and for small brewers. Lower taxation could support community pubs and taprooms; encouraging more people to visit and enjoy fresh beer made by small and independent brewers. Different models And there are broadly four ways this could be achieved. One way is via lower VAT on drinks sold in specific locations – such as beer sold in pubs or restaurants. Although this can, as the Czechs recently discovered, become rather confusing for businesses and consumers. Some of our smallest breweries also don’t pay VAT at all (with around 20% of SIBA members below the £85,000 turnover threshold). A second option is through licences. In the past excise duty has been levied on licences to sell or produce alcohol on top of the fee for the licence. This could be reimposed and set at different levels for pubs and supermarkets. However, such a move would change the way excise duty is currently charged (it’s usually on goods rather than licences) and additional taxes would do little to boost the sector overall.

Instead the Government could introduce a rebate scheme for certain venues, similar to the existing Alcohol Ingredients Relief for businesses using alcohol as a food ingredient. Under this pub landlords could claim duty relief from HMRC for every pint they sell. But with 50,000 or so pubs becoming part of a scheme, it would certainty increase costs and time pressures for each pub and for the Government. There’s also a concern that any (almost inevitable) delay in payments could impact pubs’ revenues and margins. Alternatively there could be a different rate of duty for alcohol placed in particular types of containers. In Australia they introduced a lower rate of duty for draught beer in 2001 at 70% of that for packaged beer. Since 2019, this preferential rate has applied to containers of between 8-48 litres which are designed to connect to a pressurised system. Could such a similar scheme be considered in the UK? Until recently this wasn’t even an option. But now we’ve left the EU, and the stranglehold of the Structures Directive, it’s now at least a possibility. Although sadly brewers in Northern Ireland still have to conform to EU rules and we’d want to see them included in any scheme.

However, there are some inevitable details that need to be ironed out to make the scheme work for small brewers. First of all, it is imperative that any new scheme retains the existing Small Breweries’ Relief (SBR) differential at every level. SBR allows brewers to remain competitive against the larger brewers and must be preserved. Secondly, it should not lead to an increase in small pack duty to make up the difference to Treasury coffers. Cans and bottles have become an increasingly important part of small brewers’ sales during the Covid-19 pandemic as the only route to market and will also face significant challenges under the proposed DRS. Thirdly it should apply to every part and every small brewer in the UK, including in Northern Ireland, and any duty savings should be retained and shared by those that need them most, that is, brewers, landlords and consumers. This scheme could result in brewers paying a lower rate of beer duty to HMRC for what they place in cask and kegs of a certain size (perhaps above 20 litres) compared to what is placed in small pack cans and bottles

This scheme could result in brewers paying a lower rate of beer duty to HMRC for what they place in cask and kegs of a certain size (perhaps above 20 litres) compared to what is placed in small pack cans and bottles. Over time this difference would filter through to pubs and (hopefully) to consumers encouraging more people to support their local pub and taproom. A recent report by Europe Economics (commissioned by CAMRA) has shown that just a 5% reduction on draught products could see a net increase of nearly a thousand jobs and an extra 4.5m litres of beer being sold.

And finally it should not result in any additional costs or bureaucracy for small brewers. It should not require any track-andtrace or tax-stamp scheme, which could be so costly that it outweighs any of the benefits.

But to have a real impact the difference in the rates needs to be large and that’s why, in partnership with others, SIBA has been pushing for an ambitious 50% reduction rate for draught beer. This would be a way for the Government to support the industry as it recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic and help to protect our small breweries and community pubs.

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.

A lower rate of duty for draught is actively being considered by the Chancellor and has attracted MP support. We’ll see in the next few months or so when we get more details from the Alcohol Review whether Rishi is bold enough to introduce this proposal.

Barry Watts SIBA Head of Public Affairs and Policy

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Comment: Susan Boyle

Craft beer in Ireland Susan Boyle, an independent drinks writer based in Ireland, takes a look at how the pandemic has impacted the Irish craft beer sector, and what that might mean for the future of Ireland’s small independent breweries...

There has never been a better time to drink beer in Ireland than now. The growth of the craft beer sector over the past 25 years means that Ireland is now home to around 70 craft breweries. It’s hard to pin down the exact number. Given the fluid nature of the beer business, new breweries open, but inevitably, some breweries will cease production. Still, one thing is certain; there are now plenty of great breweries in Ireland brewing delicious beers. The origins of the Irish craft beer industry date back to the 1990s when The Carlow brewing Company (O’Hara’s) and The Porterhouse Brewing Company were established, but in the mid-2000s, craft beer in Ireland really expanded. During the Celtic Tiger era (1995-2007), young Irish people travelled widely, picking up a taste for craft beer along the way. When the economy crashed, and unemployment soared, craft breweries opened. Breweries need space, and at that time, there were plenty of vacant industrial estates and large premises. The breweries established then are now all grown-up; they have more than a decade of brewing experience that you can taste in the beers they produce. Broadly speaking, the next wave of craft breweries emerged from 2013 onwards. These breweries were established as Ireland’s economic fortunes were once again on the up. The demand for Irish craft beer rose as the economy stabilised and levels of discretionary spending increased. And then, in 2020, we had the pandemic. Since the onslaught of Covid-19, it has been fascinating to observe how the Irish craft beer industry has responded to this unprecedented event. Just days before St. Patrick’s Day, a national holiday more famous for the amount of beer consumed than celebrating a fifthcentury bishop, Ireland went into lockdown. All public offices, places of education, and most significantly, pubs (filled to the brim with beer) were shuttered.

While some craft beer brands have made inroads into the on-trade market, Irish craft brewers have long lamented the difficulties of securing tap space or room for their beers in pubs and bars. Since most licenced premises in Ireland are owner-operated, the choice of drinks is at the proprietor’s discretion, yet many publicans’ default is to stock macro-beers. And because the majority of pubs stock mostly macro beer, publicans have been deskilled over the years by large brewing companies and multinationals handling the day to day business of cleaning lines or supplying gas, coolers and hardware. Getting listed in traditional Irish pubs has therefore been a challenge for craft breweries. Many bemused customers realised during lockdown that they lived within walking distance of a brewery, but they couldn’t actually buy beer when they arrived at the brewery gate. At least off-licences were allowed to remain open for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis. They became the focus alongside online sales. Unfortunately, Irish licencing laws made it impossible for many breweries to sell directly to the consumer; most craft breweries have wholesale licences with minimum order clauses. Many bemused customers realised during lockdown that they lived within walking distance of a brewery, but they couldn’t actually buy beer when they arrived at the brewery gate. Thankfully, a number of online beer retailers stepped into the breach. Beercloud.ie was one of them, an enterprise started by Dead Centre Brewing. Dead Centre has a large taproom restaurant with a full licence which they used to start an online off-licence. Their excellent professional relationships with the brewing community meant that they immediately had a fantastic beer selection. Many breweries even

changed to canning rather than bottling their beers to make delivery easier. Located in the very centre of the country (hence the name Dead Centre), it was the perfect position for a craft beer distribution and delivery hub. Ireland is a small country but somewhat tedious to navigate, many breweries expressed relief that they could now just drop stock to a handful of online retailers rather than crisscrossing the country with deliveries. This was particularly advantageous for small craft brewers who did not have distribution with the major retail suppliers. The success of online craft beer sales at the start of the pandemic had a profound effect on consumer behaviour. Customers tended to buy more beer; it made sense with delivery charges and arrived straight to their door. Buying patterns changed, people tried new beers; mixed cases proved very popular, as did 5 litre mini kegs. It is worth remembering that many Irish breweries were founded at a time of economic uncertainty; pivoting and hard graft is in their DNA. This was an advantage during the pandemic and will continue to serve them well. While living through this has taught us that no one knows what the future holds, we can say that while the pandemic brought enormous challenges, it also brought unexpected opportunities. Now that more Irish people have acquired a taste for Irish craft beer at home, they just have to start demanding it in pubs!

Susan Boyle is an independent drinks consultant, writer and researcher based in Ireland. She is an award-winning member of the Guild of Beer writers and is currently pursuing a PhD in beverages at Technological University Dublin.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

SIBA membership update

SIBA Membership: Delivering for Brewers in difficult times

With the industry slowly getting back to some sort of normality and SIBA Independent Beer Awards and Regional Meetings beginning to take place once more there has never been a better time to take advantage of our member benefits, summarised below. From free tickets to BeerX UK 2022, to Government lobbying, promotional opportunities, advice and guidance and much more – SIBA membership offers you the tools and opportunities to run an effective successful brewing business. 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 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.

FREE TICKETS FOR BEERX UK 2022 FOR ALL SIBA MEMBERS & YOUR TEAM In the past SIBA have offered one free ticket to all SIBA Brewing Members and Not Yet Brewing Members, but now we’re going even further and offering free tickets for you and your whole team. Supplier Associate Members of SIBA, or Breweries which have multiple members of staff who would like to attend, can all do so for free providing you pre-register for your tickets before the event. All you need to do is make sure you preregister before the cutoff date of Friday the 11th March - as walk-ins at BeerX UK will be charged at the standard £30 + VAT ticket price.

PRESS & COMMS: KEEPING YOU INFORMED + BREWERIES IN THE NEWS

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. If you would like to see a selection of recent press featuring SIBA members or get advice on how you can attract local press coverage, email press@siba.co.uk 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.

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.

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

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.

SIBA membership update

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

FIGHTING FOR ASSURED INDEPENDENT BRITISH CRAFT BREWERS

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 Version 6 was updated in April 2021. 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.

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. 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. In partnership with the Partnering with Croxons 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/

REGIONAL MEETINGS: IN-PERSON AND VIA ZOOM CLASSIFIED ADS 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

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 | Autumn 2021

The big interview: Roy Allkin

The Big Interview Roy Allkin, SIBA National Chair SIBA’s newly elected National Chair Roy Allkin is the co-founder and owner of Boss Brewing in Swansea, Wales, alongside his partner Sarah John. With a Masters Degree with distinction in Business and a CMI Level 4 Award in Management and Leadership, Roy will be utilising his extensive experience in business development strategy, directing operations and systemisation in his new role at SIBA, and sees a pivotal role for the organisation in raising standards in the industry and promoting the highest degree of professionalism possible. As a commercial brewer, Roy has been active for over five years, having been an avid home brewer for many years prior to this. He was trained as a commercial brewer at Brewlab, BrewSchool and PBC and is also a qualified cellar install and maintenance engineer. Boss Brewing hit the headlines in 2019 when, after applying to trademark its brand name, the brewery received a cease and desist letter from fashion company Hugo Boss and incurred substantial costs defending itself in the legal battle which became front page news. In March 2020 comedian Joe Lycett changed his name by deed poll to Hugo

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Boss in order to support the Welsh brewery, and the business was able to cleverly capitalise on the resulting publicity and growing interest in its beers to offset some of the legal costs. Turning such a negative into a positive and using the headlines to their advantage, Roy, Sarah and the team took home the 2020 SIBA Business Award for Marketing Implementation, to add to a trophy cabinet that already included a SIBA Gold Award and two CAMRA Champion Stout of Wales accolades. Caroline Nodder, Independent Brewer’s Editor, spoke to Roy to find out more about his plans in his new role at SIBA…

The big interview: Roy Allkin

What is your background and how long have you been involved with SIBA?

How often do you meet with the SIBA Board and how are decisions taken?

“My background has always been in business. I own several companies in a variety of different spheres, from languages, to training, property, to brewing, etc. I’ve also previously chaired other regional, national and EU organisations and have been involved in lobbying on various levels including Welsh Assembly Government, Parliamentary and EU organisations.

“The SIBA Board meets three to four times a year with decisions informed by the membership. These views are fed up to the Board through the Regional Board structure so that every decision should be founded from a grass roots level.”

I’ve been involved as a SIBA member for over six years. I got involved as I passionately believe that the industry needs a strong trade organisation to make a positive difference for all of its membership. I think that being involved in SIBA is an amazing way to give something back to this industry that we all love. We need members to have a voice, to be active, to drive our industry forward, and the best way we can do that is by having a strong voice locally and regionally, and that then dovetails into a strong voice nationally.”

How did your election to National Chair come about? “It’s been a whirlwind! I was elected to my Regional Board about a year ago when the Chair of the Regional Board stepped down and I agreed to take over as Chair of the Region. As a Regional Board member I was on the National Board and when a vacancy became available on the National Executive I decided to run for the position and was elected by the National Board. A few months later Ian Fozard stepped down as National Chair when his three year term ended and I decided to stand as National Chair as I felt I had the right set of skills and experience to make a positive contribution and to lead with passion and strength. The National Board showed their faith in me, for which I am honoured, and I was elected to the Chair.”

What do you view as SIBA’s key purpose and mission? “First and foremost SIBA is a membership association that must put the members first. SIBA currently only represents around a third of the industry at present. Our voice needs to become stronger and we need to fight for the members. Increasing membership will only happen when SIBA can clearly set out what the organisation stands for, and what the benefits of membership are. My experience leading membership associations will be invaluable here I feel.”

What are your priorities for your first year as SIBA Chair? “The industry is going through a period of unprecedented challenge on many fronts. I feel it is essential that SIBA is at the forefront of the fight, leading the industry towards a brighter future for as many brewers as possible. My passion for the industry, for business, and for positive and progressive change will, I believe, add a constructive dimension to the role. It is essential that SIBA is at the forefront of the ffight, leading the industry towards a brighter future for as many brewers as possible. Amongst others, we, as an industry, need substantial support to see us through the recovery and the after-effects of the pandemic. We need to be challenging and guiding the SBR and Alcohol Duty reviews and strongly lobbying for fairer systems. We need wide ranging access to market. SIBA is critical in achieving this. Within this area falls the dichotomy of SIBA as a trade body and SIBA as a commercial enterprise via BeerFlex. This is an area that must be carefully considered and addressed with conviction. SIBA also needs to be raising awareness of the Deposit Return Scheme and the implications of the scheme to the industry throughout the UK.”

How have you had to adapt your own business as a result of Cornavirus? “My business has had to adapt as many others have. We swiftly pivoted to small pack, both bottle and can, and also to a stronger online presence and home deliveries. We were lucky in that we already owned our own bottling and canning lines. In addition, we began to concentrate more on contract work (both brewing and packaging) for other breweries.”

How do you bring together opinions and lead such a diverse group of members? “I believe that the only way to bring together opinions is to find commonality. It’s not about one side versus another. It’s about where those sides overlap, or where they share common values and goals. Is it ‘craft beer’ versus ‘big beer’? or should it just be about beer? This becomes even more complicated when you consider we’ve now begun fighting among ourselves with the SBDRC approach to SBR and suddenly the debate has become ‘craft beer’ versus ‘slightly bigger craft beer’. It’s the job of the SIBA leadership, and myself at the head of that leadership team, to find those core values that can unite our membership. There are always negative and positive approaches. Rule with fear or rule with heart? Fear divides us, the heart unites us. That positivity is rooted in a deep sense of trust, and trust is founded on a shared set of values and goals. We need the membership to trust that we are doing everything we can to improve their position.” Continued on page 25

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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The big interview: Roy Allkin

Are there any significant changes that you and the SIBA Board will be implementing in the coming months? “Watch this space. The industry is going through some challenging times right now. We need to consolidate, get back on our feet, and then come out fighting again. The background work on these battles is going on as we speak, with everyone at SIBA, staff, Board Members, Executive, etc working incredibly hard to deliver the ‘5 Pillars’ of our strategy which are: 1. To create the conditions for Member breweries to grow market share

believe that SBR has been responsible for a lot of this transformation and the growth in our sector, but also recognise that SBR could be improved. believe tweaks can be made to an already winning formula to improve the sustainability of British independent craft brewing and now is the time to press these to Government. No brewer should lose any duty relief as the result of any reform. It helps sustain us, it supports consumer choice, it encourages industry employment, it helps drive innovation.

2. To increase fairness in the industry, by and for brewers 3. To promote independence and challenge the dominance of global brewers 4. To empower Members to increase profitability 5. To put sustainability at the centre of everything we do Right now we need evolution rather than revolution. In the coming few years perhaps revolution will be the driving force.”

How do you see the UK craft beer sector changing as a result of the pandemic? “I think that we have all become more resilient, we’ve had to take long hard looks at our businesses and make hard decisions. I think that a lot of brewers will try to make their businesses less reliant on one market sector or packaging type. I also think that the pandemic has brought us closer to our end consumers and that is incredibly useful and powerful.”

What is your view on the future of Small Breweries’ Relief?

I passionately believe that no brewer should lose any duty relief as the result of any reform. It helps sustain us, it supports consumer choice, it encourages industry employment, it helps drive innovation. I believe there are other alcoholic beverages that need to be levelled with beer and that those beverages that currently have an unfair advantage can generate the extra revenue HMRC feels it should be getting. Despite the stating of SBDRC that this is a “done deal”, I truly feel there is still everything to play for and that we have to be bold in our approach NOW.”

BeerX UK is back in 2022 as a live event, how important is that to SIBA as an organisation? “Incredibly important. BeerX UK is the flagship event for SIBA and we should stand proud within the industry. BeerX UK has gone from strength to strength and needs to continue to do so.” Continued on page 27

“My views are very much in line with SIBA. Since its introduction in 2002, British independent craft brewing has been transformed. But the reasons for SBR’s introduction are as valid today as they were back in 2002. I www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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The big interview: Roy Allkin

How would you encourage SIBA Members to get more involved in the organisation?

Have you taken any positives out of the last 18 months of disruption?

“Attend regional meetings, speak up, have a say, complete surveys, anything that the membership can do to inform us what they want is incredibly valuable and ultimately very powerful. More meetings are taking place in person again, but there will be hybrid options to attend remotely if possible. BeerX UK and the annual conference are other extremely useful ways to network, have a say, express your views and be heard. We are here to serve the membership.”

“I love the fact that the pandemic brought us all closer to our final customer and I hope that home deliveries, online ordering, online and in person events, etc will continue to thrive.”

What is your view of ‘big beer’ and how can small breweries fight better for market share? “One of SIBA’s 5 Pillars is ‘To Promote Independence and challenge the dominance of global brewers’ and I believe in this with immense conviction. That doesn’t mean to say that I don’t think there is a place for ‘big beer’. Is it as flavoursome? No, I don’t think it is. Is it a bully? Yes, sometimes. Is market access unfair? I believe so. Do they hide behind ‘craft’ labels and trick the public. Yes, they do. However, there are scales that our membership and independent breweries just can’t attain and that’s where ‘big beer’ has its place. I’m an avid, passionate, die hard supporter of independent breweries and our need for increased market share, but we currently can’t fill all gaps so there’s a need for the bigger players somewhere. They have a market they supply, there’s a large proportion of beer drinkers who want bland insipid lagers. Let them supply those drinkers. I want to produce interesting, flavoursome, creative beers that people will talk about.”

Is route to market still a big problem for SIBA Members and how is SIBA approaching this issue? “We need wide ranging access to market. SIBA is critical in achieving this. Within this area falls the dichotomy of SIBA as a Trade Body and SIBA as a commercial enterprise via BeerFlex. This is an area that must be carefully considered and addressed with conviction. There is also the issue of the tie, and how that fits (or doesn’t) into the overall picture of our industry. On this front, and as per Resolution 1 of this year’s Conference, SIBA is actively progressing an industry wide review by the Competition and Markets Authority.”

Are there any new trends in terms of both craft beer and the brewing business that excite you? “From a beverage perspective I’m enjoying the ways that IPAs are evolving to stay at the top of the pile. Low- and No-alcohol options are really beginning to raise the bar with some wonderful products coming through. Lagers seem to be making a big comeback in the craft world with a lot of innovation going on in this sphere. Seltzers and other craft beverages are interesting too. On the customer side, as I stated above, I love the fact that the pandemic brought us all closer to our final customer and I hope that home deliveries, online ordering, online and in person events, etc will continue to thrive.”

Who do you most admire in the craft beer world and why? “There are many people that I admire and have taken inspiration from over the years. I couldn’t pick just one. This industry is full of enterprising, innovative, and talented individuals. They are all superstars!”

What is your favourite beer and where is your favourite place to drink it? “Other than Boss beers of course! I really like the IPAs produced by Brew Monster, a few of those sipped while sitting on my deck in the sun is heaven.”

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Business profile: 40ft Brewery

Issue 7

Autumn 2021

40ft and rising

Cover Story

40ft and rising The idea of starting up a brewery in two 20ft shipping containers in an abandoned car park in London’s Dalston area is probably not one that has occurred to many people. But that is exactly what professional photographer and passionate homebrewer Steve Ryan decided to do when the chance came up to take the disused site and transform it into a useful community space. The shipping containers, which also gave the brewery its name, were originally attractive to him and his three business partners as a means of launching quickly and cheaply. But they also saw their potential in eventually making the brewery ‘portable’ given the short lease they’d agreed, and could be picked up and moved to a new site if necessary. As it turns out, six years and several lease extensions later 40ft Brewery is still located in the very same car park, albeit with a lot more that 40ft of space thanks to the addition of a fleet of extra containers and an award-winning taproom that can host up to 150 people. The site has become a real community hub, as Steve hoped it would, and the brewery champions its neighbourhood roots at every opportunity, working with local businesses and aiming to make craft beer as inclusive as possible by targeting local restaurants, casual dining sites, pubs and coffee shops. Independent Brewer’s Caroline Nodder caught up with Steve at the end of the summer to find out more about 40ft and his plans for the future…

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Business profile: 40ft Brewery How did you come to launch 40ft and how has the business developed since then?

Business Basics

Name: 40ft Brewery Founded: 2015 Location: Dalston, London Owners: Steve Ryan, Benedikt Ott, Andreas Pettersson and Fredrik Pettersson Annual production: 2,500hl Brewing team: 3 Staff: 9 Core beers: Disco Pils (4.8% ABV German-style Pilsner), Dalston Sunrise (4.4% ABV Hazy Pale Ale) and Neighbourhood IPA (6% ABV West Coast IPA) Production split (cask, keg & small pack): (outside of lockdown) 90% keg and 10% small pack

“I used to live with Andres and Fredrik in a house share and they got into homebrewing by doing a course at London Fields Brewery in 2013. So we started homebrewing. I got interested in it through my best friend in California who was also a homebrewer, and lots of people we knew we homebrewing at the time. We then became friends with Benedikt Ott, who was then the head brewer of London Fields Brewery. He helped us with our homebrewing and we helped him by drinking his beer and built up that friendship. My main job prior to this was as a professional photographer – food and drink - and Andres is a photographer also, so we had a studio in Dalston in a shared working space there called Bootstrap. They have three big buildings there with several 100 people working there and the carpark they had was right behind the buildings but nobody used it. So they said let's try and make the space a bit more useful, more productive. And they did an open call competition to see if anyone wanted to start a business or move a business into this yard. A bakery moved in called Dusty Knuckle and they took a 40ft shipping container and put a bakery in it. We were always bringing in our homebrews for people to try. So the landlord basically approached us and said ‘do you guys want to start a brewery here?’. And we had looked around at some of our local pubs, and our desire at the time was only really to have our beer on tap somewhere. And so we were going to move from the kitchen into the basement of our local pub, the Three Compasses, but we thought, well, we could do a shipping container. And so we had a chat with Ben, he was head brewer at Truman's Brewery at this point, and we asked him and we realised that someone

When we were starting out six years ago craft beer was still quite exclusive and we wanted our beer to be for everyone.

was going to have to quit their job. And it was going to be a very expensive hobby. We did the math, figured out all the mechanics, and worked out in order for it to wash its own face it was going to have to be a proper brewery. So we got a little bit disheartened. But then Ben said, that although he loved his job he had always wanted to have his own brewery. So he'd be up for joining us. So we went from being three drunken artists, to having an actual scientist with us. And it became a real thing. I wrote the business plan. And Ben then quit his job and joined as the head brewer. We started with two 20ft shipping containers stacked on top of each other, and we were called 40ft Brewery. Also, I'm Irish, and in Ireland there is a famous swimming spot called ‘the 40ft’ rumoured to be 40ft deep, so that's a little homage to home as well. Another reason we did it in shipping containers is because we had a short lease on that space because it's actually Hackney Council who own the carpark and we only had five years on it. And we figured we could pick up the containers and move them. But now we've got an extension of another five years, we’ve got two years left, and we've added more shipping containers as we've grown.”

What is the ethos behind your beers? “We launched with two beers. When we were homebrewing, we were always making American pale ales. They were really kicking off over here. So we were trying to constantly perfect our favourite version of that at home in our homebrewing. Then Ben is from Cologne, and his favourite beer is a Kolsch. So we launched with those two beers - a Kolsch that we called Larger, because it was larger than a lager, and a pale. Now, six years later, they are not part of the core range anymore. You can only get those at the taproom and at one or two local sites you can get Larger still. We've changed our core range to mainly Disco Pils and Dalston Sunrise, but the ethos of our beers is still the same, which is that we make beer for drinking. The ethos of the whole brewery really is that we're a neighbourhood brewery. When we were starting out six years ago craft beer was still quite exclusive and we wanted our beer to be for everyone. We want to be inclusive, especially with where we are in Dalston, Hackney is the most diverse Borough in the country so we wanted to be appealing to everyone and not just to the beer geeks. Beer has been bringing people together for centuries so we wanted to make sessionable, inclusive beer. With the exception of Neighbourhood IPA which was just launched recently most of our beers have always really been between 4% and 5% [ABV]. Also our focus was on again, proximity - we wanted to be in everywhere you could walk to, and we wanted to make craft beer the standard, to normalise it. In casual dining in particular, we wanted to give easy access to great craft beer.” Continued on page 31

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Business profile: 40ft Brewery

What do you do differently at 40ft? “In 2015 I already thought the market was too crowded at that point, so how do we stand out? What we actually did, just from a pure design point of view - because craft beer cans were just so loud, and there was so much colour we went the complete opposite way with clear cans. Larger was in a white can and Pale was in a silver can, and we just had 40ft stamped on it. Our tap badges have always just been the 40ft logo too, keeping it really simple. Then as a brewery again, focusing on where our beer is sold, we don't have the high aspirations of growth, growth, growth - back when we started, every brewery was doubling and tripling and quadrupling and crowdfunding - we've grown very organically, literally adding shipping containers. And focusing on the fact that we're a neighbourhood brewery. All of our permanent lines get their own exclusive beer mat which has our logo on the front and on the back it has their name and how many feet they are from us. Really tying in to the fact that you can really only get our beer in East London and into Soho and a few places in South London. As a photographer I work with a lot of restaurants and chefs who are incredibly proud that their ingredients are sourced within 20 miles or whatever, and I constantly go back to them and say, ‘that's incredible, but why then do you have Budweiser on tap?’ Beer sometimes feels like a second class citizen. We want to champion that access to great beer and if enough of us do that in our own local areas, that's wonderful.”

How have the events of the last 18 months affected your business? “It's affected us dramatically, which is no surprise. We don't have a supermarket contract, and I feel like only breweries that had a supermarket contract did well during the pandemic. We didn't get any direct support apart from the furlough scheme. And it came at the worst time because in March you're relying on Dry January invoices, you're gearing up for spring, so your working capital is at its tightest. It was the middle of the month, right before invoices start getting paid and the week before payday. I guess the furlough scheme was great, but that money didn't come through for six to eight weeks. It was very much about me putting in my own money to pay payroll for the first bit, and the first few weeks were very scary. Having said that, I furloughed everybody except for one guy and me and him just hustled for the first lockdown. I kind of enjoyed the challenge - we set up a web store, we did home delivery – and I figured out how to get the beer around the city, to get it nationwide and then I figured out how to get it all around Europe. We were constantly coming up with new ideas every couple of days. We came up with the idea of doing a bar tab for our taproom – doubling whatever they put on the tab - and we raised a good bit of money with that which got us through quite a bit of the first lockdown. I was wanting to make sure I paid my suppliers and also we were topping up our staff pay as well so we needed to constantly have that extra 20% every month. Also we didn't like the idea of flushing any beer down

the drain so we managed to bring in mini kegs – we were one of the first breweries to bring mini kegs into East London. We managed to get all of the beer that was in tank and repurpose everything that was in keg. So the first lockdown was stressful, but we managed to innovate. The year really pushed us to try new things, do new things. And it's definitely shifted the business in a good direction, although it's been really tough. The second lockdown we worked the whole way through because it was only a month in November and we were promised Christmas but that really messed us up because I didn't furlough anybody. That was the real hurt because we went from brewing all this beer for pre-orders for Christmas to then being stuck with a ton of beer in Dry January. The third lockdown being the longest of the lockdowns we ended up just treading water because no one thought we'd be closed for as long as we were. It's like every week there's a new fire to put out. We're back open now but there's so many things that are still out of our control. Haulier shortages was the latest issue – we couldn’t get our beer picked up for canning runs. Even our logistics company that deliver our beer last week didn't have enough drivers, so it was really difficult to get beer to pubs in time for bank holiday weekend. There's no normal week anymore.” Continued on page 33

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Business profile: 40ft Brewery

We started with the two 20ft containers and then we got a 40ft shipping container that we put alongside that and the taproom was in there.

How has the retail side of your business developed since you launched?

What main challenges are you facing right now as an independent brewery in the UK market?

“We started with the two 20ft containers and then we got a 40ft shipping container that we put alongside that and the taproom was in there. We had a bar with six taps, and we had kegs to sit on for about 20 or 30 people and we have a yard where we hosted a lot of events. We would have a lot of community events as we wanted to engage with the community, especially all the different groups. So we had a 40 shades of Green St. Patrick's Day event, and we had Dalston Beer Day where we would invite lots of local breweries to come in and pour beer. And we had Dalston Food Day where we invited a lot of local restaurants to come in and do food. We had a Turkish event where we invited local Turkish musicians and Turkish food suppliers to come in. We would do all these different events maybe once a month for the local community. Then as we've grown we’ve made it a bit more of a regular thing. And last summer when people started returning to pubs we decided to open seven days a week – we’ve only recently stopped doing Mondays - so we're not doing as many events now we see it as more like the taproom being the neighbourhood sitting room. We've re-worked our decking space and built shelters, and we can sit 150 people outside now.”

“I guess we've got the uncertainty of winter now. And the government - you can't really trust what they're going to do next, especially on things like Small Breweries’ Relief (SBR), and we're right in the firing line for that. It's one of the biggest attacks on craft beer, and it's being led by bigger breweries, and a government who doesn't have the time to pay any attention to us, or hasn't paid any attention to us. We're so busy putting out the fires that are currently there every week that we haven't even got a chance to address this. And I'm afraid that's just going to come in without us being able to do anything about it. It's going to be the next ‘pandemic’ for us. And then the third thing is that everyone's hurting right now. Pubs, restaurants, breweries, everyone's hurting. And so this has given the macro breweries a real opportunity to take customers away from us with fancy retro deals and upfront cash for taps. We've lost a couple of accounts from that. But actually because we're so relationship based with our customers, the only ones we've actually lost were the most recent ones we took on, where we actually haven’t had a chance to really work together, or places with high staff turnover where new managers have come in. There's been all this talk about a ‘new normal’ but that hasn't even been established yet. Every week is different and it's really hard to plan.”

What do you think the craft brewing sector can do to address issues around sexism and bullying that have come to light recently? “We do have an existing zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment, which has been in place prior to this coming out. However, this news wasn't a surprise. Having come into this as an outsider six years ago, I was quite surprised when I started seeing some of the misogyny, even in beer names, and how most beer festivals were just 99% male. So it doesn't surprise me, what's come out, but it has really disgusted me the level of stories that have come out. It's just been absolutely shocking. And it's something that we talk about, as a small team, we talk about it regularly. We've had a lot of new starters coming on so I have made it very much part of the induction process. It's something that we discuss explicitly, whether it's procedures for if a staff member feels uncomfortable because of another staff member, or whether staff feel uncomfortable because of customers. Then we also have the system in place the Ask for Angela scheme for customers who feel uncomfortable because of other customers. There are so many different ways for people to feel threatened in this scenario, so we tried to figure out the best way to evolve our policies to make sure everyone feels safe. We're still working on it, and I hope everyone else is doing that to some extent as well.” Continued on page 35.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Business profile: 40ft Brewery

How important is sustainability to your business? “Well, from the very beginning I guess we're a brewery in a repurposed carpark so that reduces car usage! We're using recycled shipping containers. So from the very beginning, it's been at the forefront. When we did our refurb two years ago, we built the indoor taproom, and our floorboards are from an old school gym, our materials are very ethically sourced, our insulation was wool. So that was very much part of what we did. We are a key keg free brewery. So we've always used steel kegs, which make their own mark on the planet, but at least we reuse them. We were already working prepandemic on how we could be better and we've talked to people about different energy sources, and even better ways that we can recycle our grain. We were looking at ways of creating our own energy on site before the pandemic - unfortunately our focus has shifted in the last while to survival but it's definitely at the forefront of where we want to be.”

How does 40ft contribute to its local community? “Dalston Sunrise, a beer that we launched as we came out of the first lockdown in July last year, is the first time we've used the name Dalston in a beer name. We are giving a percentage of our profits each month from the canned sales of that to a local grassroots charity or initiative in Hackney. We vote on it internally every month. And we've supported everything from Hackney migrants, to a soup kitchen to a couple of our customers’ pubs that were doing school packed lunches. And as we grow that beer I want to be able to give more each month.”

How do you see the UK craft brewing scene changing over the next few years? “When we started only six years ago, I was going around trying to sell beer naively, and it was hard, a lot of places, a lot of restaurants, were quite hesitant. In six years, things have changed dramatically to the point where craft beer is a lot more accepted. My hope for the next few years, and trying to be optimistic, is that craft beer will just become the standard beer and we will be able to normalise that and every restaurant will have wised up and give craft beer the place it deserves.” Craft beer will just become the standard beer and we will be able to normalise that and every restaurant will have wised up and give craft beer the place it deserves.

What are you proudest of during your time at 40ft? “I think there's been a few. When my favourite restaurants are taking our beer that's really amazing. That's a regular proud moment. But I think probably the proudest moment during the last 18 months was during the first lockdown when we launched the bar tabs and the webstore – and it was just ‘here's something we've never done before, and let’s see how it works’. Just throwing it out there on social media, and having the community rallying around, and we sold £15,000 in bar tabs in about four weeks. That flooded in and we were able to pay wages before furlough kicked in again, and I could pay suppliers. And then also the team as well, people would be calling up asking when they could come back from furlough, and asking if there was anything they could do. it went from being the business that four of us set up to that realisation that it's bigger than you and a lovely moment of realising lots of people are loving this thing.”

What is your all-time favourite beer? Are there any current trends in the beer world that particularly excite you? “We've always had a lager as our main beer, whether it was Larger or now Disco Pils, and what excites me is that it's easier for us to sell now that lagers are being popularised again. There’s lots of different styles of those now and it's almost a relief in a way. It's great that lager is being celebrated and given us some time in the spotlight.”

“I guess Disco Pils, if it's one of our own beers. But if it's not our beers then I will always have a soft spot for it, especially now that I'm home [in Ireland] - a Guinness. It's great.”

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Meet the regions

Name: Mark Anderson

Name: Peter Hills

Region: North East

Region: South East

Contact details: mark.anderson@siba.co.uk

Contact details: peter.hills@siba.co.uk

When did you first get into brewing?

How did you first get into brewing?

"1985."

“I used to help my Grandad make those terrible homebrew kits when I was a kid. When I was quite a bit older I started homebrewing properly with my, now, business partner, Jon Swain. We decided to turn a hobby into work about 10 years ago when we founded Hackney Brewery.”

What do you love most about the industry? "To be able to lovingly make a product, see it being enjoyed in a pub and having a pint or two as well." How long have you been involved with SIBA and why did you join? “Maxim Brewery joined SIBA in 2008 primarily to gain access to the tied market via Beerflex but also to join an organisation that represents the smaller brewer.” What do you see as the most important part of your SIBA role? “I joined the SIBA Board as a regional trustee in 2014 as I felt that my experience of many years in the industry working for very large breweries and now a smaller brewery would help guide SIBA in its policies and decision making.” Why should Members get involved in SIBA locally? “SIBA needs the input of Members to formulate policies, actions and campaigns both nationally and locally. It is vital that Members get involved to have their voices heard.” How is your brewery facing the challenges the pandemic has thrown at you? “Approximately 40% of our production before the pandemic was Double Maxim in bottle form, sold to the public as well as multiple retailers, cash and carrys and the pub trade. So we were able to build on this and produce a variety of bottles for a Covid secure drive through service. Whilst staff involved in servicing the pub trade were furloughed, we were able to continue brewing, keep our yeast going and balance the income with outgoings so that we are in a strong position to grow and support our on-trade customers with their recovery.” What do you see as SIBA’s most important role in 2021? “For 2021 it has to be the campaign to protect smaller brewers from possible changes to the SBR scheme. It is quite astonishing that the Government is not consulting or announcing the details of a revised SBR scheme, which makes planning for next year and beyond quite impossible for many small brewers.” What is your favourite beer in your region other than your own? “I’m still partial to a well-kept and served pint of Timmy Taylors Landlord.” Who do you most admire in your local brewing community and why? “It’s not a cop out but I could not single out anyone in particular, we have some great brewers, breweries, licensees and general beer supporters.”

What do you love most about the industry? “I like that it’s a constantly changing industry as brewers strive to learn from each other and to make better beers. I like that styles and tastes change and I like that good brewers, the ones I respect the most, are generous with their knowledge and like to talk about what they’re making, how and why.” How long have you been involved with SIBA and why did you join? “We joined SIBA about six months after we started brewing, largely as a resource of knowledge and assistance. We worked with DDS/Beerflex for a while until we switched over completely to keg beer around five years ago. We’re still members for all the reasons we joined.” What do you see as the most important part of your SIBA role? “If there’s one thing I’d like to help achieve it’s increased transparency between the SIBA Board and the membership. The Board are working hard behind the scenes but it’s always seemed like a bit of a black box to me. We’ve started by distributing write-ups of Board meetings to the membership and I think it’s important for the membership to be able to see how their elected trustees are representing them and voting on their behalf.” Why should Members get involved in SIBA locally? “Like most things, you get out what you put in. There’s a finite amount of resource any organisation has. If there’s something you want to see happen then volunteer and make it happen.” How is your brewery facing the challenges the pandemic has thrown at you? “Full disclosure, it’s been tough and I’m not going to sugar coat it. We used some of the downtime to move the brewery to a really nice facility with taproom, but we’re mostly a draught brewery and although things are starting to pick up it’s still a bit of a scary waiting game.” What do you see as SIBA’s most important role in 2021? “I think SIBA has to continue to support and represent its Members during these tough times." What is your favourite beer in your region other than your own? “I can’t answer that without upsetting people can I? There are so many good brewers. I’m still a big fan of Kernel Brewery who were so influential in the emergence of craft brewing in London and are a class act in the way they carry themselves.”

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Business profile: Bundobust

Marko Husak (right) with Mayur Patel

It started with a Tweet Indian street food and beer concept Bundobust started with a Tweet. Co-founder Marko Husak, then operating his European-style craft beer bar The Sparrow in Bradford, was contacted on Twitter by his now business partner Mayur Patel who was looking to branch out from his family’s high end Indian restaurant in the city to focus on a more casual street food concept. Patel suggested the pair work together on a beer and food matching event at the bar, which went down a storm and led eventually, via a series of pop-ups, to the founding of Bundobust, a casual beer and street food concept that now has three standalone retail sites across the North West as well as a newly opened brewery and tap bar/restaurant in Manchester.

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Its beers reflect the flavours of the Indian street food the brand specialises in, using ingredients such as coriander and chai to give them a unique taste and enable them to match perfectly with the food. The new brewery means they are now able to take production in-house and will supply all four restaurant sites in keg. Plans to expand Bundobust in the future could well see the brand grow nationally, and with its distinctive branding and unique food and beer offer it has rightly carved out a very successful niche in the casual dining market, historically slow to embrace craft beer. Caroline Nodder from Independent Brewer spoke to Marko about the ethos behind the brand and his plans for the new brewery…

Business profile: Bundobust How did you come to launch Bundobust and how has the business developed since then?

Business Basics

Name: Bundobust Founded: 2014 Location: Brewery in Manchester, retail sites in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds Owners: Marko Husak and Mayur Patel Annual production: N/A (brewery site opened September 2021) Brewing team: 1 Staff: 65 (including retail staff) Core beers: Peela (4% ABV Hazy Pale Ale), Dhania Pilsner (4.8% ABV Coriander Lager), Kipsy Bhai (4.8% ABV Kellerbier), Chaitro (5% ABV Nitro Chai Porter, East is East (6.5% ABV New England IPA) and West is West (6.5% ABV West Coast IPA) Production split (cask, keg & small pack): 100% keg

“I opened a beer bar in Bradford in 2011 called The Sparrow, and at that time 10 years ago, there weren't many places pushing amazing beer in the North or in London or anywhere else in the UK really. We had the North Bar, we had Mr Foleys we had Port Street Beer House, the York Tap – we had all these amazing places but it was still kind of new. We had all these amazing pubs. But this was kind of a European style cafe bar. So I set that up in 2011, and my business partner Mayur Patel had a family restaurant called Prashad, which started out as a small deli in Bradford then slowly moved into a small restaurant that served the local Indian community in Bradford. They got a bit of a name for themselves. They were on Gordon Ramsay’s Great British Restaurant, they won some awards and they wanted to be more of a fine dining restaurant. So Mayur my business partner missed the days of it being a bit more casual and a bit more about doing the street food and the deli and Mayur Tweeted me at The Sparrow and said ‘do you want to get together for a beer and food matching event?’ So we went up with six beers and Mayur and his family cooked six dishes. And it was like a structured beer and food pairing event. It was a ticketed event, we did that for two nights and it sold out, it was very successful. Then Mayur came to The Sparrow and did some street food snacks and began selling them behind the bar, we were pouring beer, we did that for a few nights and that went very well. So we thought this was not a bad idea and we should potentially consider doing something more permanent. That led on to us doing a series of pop-up events. The first event we did as Bundobust was at the Leeds International Beer Festival eight years ago this weekend [August Bank Holiday weekend].

And then, while we were doing these pop-up events, we found a site. So we were working on making the site nice in the week and doing popup events at the weekend to spread the word and make a bit of money. And we finally opened our first site in July 2014. Followed by our second site in Manchester in December 2016 and Liverpool opened 2019, and we’ve got the brewery opening in two weeks’ time [September 2021].” Mayur Tweeted me at The Sparrow and said ‘do you want to get together for a beer and food matching event?’ So we went up with six beers and Mayur and his family cooked six dishes.

What is the ethos behind Bundobust? “Good quality Indian street food in a bar setting. It's not really a restaurant, it has more of a bar vibe. Amazing food, amazing beer and a casual environment, fantastic staff and service, good value, at a reasonable price. When we launched seven years ago at our first site no one really was doing beer and food. Casual restaurants weren't really doing beer. Posh restaurants would focus in on wine, they might have had Peroni on the bar maybe. And we just saw that as a real opportunity. The majority of people like Indian and spicy food, a lot of people like beer, and we just put them together and create a kind of accessible to all environment where you can call in for a pint and a snack or you can come in for a full blown meal and a few beers.” Continued on page 41.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Business profile: Bundobust

Dan Hocking Head Brewer at Bundobust Brewery Manchester.

What makes Bundobust stand out in a crowded market? “It has got more crowded and more people are doing beer now and that's fantastic. You can go to a great restaurant now and they’re thinking about the beer list, and you can get a good pint in most places. There's obviously a lot more places selling fantastic beer. What we've always wanted to do to stand out is put the two together in a way that no one else is doing. And the next progression for Bundobust to keep ahead in a crowded market is to start brewing our own beer. A lot of people can do a collaboration with a local brewery, a lot of bars and restaurants can maybe do a white label beer where a brewery makes it for them, and they rebadge it. But not everyone can brew their own beer on their own kit, and supply their own bar. So that was something we always wanted to do in the back of our minds. And something we've been working towards. And it just makes the business a bit more sustainable, we can rely on our own products that we are making, we make the food fresh in house anyway, so why not make the beer fresh? It just adds to that guest experience as well, I think, just knowing where the beer comes from and that we’re doing it all ourselves. I think that's what's going to differentiate us from other competitors, not just in the Indian casual market, but I guess the casual dining market as a whole. We don’t like to do dish and beer pairings specifically, but obviously we use ingredients from the kitchen. So the coriander seeds, we toast them in the kitchen before we put them in the brew, the chai in the chai spiced porter we do is a custom blend of the same time chai that we use in our chai tea with fresh ginger. It's added a bit of fun, and we need to explore that a bit more.

We still want to make beers that you can drink on their own after you’ve finished eating the food, but when you do drink them with food they are adding another dimension or resetting the palate or adding a bit of spice or tropical notes.”

What inspired your retail concept? “It was inspired by European beer halls, Indian street food canteens and markets and things like that. When you go to Europe you can go to a good bar and they do good food. Whereas in England at the time, I think you're either going for a drink or you're going for a meal. We wanted to put the two together, and we always thought we'd sell more beer than food actually, but in reality over the years we are definitely a restaurant when it comes to the food and beer split. I think it's 70% dry sales compared to 30% wet sales. So statistically, I guess, we're more of a restaurant but it appears to be more of a bar. Just having that casual format, we wanted you to feel like you could call in for a drink or half a pint when you're waiting for a train or a bus or you can come for a meal, you can come with a group, you can come on your own and it is just about making it comfortable for everyone. We want to make it an occasion that suits all occasions.”

How has the pandemic affected your business? “It has affected the growth really, it has probably knocked us back a year or so. We were supposedly going to launch the brewery in May 2020. So that's about 18 months delay. But on the flip side, we've had a chance in our brew house to brew on the kit, refine the recipes, experiment. So that's a bit of a blessing in disguise. We are launching the brewery from a

place that we're happy with rather than rushing it out. But yeah, it's been a tough time. I mean, all similar businesses are in the same boat. We started to have to think outside of the box a little bit. So we did an online shop to sell some packaged stock and we did a cook at home meal kit that was successful and sold out. But when we were doing these things, we realised it's great that we can do that but what we really want to focus on is serving customers in our restaurant, serving our product, our beer in our own restaurant. So it taught us to focus as well in a way, we just really needed to focus on preparing for coming back. Coming out better and stronger. Mayur worked on a bit of a culture and vision piece, we did a lot of jobs we didn't have time to do when we're up and running. But we're back out of it now, so hopefully we're going back in the right direction.”

What main challenges are you facing as a business right now in the UK market? “Staff to grow. We need good staff, and attracting the right people is going to be a challenge. Touch wood we’ve been fine. We've had a few people that have wanted to have a career change during lockdown, people are reassessing what they want to do in life, but we've managed to find some new amazing people for the business. I think that that's going to be the issue not just for us but for all hospitality businesses it’s about getting the right people. Being the best employer with the right culture is important. Finding the right sites at the right price, that’s a challenge as well if we want to grow the business. But it’s definitely about people. People make the business.” Continued on page 43.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Business profile: Bundobust

What do you think the craft brewing sector should be doing to address issues around sexism and bullying that have come to light recently? “I think the way that some craft breweries have been growing, they've been moving fast, but they probably haven't had the time to put a culture piece in place. And I think it's absolutely imperative. It is something that we really want to work on - trying to be the best that we can be. And that's where we're at really. We have got an HR advisor that we have on board who's helping us with putting all this in place. It's about being transparent in the business with all our team members and making it an enjoyable place to work as much as we can. I know a lot of people have been talking about it and if people are talking about it it's bringing it to people's attention.”

Why do you think restaurants have been so slow to adopt proper beer offerings? “I guess it’s always been a traditional match, a restaurant and fancy wine, and I'm guessing with the beer offering that they do probably get a nice little package from a major brewer to put their products on the bar. That means they can’t put independent products on which does happen - you get offered a wedge of cash from one of the big four brewers to have their beers

on exclusively, and some people are tempted by that. Some restaurants work at certain GP as well. So if they're getting an 8% IPA on the bar, they'd have to sell it for more than they would in a club or a craft beer bar, and it just becomes a bit too expensive. It's getting better though. I think one place that did it well before Bundobust was Byron Burgers back in the day, they always had interesting beer on. Who is doing it well now? Gary Usher with his current group of restaurants. There's a place that I like in Sowerby Bridge called the Moorcock Inn where you can get lambics with your food. But it's still not out there, out there to be honest.”

How important is sustainability to your business? “We're working on a project at the moment because all our pots that we use are compostable pots. We have a waste partner who picks up all the pots and they get sent to an anaerobic plant where they are anaerobically digested under the ground and that produces methane and that produces renewable energy to power houses and things like that. So we're working on a project to see how much energy that creates, and if it's any better or worse than using plates and having a tap running 24 hours. Everything's made from plants or renewable energy, 20% of that gets recycled 80% gets turned into renewable energy. The problem with a lot of these compostable pots, they have to be

sent to the proper plant for it to be any good. If you just put them in a bin, it's not doing what it should be doing. We get a monthly report. It's something we want to shout about once we have all the facts, because I think a lot of people think single use is bad and in a lot of ways it is. But we want to prove by facts and statistics that it is going to create renewable energy. We don't have meat on the menu, which is good, and we do really want to be carbon negative. And we're working through all of that.”

How do you see the UK craft beer scene changing over the next few years? “I don't have all the answers but I think people are going to rediscover the classics. We've seen that with the boom in everyone brewing lager beers at the moment, which is fantastic. I think people get introduced to craft beer by these big bold, extreme flavoured beers but I think once you get into it, you want to go back and see where it all started and taste the Belgian Trappist ales and the best bitters. It's about appreciating where it all came from. You can see that a lot of breweries are starting to do best bitters and lagers and it's nice to see, I think, that not everything has to be extreme and there's a beer for everyone.” Continued on page 45.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Business profile: Bundobust

How can small brewers compete more effectively against ‘big beer’?

What are you proudest of since launching Bundobust?

“It is tough to be honest. How we work with a brewer like Northern Monk or any local brewery is that we've committed to buying X amount of beer with them, they have a permanent line, and they're happy because we are selling a lot of beer. And we want a reasonable price for that, so there has to be a price that works for everyone. The brewery needs to be happy with that price so they can make good margin. And we need to be happy with that price. So it works for everyone. Having a permanent line in bars and restaurants does help the brewery. And I think smaller breweries can be more nimble. A big brewer can’t do a collab beer with a local restaurant like a small brewer can, and it’s more exciting to have that on the bar than a mass produced lager. It just gives that restaurant or bar a bit of a point of difference.”

“A few moments really. I guess the big one was getting the Observer review with Jay Rayner. That was a big moment, and that's what put us on a different level. We always ran a pretty successful business but that changed everything, especially in Manchester, there were queues out the door every day when we got that review and that really helped put us on the map.

Are there any current trends in the food world that particularly excite you? “In terms of food, it's been a strange one as there's not been many openings in the last 18 months. I just like the way that everything's getting super regionalised. You'd have an Indian restaurant back in the day that covers the whole food of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Now you get regional Indian restaurants focusing on one cuisine, same with Italian food, where you'd have an Italian restaurant which was pretty much Italian food made for English people but now you can go somewhere that focuses on, say, Sicily, and it's just a bit more regionalised and a bit more authentic. People have travelled more over the last few years and people want to eat the real stuff and not the stuff that was always made for the English palate.”

We're making beer for ourselves. It's the most ambitious and biggest project we've ever done. Collaborating with breweries that I admire, that’s a big one as well. The brewery as a next chapter that is obviously a bit of a milestone for the business, that we're making beer for ourselves. And it's the most ambitious and biggest project we've ever done. Collaborating with breweries that I admire, that’s a big one as well.”

What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever been given? “I think to focus. What Bundobust does is street food and craft beer and we need to focus on making sure those elements are the best, not get distracted by cocktail lists or wine or doing loads of things.”

biggest restaurant we have. It is going to be the same vibe, same menu, similar beers. That's one thing we want to work on, consistency. So even though this has got a working brewery attached to it, it'll be the same experience. We've got ambitions to do more next year. So we're looking for sites over the next year really, it'd be awesome if we can squeeze one or two in next year. We really want to grow and it is a challenge growing without losing any of the vibe. I think we need to go national. We’d love to be in Newcastle, we’d love to hit the Midlands. And then Nottingham would be nice, Bristol is a great city, we’d love to go to London but we need to be 100% ready for that so it is about making sure we have everything in place – operations, culture, the right people. We're not rushing.”

What is your all-time favourite beer and food combo? “I like fish and chips with a fizzy lambic beer.”

Who do you most admire in the craft beer market at the moment and why? “In the UK I really like Newbarns, Donzoko, Braybrooke, Left Handed Giant, Lost and Grounded. And I’ve always admired The Kernel from day one, I like the fact that they’ve never changed or expanded too quickly, Evin [founder Evin O'Riordain] just makes beer that he loves to make and is a true artisan.”

What plans do you have for the business for the rest of 2021/22? “The brewery is launching next week, it's been delayed since May 2020. Essentially, it's going to be a normal Bundobust with a brewery on the side. It seats 150 people so it’s probably the www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Business advice: Legal

Is your equality and diversity training ‘stale’? In this article Jenny Heyes, Head of Napthens People Projects team, explains why it’s important that your equality and diversity training is effective and fresh in your employees’ minds…

A recent decision in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that an Employment Tribunal was entitled to reject an employer’s ‘reasonable steps’ defence to a claim of racial harassment. In the case of Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen the tribunal rejected an employer’s ‘reasonable steps’ defence that they had provided equality and diversity training to an employee who was found to have made racist remarks towards another employee. The tribunal accepted that training had been provided - but it found that the training had been delivered in early 2015. As a result, the tribunal described this as ‘clearly stale’. It was held that the employer had not taken all reasonable steps to avoid discrimination, identifying that a reasonable step would have been to provide refresher training. The employer appealed this decision to the EAT, who agreed with the tribunal’s approach. This decision should act as a prompt for employers to review their equality and diversity procedures. Could BrewDog have avoided a PR disaster? As many of you will be aware, closer to home just recently, dozens of former staff at the UK’s largest craft brewer, BrewDog, accused the company of fostering a ‘culture of fear’ and ‘misogyny’ in an open letter. More than 60 former workers at the Aberdeenshire-based company, using the name ‘Punks with Purpose’, said: ‘The single biggest shared experience of former staff is a residual feeling of fear. Fear to speak out about the atmosphere we were immersed in, and fear of repercussions even after we have left.’

The letter said: ‘a significant number of people have admitted they have suffered mental illness as a result of working at BrewDog’. It went on to say the brewer of Punk IPA: ‘fostered a culture within craft beer that deifies founders, and gives weight to sexist and misogynistic brewers who claim to be standing up for free speech.’

Employees should not feel fearful to speak out against sexism and other derogatory behaviours in the workplace. James Watt, BrewDog’s chief executive, apologised and said the company was sorry and would not contest the allegations but would ‘listen, learn and act’.

The EAT decision mentioned above highlights that not only must employers be proactive in implementing and preaching equality and diversity training, they must also ensure this training is regularly revisited with refresher training courses. The case also highlights the importance of the content of the training. Not only must employees receive training on equality and diversity and what this means, there must also be adequate training on how allegations or complaints should be dealt with, to allow employees to feel they can speak up against mistreatment such as that experienced by Brewdog employees. Employers should also ensure they have up to date policies in place which are regularly reviewed.

Employees should not feel fearful to speak out against sexism and other derogatory behaviours in the workplace. With these Had the company had effective equality and recent cases in mind, you may find it useful to diversity measures in place, this situation could conduct a health check of your current HR have been avoided. practices and general culture, with regards to equality and diversity. Training must be effective The backlash Brewdog has faced is an By offering the right training, keeping the example of the importance of ensuring conversation going and creating an inclusive effective equality and diversity training is in environment for staff, your business can avoid place - and that this is engrained in the culture the kind of situations we’ve talked about in of the business. this article. For advice on this topic or on legal issues affecting your business, please contact SIBA Legal Helpline on 0845 6710277 North West Law firm 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 manages 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 | Autumn 2021

Business advice: Consumer insight

Time to look forward Consumer insight specialist Katy Moses from KAM Media analyses whether some of the trends seen during the pandemic are here to stay as we look ahead to Christmas…

Something strange is happening to beer consumers, as we creep slowly back to reality and the world opens up again. Way back during the first lockdown (at least 2,897 years ago now!), KAM carried out some research in partnership with Brew//LDN; we had a strong suspicion that beer drinkers had changed their habits during but the extent to which these beer enthusiasts – people who already really “know their beers” – had been switching things up was more surprising than we imagined. Even after just three months under Covid restrictions, beer drinkers were reporting that they were doing a number of things differently. 1. Experimenting more (91% had tried a new beer) 2. Changing where they were sourcing beer (31% were purchasing direct from physical breweries and tap rooms more often) 3. New drinking occasions had emergedremember Zoom quizzes and drinking in the park?! (48% had drunk beer at home during an ‘online catch up with friends’.) But 18 months on, are these changes still relevant? Have we seen a shift in medium to long-term consumer trends? And the answer, according to our most recent research is, oh yes, we have! More than 3-in-5 beer drinkers say that their beer drinking habits have changed in the last 12 months and will remain that way. Craft beer is a winner There is no doubt that lockdowns have driven beer drinkers to experiment with new brands and breweries- 16% say they’re still increasingly trying new breweries. And its craft beer (or the consumer understanding of it) that has come out as an increasingly popular choice- 1-in-5 beer drinkers say they have been drinking more craft beer. Craft beer was once seen as the drink of the young, hip, rule breaking youngsters, but the last 12 months has seen a growing

number of older beer drinkers (i.e. 50 years +) experimenting with craft beers too- great news for the industry. Craft beer has moved well beyond the mouths of young, trendy hipsters and now has a much broader appeal- marketing and branding experts should be aware! Alcohol-free is firmly in demand I think I’ve mentioned this in my last 3 columns at least but it’s not going away! 17% of beer drinkers say they’re drinking more alcohol-free beer now vs 12 months ago. This is a truly significant number! 1-in-3 UK adults would like to see a greater range of alcoholfree drinks in pubs and 1-in-4 would like to see more low-alcohol options. Low and No has moved beyond an alternative to a soft drinks and has now become a ‘go-to’ drink category in its own right. Ignore this shift in consumer behaviour at your peril, Low and No has hit the mainstream and it’s not going away. A shift to off-premise Without a doubt people are entertaining (and thus drinking) more at home at the moment, and with an average of £4,000 per household having been spent on home improvements and renovations over the last 12 months, we expect ‘hospitality at home’ to continue. Maybe a return of the 70’s style dinner party… maybe not! As I said in my last column, this shift has serious implications on packaging, pack sizes, pricing and marketing as people want to consume the beer brands which they love in pubs and bars in their homes. It’s also worth bearing in mind that 1-in-3 people hosted gatherings of 10+ people in their homes this summer so we expect larger scale ‘catering’ style opportunities too.

Celebrating harder this Christmas With all this in mind, what might this mean for the upcoming festive period and beyond? Well Christmas 2021 looks set to be a big one, in consumers eyes! In fact, many are looking for any reason to celebrate still! This is all assuming that Covid restrictions remain lifted of course (and sadly no-one can predict that) but consumer intention right now is incredibly positive with more than 1-in-3 intending to put more effort and money into this Christmas compared even with a ‘normal’, pre-Covid Christmas. KAM’s latest research shows that similar numbers of people are intending to visit a restaurant this festive period compared with pre-Covid. Pubs will see a net decrease of around 6% compared with a normal preCovid December. 7% of UK adults have already got reservations for the festive period. And as mentioned above celebrations at home this Christmas will be bigger too, with a net increase of 25% of people spending more on food to eat at home compared with ‘normal’ and a net increase of 12% intending to spend more on alcohol to drink at home. 27% intend to choose more indulgent food and drink. Sounds good to me! Reasons to be cheerful Dare I suggest that it is indeed time to relax a little and look forward to an exciting year ahead? Yes, it has been a totally crazy couple of years for the drink industry, with many challenges clearly still to be overcome (I’m talking about you, staff shortages, challenging supply chain, Ping-demic, Brexit etc etc.) But from a consumer perspective the trends are looking positive and offer so many opportunities for those ready to listen, adapt and grab them!

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 | Autumn 2021

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Business advice: Trade marks

Breweries seeing green Cameron Malone-Brown, trade mark specialist at leading European intellectual property law firm Potter Clarkson, explores the issues around ‘green’ trade marks…

The craft beer market in the UK has never been richer in terms of choice and quality, much to the delight of consumers. As a result of this breadth of offering, consumers are able to be as picky as they choose, while brewers rush to satisfy the demand. Aside from the product itself, consumers are increasingly seeking out brands which match their ethical and moral beliefs, and this is perhaps most apparent in relation to the food and drink they consume. Brands are, of course, savvy to this, and have adapted their marketing over the past decade to reflect a more eco-conscientious market. Even those who have previously benefited from the ecofriendly labels are under increased scrutiny, with consumers demanding more and more from their products. The craft beer movement has long touted these values, with a strong focus on sustainability and green initiatives, and is very well placed to meet the demand. A sentiment echoed by Jo Llewellyn-Jones, brewer with Beavertown and head of Rambling Beer Co, who says: “For many consumers, ecoawareness is no longer a selling point, but a necessity and, with such intense competition in the market, getting the branding right is more important than ever.” To alert consumers to a brewery’s eco-friendly values and practices, many are opting for so called “green” trade marks. “Green” trade marks A green trade mark alerts the end user as to the environmentally friendly values and interests of the brewery. This is commonly achieved by adding descriptors like “eco”, “friendly”, “sustainable” and so on, along with adding figurative elements which allude to sustainability (trees, leaves and so on). These tweaks to a brand may pay dividends when it comes to informing consumers of the brewery’s environmental efforts, however they can cause real headaches for intellectual property down the line.

Protection of green trade marks To be eligible for registration, a trade mark must be distinctive and non-descriptive. The purpose of these requirements is to ensure that the trade mark can differentiate one source of origin from another. If the mark is descriptive of the goods, or non-distinctive, it cannot perform that function, or so says the law. The first issue that a green trade mark can cause, then, is that it is likely to be descriptive. For the trade mark to inform the consumer that the goods are eco-friendly, it must describe the goods in some way. If the overall impression generated by the mark is simply that the goods are environmentally friendly, the UK Intellectual Property Office will refuse the application, in short order. To avoid these issues, it is important that the trade mark is memorable, so that the consumer can repeat the purchase. Environmental values and awareness are important and attractive but are not enough (in insolation) to designate a single brewery and enable the consumer to repeat the purchase. To obtain protection for a green trade mark, brand owners ought to ensure the reference to the nature of the goods is secondary to the house brand, or it is sufficiently distinctive in its own right. The strongest green trade marks are those which carry a definite brand message; informing the consumer clearly who the environmentally aware company is, rather than simply portraying the generic message of environmental awareness.

Enforcement of green trade marks Even having obtained a trade mark registration, the difficulties with green trade marks may continue. As was recently found by Oatly AB when it challenged an identical product named OATY, where your brand is descriptive of the relevant goods, the scope of its protection is narrow. Imitators are very effective at utilising brand elements which are not subject to protection. Even where these indicators are part of a registered trade mark, they will not be enforceable if they are descriptive of the goods. If key elements of a brewery’s branding are indicators of its ethical or moral stances, the brewery will be opened up to third parties seeking to benefit from these elements, and its hands may be largely tied in terms of enforcement. Consequently, the “green” elements of your brand may well open you up to impersonation and reduce the scope for enforcement of your trade mark. If you’re green and you know it It is extremely promising to see the steps taken by breweries over the past decade to improve sustainability and to reduce the environmental impact of our beloved industry. Proud brand owners seeking to indicate these values to the consumer ought to be commended but must not lose sight of the importance of their trade marks to designate origin. Essentially, breweries must ensure their brands are shown to be eco-friendly, rather than ecofriendly being portrayed as the brand. This is where the industry will undoubtedly come up with the goods and bring its creativity and flair to meet the rapidly increasing appetite for genuinely sustainable products.

Potter Clarkson helps companies, organisations and individuals across all sectors of business to understand, create, protect and defend the commercial value of their innovations anywhere in the world through intellectual property rights. As a full-service intellectual property law firm with expertise in patents, trade marks, designs, litigation, licensing and consultancy, the firm can provide specialist support in all areas of IP. Find out more at www.potterclarkson.com

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Business advice: Intellectual Property

Key considerations for producers when promoting products on social media Amy Ralston from law firm Stephens Scown offers an overview of what you can and can’t say when promoting your beer on social media…

From Insta-perfect plates of food, to quick-read reviews from respected bloggers; there’s no denying that social media can be an effective way to promote food and drink brands and enhance brand advocacy. But falling foul of the relevant advertising rules and regulations risks clashes with the regulatory bodies and potentially, reputational damage. Who is responsible? The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforce the Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code). Brands and influencers are held equally responsible for non-compliance with the CAP Code. Brands and influencers should therefore not only be familiar with this code, but understand it. Advertising and children In 2019, The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the United Kingdom’s (UK) communications regulator, reported that 71% of the 12-15 year-olds surveyed had a social media profile and 21% of children between 8-11 years old had a social media profile. And yet, there are regulations which prohibit advertising certain food and drink items to this cohort, including via social media. An obvious category is alcohol, but products that are high in sugar, salt and fat and those which make nutritional claims are also regulated. Social media platforms can be separated into two categories, those for which a log-in is required to view content (such as Instagram or Snapchat) and those for which one is not (such as YouTube, Twitch or Pinterest). Special care should therefore be exercised when advertising on social media platforms for the latter category, as it is difficult to establish the percentage of users who are of or under a certain age.

Age appropriate Alcohol advertisements, including those on social media, must not target or appeal to anyone under the age of 18, nor feature anyone consuming alcohol who is or looks under the age of 25; among several other key rules. We have recently published an article on the importance of influencer agreements when promoting alcohol products on social media and we provide training and advice to businesses on this very topic, as well as, more generally, on using influencers to promote products and services. It is of fundamental importance that those who sell and advertise alcohol understand the rules on marketing alcoholic drinks on social media. It may also be sensible for alcohol brands to consider the relevant rules when promoting their nonalcoholic products too. Not least because, if advertised alongside their usual alcoholic products – the non-alcoholic products may be perceived by advertising regulators as a gateway product to the brand’s alcoholic products. Nutritional claims The CAP Code states that the only permitted nutrition claims a brand can make in relation to alcohol are “low-alcohol”, “reduced alcohol” and “reduced energy” if certain requirements are met. In January 2021, Brewdog ran an advertisement campaign on Instagram which claimed that their Hard Seltzer product was “only 90 calories per can” and had “no carbs or sugar”. These claims were therefore regarded as implying a health benefit to the customer which is not

permitted for alcoholic beverages; had the claim simply stated that the drink had “90 calories”, this would have been purely factual and therefore would likely be acceptable in the ASA’s eyes. The ad also contained the claim that the drink contained “a little bit of alcohol”. But the drink in question was not technically “low-alcohol” because it had an alcohol content of more than 1.2% ABV and therefore, the ASA ruled that the claim “a little bit of alcohol” was likely to mislead the consumer. Brewdog accepted that they breached the CAP Code and ceased using these terms. The risks Ultimately, there is a risk of reputational damage in respect of social media slipups, and these are best avoided by careful consideration of the rules and undertaking proper due diligence prior to using influencers to promote products on social media. It is important for a brand to have a comprehensive influencer strategy which carefully considers the rules and regulations to mitigate the risk of reputational damage to the brand. We can provide guidance on all aspects of social media brand promotion, including giveaway rules, considering the use of influencers, and providing training to your marketing team. For example, our specialist legal advisors recently delivered successful influencer marketing training to Thatchers Cider Company – helping the Thatchers marketing team to understand the relevant regulations and how best to minimise the risk of getting it wrong.

Amy Ralston is a solicitor in the Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Data Protection team. She specialises in influencer marketing, brand endorsement and the regulation of the same. To discuss any issues raised in this article, please call 01392 210700 or email influencers@stephens-scown.co.uk.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Comment: Technical focus

Waste Not Dr Keith Thomas

After a solid day brewing and cleaning vessels one of the least attractive jobs is dealing with the spent grains. Sacks or truck loads of sticky wet residues which need removing before another brew starts and before contamination develops and the brewery smells rancid. And not just a case of sticky fingers but sticky everything if a spillage occurs. Depending on size there are many options to deal with spent grain. A larger brewery may sell it to a merchant. The merchant will have the contacts with the farmers and buy and distribute the grain from you to sell on. This way you will generate some income and will be guaranteed to have the grain removed from the brewery. You may even have a way of selling direct to the local farmer who will come and pick up the grain. The difficulty with doing both is depending on the weather and time of year there is either a glut or a famine for spent grain. In a wet warm summer, the grass will grow well, and the farmer may prefer to allow the cattle to feed on the luscious grass rather than pay for brewer's grains. Conversely in a hard cold winter grain will be at a premium. This may vary the price you get for your grain. Selecting a farmer or merchant who is guaranteed to take away all your grain is paramount. Spent grain can be put into silage and stored ready for use at a convenient time. The smaller brewer certainly will not want to throw the grain away as waste as this will incur a cost. It is often much better to give the grain away to an animal source. In all the above you will still have to conform to the law - see later. Spent grain contributes about 80% of the brewhouse waste and is a useful co-product. For every litre of beer between 100 to 200 grams of this spent grain is produced. It contains amongst others cellulose, sugars and proteins and. Which can be fed to animals such as cattle, horses, and goats with a digestion system to cope with this.

Brian Yorston

Hence the most common route for this spent grain is via animal feed. In one report the farmer suggests not to feed his animal spent grain in the morning. They much prefer the brewery waste grain so much so that it stops them feeding on the much more nutritious balanced grass. What brewers do not realise is if you feed spent grain into the animal system you come under Food Hygiene Regulations 183/2005. Which deals with the obligation to provide a safe feed not harmful to human or animals. These regulations came in because of the BSE or Mad Cow crisis of the 1980's. Here infected waste animal nerve tissue was fed to animals. This through the food chain, infected some humans with prions

Brewlab colleagues Dr Keith Thomas and Brian Yorston look at how to deal with spent grain and what regulations you must comply with if you intend to distribute it as animal feed… So, what does this mean in reality? It means that you must have in place a system for cleaning any equipment for storing waste by-products. Covering containers during storage and removing grain in a timely fashion before it is spoiled. It may also mean looking at some of the equipment you use within the brewery. For instance, if you use a wooden paddle to mix your mash in the mash tun is there a risk of a slither of wood finding its way to the waste grain and subsequently being ingested by the animal, potentially causing harm. After all, HACCP is designed to avoid microbiological, chemical, and physical harm. The slither of wood may not only cause the wrath of the farmer but a potential large vet's fee. Some of the larger brewers retain a sample of each batch in a jiffy bag and keep it in the freezer. If there is a complaint that an animal died by eating your grain you will have a retained sample which could prove your innocence. The industry has set up a FEMAS (Feed Materials Assurance Scheme) through the BFBi. For a fee based on size, your feed system will be audited and accredited by an independent body to ensure you comply with the law. Although I don't think it is compulsory to join the scheme, some of your customers may insist that you do so.

causing death through the human variant of the disease called CJD or CreutzfeldtJakob disease. The regulations are based on HACCP principle which we all must comply with. It means that you must do a hazard analysis on all the by-products feed to animals and instigate systems to control these hazards. These systems need to be documented and reviewed just as you would for your brewery HACCP system. This just does not apply to spent grains but yeast, hops or anything else you may feed to animals.

Some people may think that feeding brewery waste to animals is not environmentally friendly. After all some of the waste gasses produced by farm animal contribute 14% to greenhouse gasses. An alternate way of coping with spent grain is by anaerobic digestion to produce biogas to generate electricity. Recently, at least two regional breweries, have signed contracts to supply grain to be treated this way. This is a topic for a future consideration but looking at the amount of interest in using spent grain it may not be long before potential users show serious interest and, given market forces, even proffer payment.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Comment: Technical focus

Mill output assessment Dr Chris Colby from First Key Consulting offers advice on how to measure your mill output and what the perfect mill should look like for a small brewer…

For breweries that dry mill their malt and separate their wort in a lauter tun, getting a good crush is important. In brewing, there is a tradeoff in milling. The finer the grains are milled, the faster their starches will dissolve and the quicker these starches will be degraded into sugar, thus resulting in higher yield. On the other hand, finelycrushed grains result in a tight, less porous, filter bed compared to larger particles. As such, wort flow rate through the filter bed is slowed resulting in a longer lautering time. The exception to this is when a Mash Filter is used, instead of a lauter tun. A workable compromise can be found by trial and error. A brewer could mill coarsely at first and then — on subsequent batches — crush progressively more finely to get better extract efficiency, and continue with this approach until lautering problems are encountered. The trial and error method works in practice, but there is an objective way to measure the mill output and find the “sweet spot” without repeated tests. This method involves sifting the mill’s output through a series of sieves and weighing the amount of material retained on each sieve. Sieves come in a variety of mesh sizes. Higher number sieves retain smaller pieces of material than lower numbered sieves. Sieves are typically made from brass or stainless steel, with brass being cheaper. They are produced in a variety of diameters, for a wide variety of applications. The 8-inch sieves are the preferred size for malt analysis. To analyse the output of the malt mill, a set of three sieves — #14, #30 and #60 — is the minimal basic setup. A pan to collect material that flows through all of the meshes is also required. So is a cap to cover the top

sieve. In this sieve set, the #14 sieve would sit on top and retain coarse husk pieces, but let the grits and flour fall through. The #30 sieve below it would retain coarse grits while letting fine grits and flour fall through. The #60 sieve on the bottom would retain the fine grits. Flour would fall through and land in the pan. Procedure To test the mill output, collect milled malt as it falls from the mill. Do not scoop a cup out from a pile of milled malt as the smallest grits and flour will have already settled in the pile. Sample the malt from the “stream” coming from the mill. The total weight of the sample should be 100–130g. Weigh each of the sieves, and the pan, when they are empty. Stack the sieves in a series progressing from the coarsest sieve on top to the finest on the bottom, and the pan underneath them. Pour the milled malt on the top sieve and add the cap. To make sure everything that can fall through a sieve does fall through, it is important to shake the sieves — hard. Some breweries have dedicated mechanical shakers for this. If shaking by hand, shake the assembly for 3 minutes. After the shaking, weigh each sieve again and subtract the weight of the empty sieves to get the weight of the malt retained on each sieve. In order to achieve a reasonable level of precision, the balance will need to be capable of weighing to the nearest gram. Being able to weigh to the nearest 10th of a gram is preferable. Next, divide the weight of the malt in each sieve by the sum of all their weights to get the percentage weight retained on each screen and in the pan. Record these numbers to compare with later testing.

Opinions vary on what constitutes an optimal crush. Bob Hansen from Briess, in his technical presentation on practical milling, gives 53.4% of the malt retained on sieve #14, 27.6%, on sieve #30, 10.6# on sieve #60 and 8.4% in the pan as the results of a normal grind. Dave Miller, on his webpage of mills and milling, gives the results of a brewpub 2-roller mill as 58.3%, 24.0%, 8.3% and 9.3% for the same series of sieves. If the results are in the ballpark of these numbers, it is likely to have hit a workable tradeoff between the fineness of the crush (extract yield) and lauterability. If the numbers show more material retained on the coarse sieves, the extract efficiency could likely be increased significantly by tightening the mill gap. This should have little impact on lauterability. Analysing the mill output is not something a brewery is likely to do for each brew. But, it can be invaluable when the brewery is having problems with brewhouse efficiency, when the malt specs change, or if the brewery gets a new mill. And, even without any changes, it can be good to check the mill’s output occasionally as settings may drift over time. Experimentation with slight adjustments in the mill gap will enable the brewery to achieve getting the best crush for the brewery, and with that, reduce production costs and optimise the brewing schedule. [i] Briggs, Hough, Stevens and Young, “Malting And Brewing Science: Volume 1” (1971, Kluwer) [ii] https://www.brewingwithbriess.com/wp-content/ uploads/2021/01/Briess_2007CBC_Practical_Milling.pdf [iii] http://brewlikeapro.net/maltmilling.html [iv] Joseph J. Dougherty, Wort Production in: “The Practical Brewer: A Manual for the Brewing Industry” (Master Brewers Association of the Americas, 1997)

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

SIBA North East competition winners 2021

SIBA Independent Cask Beer Awards 2021: It’s good to be back where possible As you will know SIBA’s Regional and National Independent Beer Awards were cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus lockdown, which means that the most recent SIBA North East Independent Beer Awards 2021 in Gateshead were our first for almost 18 months. Turn out at the event was excellent and the judging went very smoothly, with some truly worthy winners and an incredibly high-standard of beer across the board. For everyone involved - judges, runners, volunteers, SIBA staff and competing brewers – it was clear the feeling was it’s good to be back. But many beer festivals and events are still not happening across the UK, including hundreds of regional CAMRA beer festivals, which has made it incredibly difficult for all SIBA Regions to organise cask beer awards judging in 2021. As it currently stands four of the eight SIBA Regions have been unable to secure a suitable venue for their Cask Beer or Bottle and Can Independent Beer Awards in 2021, which is why the remote judging for bottle and can which takes place in December is so important. I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the Regional Directors involved in SIBA Competitions including those who sit on our Competitions Committee, who have worked incredibly hard to try and find solutions on behalf of members and make SIBA cask beer awards take place wherever possible.

Many regions are still working on solutions to try and host a judging before January, the cut-off ahead of the National finals at BeerX UK, and SIBA will of course keep members up to date with the latest news on competitions happening in your region if things change.

Regional Keg Beer Heats and National Final at BeerX UK March 2022

With BeerX UK taking place once again in Liverpool, 16-17 March 2022, we are however able to run a full set of Regional heats and a National Final for the keg beer awards. So if you put beer into keg, or are thinking of doing so, then there will be both Regional and National Awards up for grabs at BeerX UK 2022 – so keep an eye out for emails from the competitions team regarding entering your beers, or drop us a line for more info via beercompetitions@siba.co.uk

Bottle & Can remote judging

Under normal circumstances – remember those? – cask beer and bottled & canned beer from SIBA member breweries are judged at Regional beer awards across the UK, and the winners of these competitions go forward to the National final at BeerX UK in Liverpool. However, not all SIBA Regions will be hosting an in-person judging in 2021 and as such the SIBA HQ Competitions Team are providing a remote judging facility for bottled and canned beer for any SIBA Region that wishes to make use of it. This uses the same system and logistics as the Digital Beer Awards (anonymised beers collated centrally by SIBA and then posted out in judging boxes to expert judges across the UK) but the judging will be done in exactly the same way as a normal regional competition. In a nutshell the Regional heats of the Bottle and Can competition can take place at in-person events or using the remote judging facility and the judging system and outcome will be exactly the same, with Regional winners’ badges given out and winners moving forwards to the

National Final at BeerX UK, 16-17th March 2022 in Liverpool. In order to limit the logistical, postage and staffing costs of the remote judging we will be judging all of the Regional heats involved in the remote judging during a single judging week – Monday 29th November to Friday 3rd December. The SIBA Competitions Team will be in-touch regarding entry deadlines and logistics, i.e. where to delivery entries to.

Calendar: Regional Beer Awards 2021 (in-person) Here’s a reminder of the planned (or past) Regional cask beer awards taking place in 2021 which is correct as of the time of going to press: North East – 27th Aug 2021 (Cask, bottle & can) North West – 21st Oct 2021 (Cask only) Midlands – 13th Oct 2021 (Cask only) Scotland –2021 (TBC, Cask only)

SIBA Head of Comms & Marketing Neil Walker

Overall Champion of the Cask Beer Competition Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd Presented to: Lydia Soucy

Cask British Dark Beers (up to 4.4%)

Presented by: Nick Brading, Murphys

Presented to: Lydia Soucy Presented by: Ian Fozard, SIBA

Metalhead Brewery Pretty Vacant 3.8%

G Metalhead Brewery Best Mate 4.2% S Revolutions Brewing Co. Swoon - Chocolate Fudge Milk Stout 4.5%

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

B Ainsty Alesy

Cool Citra 4.4%

S Wensleydale Brewery Black Dub 4.4% B Cullercoats Brewery Ltd Polly Donkin 4.2%

SIBA North East competition winners 2021

Cask British Dark Beers (4.5 to 6.4%)

Cask British Bitter (up to 4.4%)

G Leeds Brewery Midnight Bell 4.8%

G Old Mill Brewery Styrian Wolf 4.2%

S Daleside Brewery Ltd Monkey Wrench 5.3%

S Ilkley Brewery Co Mary Jane 3.5%

B Three Brothers Brewing Co S'more porter 4.8%

B Cullercoats Brewery Ltd Lovely Nelly 3.9%

Cask Session IPA (up to 4.3%)

Cask Premium PAs (4.4 to 5.4%)

Cask IPA (5.5 to 6.4%)

G Metalhead Brewery Pretty Vacant 3.8%

G Ainsty Ales Cool Citra 4.4%

G Ilkley Brewery Co Lotus 5.5%

Brewery Limited S Cullercoats Shuggy Boat Blonde 3.8%

S Yorkshire Heart Brewery 1K IPA 5%

S Ainsty Ales Californication 5.5%

B Saltaire Brewery Amarillo 4.5%

B Saltaire Brewery Unity 6%

Sponsored by: Simpsons Malt Ltd Presented to: Ed Sunter Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

Sponsored by: Kegstar Presented to: Lydia Soucy Presented by: Tom Meakin, Kegstar

B Ilkley Brewery Co Pale 4.2%

Cask Speciality Light Beers (5.5 to 6.4%)

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons Presented to: Ian Fozard Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

G Rooster's Brewing Co Roots. Rock. Reggae. 6.4% S Pennine Brewing life's a lemon 3.9% B Metalhead Brewery Coconut Shy 4.3%

Cask British Premium Bitter (4.5 to 6.4%)

Sponsored by: Murphy & Son Ltd Presented to: David Sanders Presented by: Nick Brading, Murphys

Sponsored by: Charles Faram & Co Ltd Presented to: Joe Joyce Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA Brewing Company G Harrogate Harrogate Best 4.5%

Sponsored by: Rastal GmbH & Co KG Presented to: Andy Capel Presented by: Elle Spencer-Blanchard, SIBA

Cask Speciality Medium to Dark Beers

Sponsored by: Rankin Brothers & Sons Presented to: Seb Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA

G Revolutions Brewing Co.

S Firebrick Brewery Elder Statesman 4.5% B Cullercoats Brewery Ltd Jack The Devil 4.5%

Sponsored by: Close Brothers Brewery Rentals Presented to: Marco Cilenti Presented by: Elle Spencer-Blanchard, SIBA

Cask Strong Beers (6.5% and over)

Presented to: Nick Webster Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA

G Yorkshire Heart Brewery Heart Ten 7%

Swoon - Chocolate Fudge Milk Stout 4.5%

S Bridgehouse Brewery Baltic Rum Porter 6% B Maxim Brewery Raspberry Porter 5% www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

SIBA North East competition winners 2021

Overall Champion of the Bottle & Can Beer Competition Sponsored by: Beer Box Shop Presented to: Jenna Barningham, SIBA Presented by: Ian Fozard, SIBA

Bottle/Can British Dark Beers (up to 4.4%) Presented to: Debbie Clayton Presented by: Ian Fozard, SIBA

G Pennine Brewing Black Forest 4% S Wensleydale Brewery Black Dub 4.4% B Bradfield Brewery Farmers Brown Cow 4.2%

Bottle/Can Session IPA (up to 4.3%)

Sponsored by: Lallemand UK Ltd Presented to: Andy Capel Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

Swaddle Micro Brewery Ltd Pilsner 4.1%

S Three Brothers Brewing Company S'more porter 4.8%

Bottle/Can British Dark Beers (4.5 to 6.4%) Sponsored by: Simpsons Malt Ltd Presented to: Red Kellie (SILVER) Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA Brothers Brewing Company G Three S'more porter 4.8%

S First & Last Brewery CCL 5.6% B Acorn Brewery Gorlovka Stout 6%

Bottle/Can Premium PAs (4.4 to 5.4%)

Presented to: Gillian Rackham (SILVER) Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

B Saltaire Brewery

Imperial Triple Choc 7.4%

Bottle/Can British Bitter (up to 4.4%)

Presented to: Anna Scantlebury Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA

G Cullercoats Brewery Limited Lovely Nelly 3.9% S Ossett Brewery Silver King 4.3% B First & Last Brewery Equinox 4.1%

Bottle/Can IPA (5.5 to 6.4%)

Sponsored by: Premier Systems Ltd Presented to: Ross Minikin Presented by: Ian Fozard, SIBA

G Ainsty Ales Flummoxed Farmer 4%

G Swaddle Micro Brewery Ltd Session Storm 4.6%

G GNEB Dunston Rocket 6%

S Wensleydale Brewery Semer Water 4.1%

S Ossett Brewery Excelsius 5.2%

S Swaddle Micro Brewery Ltd IPA 5.5%

B GNEB Metro 4.2%

B Saltaire Brewery Full Tilt 5.2%

B Saltaire Brewery Unity 6%

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

SIBA North East competition winners 2021

Bottle/Can Imperial IPA (6.5% and over)

Bottle/Can Session Lager & Pilsner (up to 4.4%)

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

G Ossett Brewery SALT Ikat 8%

G Swaddle Micro Brewery Ltd Pilsner 4.1%

G Saltaire Brewery Helles 5%

S Twice Brewed Brew House Virtus 6.7%

S Firebrick Brewery Giuseppe 4.3%

S Swaddle Micro Brewery Ltd Helles 5%

B Rooster's Brewing Co. Strength In Numbers 7%

B Twice Brewed Brew House Vulcan 4.1%

B Rooster's Brewing Co Pilsnear 4.8%

Sponsored by: Presented to: Gillian Rackham Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

Sponsored by: Presented to: Aaron Clarke (SILVER) Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

Sponsored by: Trade Mark Owners Association Presented to: Mark Anderson, SIBA Presented by: James Setchell, TMOA

Bottle/Can Amber to Dark Lager (up to 6.4%)

Bottle/Can Speciality Light Beer

G Twice Brewed Brew House Coria 4.6%

G North Yorkshire Brewery Leap of Faith 6.2%

G Saltaire Brewery Imperial Triple Choc 7.4%

Micro Brewery Ltd S Swaddle Saison in Shields 6.3%

S Maxim Brewery Raspberry Porter 5%

Presented to: Matthew Brown Presented by: James Setchell, TMOA

Presented to: North Yorkshire Brewery Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA

Sponsored by: Vigo Ltd Presented to: Ian Fozard Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA

G Rooster's Brewing Co. Wild Wild Life 7.4%

Presented to: Mark Anderson (SILVER) Presented by: Barry Watts, SIBA

B Daleside Brewery Ltd Morocco Ale 5.5%

B Saltaire Brewery Zipwire 4.5%

Bottle/Can Sours/Spontaneous

Bottle/Can Speciality Medium to Dark Beers

Bottle/Can No/Low Alcohol Beer (up to 0.5%)

Bottle/Can Strong Beers (6.5% and over)

Sponsored by: Muntons Presented to: Marco Cilenti (SILVER) Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

Presented to: Gillian Rackham Presented by: Mark Anderson, SIBA

G Ossett Brewery SALT Tram 8%

G Saltaire Brewery Northern Light 0.5%

S Three Brothers Brewing Company DIPA 7.8%

S Ilkley Brewery Co Virgin Mary 0.5%

B Black Sheep Brewery Hazelnut & Salted Caramel Imperial Stout 7.2%

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Brewery news

Wake up and smell the Docks Beers Coffee Stout! Clocking Off were so popular that we decided to add another accessible stout to our range. We have never brewed a coffee stout before, so it made sense to try this popular beer style. Coffee is the favourite drink for pretty much everyone in our brewery (behind beer of course) so this decision has been one which the whole team has got excited about. We know coffee is an obsession for lots of people, much like craft beer, and Groundworks will appeal to both seasoned stout drinkers, coffee aficionados and people who haven’t drunk a stout before. But if you are interested in coffee, you have to try this beer!”

Docks Beers has released an espresso flavoured stout called Groundworks to add to its growing range of craft beers. The 5.3% ABV brew is made with the usual barley, hops, yeast and water, but has the surprise addition of real coffee, supplied by Bristol-based Extract Coffee Roasters, and tonka beans, an ingredient which adds sweetness and intensity to the new beer. Sharam Shadam, Director of Docks Beers, explains why the Grimsby brewery wanted to make a coffee stout: “Graveyard Shift and

Mike Richards, Director and Head Brewer at Docks Beers, said Groundworks is “a rich 5.3% stout with a creaminess from the oats and sweet tonka bean flavour balancing the coffee’s bitterness. Endeavour and Columbus hops add a peppery hedgerow fruit undercurrent, while the 20 kilograms of coffee we added to the brew give it that unmistakable coffee flavour and aroma. The result of this is a refreshing and indulgent beer, which hits you like a cup of joe!” Jack Johnson, Marketing Manager at Docks Beers, explains where the idea for the name of the beer and can design came from: “Docks Beers has a tradition of picking beer names inspired by the grit and determination of dockers and other hard-working trades, so Groundworks is bang on brand while also subtly referencing coffee.”

Docks Beers teams up with the world’s first YouTube brewery Docks Beers has collaborated with Bin Day Brewing Company - the world’s first YouTube brewery - to release a new jointly brewed beer called ‘Valencian Tip Run’ – a 5.2% ABV Pale Ale. Bin Day Brewing Company has been created by YouTuber and podcaster Robbie Knox and his friend and business partner Mike Millar. Having successfully home brewed a few beers over lockdown, their goal is to build a brewery to serve the YouTube community, and simultaneously create great content for the channel and great beer. Robbie and Mike have visited Docks Beers several times over the last few months to assist with the recipe design, pilot brew and commercial brewing, and to get advice from the Docks brewing team. All their visits have been and documented on video and the entire process has been uploaded to YouTube for the 100,000 subscribers to Robbie’s popular YouTube channel. Cans of Valencian Tip Run went on sale exclusively to subscribers of the Bin Day Brewing Company newsletter and over 2,500 cans were sold in the first 24 hours. The remaining 440ml cans went on general sale on the Docks Beers website. Find out more at www.docksbeers.com

A new look for Cornish Crown Brewery

Cornish Crown Brewery has invested in a major equipment overhaul and relaunched with a new look to keep pace with the rapidly evolving market for craft beer.

The microbrewery, which overlooks St Michael’s Mount, was created in 2012 initially to supply brewery tap The Crown - an awardwinning real ale pub in Penzance. It has grown to become one of the South West’s most iconic small breweries, supplying independent pubs, bottle shops and food stores, and epitomising the quality and innovation of contemporary Cornish brewing. Founder Josh Dunkley recently revealed a rebrand for the brewery, a revamped website for online sales, and an eco-friendly service for doorstep deliveries in West Cornwall; he has already had to hire two new employees to help him keep up with demand. Josh explained: “Pre-Covid we were still producing quite a lot of cask beer for pubs. It was a shrinking market, accelerated by the effects of the pandemic. Our response has been to completely overhaul our business, taking it in a new and exciting direction.” Josh has invested in cutting-edge equipment for seamless production of small batch, hop

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

forward beers which he will mainly be selling in can; Premium Pilsner, Citra Boom Pale Ale, and Cornish IPA are amongst the core range, which will regularly be supplemented by limited edition, seasonal releases. He elaborates: “We now have a filtration system to produce clear and crisp lagers; a hop gun to deliver optimum infusion for hopforward IPAs; and a canning machine which allows us to be seriously agile in creating an ever-evolving range of beers.” While Cornish Crown is still producing cask and kegged beers for pubs across the South West, canned lagers and IPAs will be the new focus, with sales through the relaunched website delivered promptly across the UK. Meanwhile, Josh has bought an electric van for local deliveries, enabling Cornish Crown to make eco-friendly doorstep drops around West Cornwall from his base at Badger’s Cross – perched between Mount’s Bay and the West Penwith moors. Find out more at www.cornishcrown.co.uk

Brewery news

Purity Brewing Company teams up with The Culpeper Family Hospitality Group SIBA Green Business of the Year 2020, Purity Brewing Company, and awardwinning pub operator The Culpeper Family Hospitality Group (TCFHG) have announced a new business partnership this week, joining forces in London. Both businesses came together through a mutual desire of driving quality and making a difference in the marketplace, using their collaboration as a greater force for good. First founded in 2012, with the acquisition of The Culpeper Pub in Spitalfields, by cofounders Nico Treguer and Gareth Roberts, TCFHG has grown into a small group of boutique premium pubs across London led by Managing Director Sandy Jarvis. With an estate of four characterful pub hotels, steeped in history, TCFHG leads the way in premium hospitality, offering only the very best food, drink and overnight stays in the capital. As part of the long-term training and business partnership, Paul Halsey, CEO and CoFounder of Purity Brewing Company, will join the Board of TCFHG. Commenting on the new business partnership, Paul Halsey said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Purity to strengthen our presence in London. I’ve long been an admirer of Nico and his team’s professionalism and constant drive for excellence. With their diverse group of pubs,

each with their own personality and charm, they never fail to impress me with quality of service and offering.” Both businesses have recently set about on a journey to become Certified B Corporations, balancing business purpose and profit. B Corp certified businesses are vigorously assessed on their impact of decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. When successful, both businesses will join a community of leading businesses and brands, driving a global movement of leaders using business as a force for good.

Paul Halsey, CEO and Co-Founder of Purity Brewing Company,

Nico Treguer commented on the new collaboration: “Strengthening our partnership with Purity felt like an obvious next step in our journey for The Culpeper Family. As a long-standing customer of Purity’s, we have always shared the same high quality, sustainability and community values. Combining this shared ethos with Paul’s [Halsey] extensive knowledge and expertise in hospitality, we are excited to work a lot more closely together for years to come’.” As part of the deal, The Culpeper Family Hospitality Group will stock a range of Purity cask, keg and packaged brands. Find out more at www.puritybrewing.com

TCFHG co-founder Nico Treguer

'Let's eat pies and talk about men's mental health' fundraising target reached - but there's more to come! The North East craft brewery collaborated with MPC late last year to brew a traditional bitter (with a twist), with £1 from every can of beer sold being donated to the club. They hoped to raise £2,500 in total, which will enable Men's Pie Club to continue their great work. Men’s Pie Club is about local guys, making pies. Supported by Food Nation, a social enterprise based in Newcastle, MPC was developed in response to the need for increasing levels of social connections and feelings of belonging for men in the North East of England.

McColl's Brewery announce that the fundraising target set in December 2020 has just been reached from sales of its collaboration beer for Men's Pie Club (MPC) to help tackle social isolation in men across the North East of England.

Jamie Sadler is the brains behind Men’s Pie Club and has a knack for bringing people together through food and creativity, and wanted to thank everyone who has supported the initiative so far. Jamie said: “It’s been brilliant working in such close partnership with Danny and the McColl’s team. They really understand what

Men’s Pie Club is about and have been so enthusiastic about our efforts to tackle issues associated with men and social isolation in the North East. A highlight for me was when a guy purchased a McColls x MPC beer and got in touch with us directly to hopefully join one of our clubs! We’re still in the early days with MPC. Our ambition is to one day have clubs across the North East and beyond. Thank you to everyone at McColl’s Brewery and everyone who bought a can!” A traditional Bitter, relatively low in alcohol at 3.6%, cold filtered through a blend of crushed black and white pepper, and purposefully created to perfectly accompany a tasty pie. The partnership is only just beginning for Men's Pie Club and McColl’s Brewery. Next up, Danny and co. have created a cask version with 10p from every pint sold donated to the club. Find out more at ww.menspieclub.co.uk or www.mccollsbrewery.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Brewery news

One Will Mellor, 50 pints of lager and maybe some crisps! Manchester TV star Will Mellor has thrown his weight behind a campaign to recognise the importance of the city's heritage businesses - starting with Hydes Brewery. The company, which was founded in 1863, has through its 150+ years of history survived great wars, historical events and now a pandemic, and looking forward to the future it has invested in a new keg and craft production line. Will got to see the operation first-hand on a tour of the Media City-based brewery and even visited The Friendship Inn, buying drinkers a pint of the company's newest product, Dock 4 lager, to mark its launch. He said: "Everyone knows I am passionate

about Manchester - these are places where generations have worked and played, and they are a key part of people’s happy memories. I really enjoyed touring the Hydes Brewery and seeing the way they have modernised a company with such amazing history - and then raise a glass with their customers. Hopefully, people in the region will get behind them, allowing their business and the new product to be a success, so they will still be here in another 150 years’ time." Dock 4 Lager is an appreciation to the city’s rich heritage, taking its name from the key part of the Port of Manchester and will be available in Hydes’ Community Pubs. Hydes Managing Director Adam Mayers was on hand to show the Coronation Street star

the Company’s newest offering and believes they couldn’t have had a more fitting guest. He said: “Manchester is lucky to have Will, he is passionate about the city and really cares about its success – it is great to see him appearing in Corrie which is another of the city’s long-established creations. Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps is still an absolute cult favourite, and I think the drinkers at our pub were quite surprised when one of the cast from a TV show most synonymous with lager was turning up to a buy them a pint of the new Dock 4! There has been constant rumours of ‘Gaz and Jonny’ returning for a Two Pints special, so maybe we can persuade them that Dock 4 should be their no.1 tipple of choice!” Find out more at www.hydesbrewery.com

Freedom Brewery appoints new Executive Chairman Freedom Brewery, the award-winning, pioneering lager brewer, has announced the appointment of James Coyle as Executive Chairman. Coyle, the former managing director of Edinburgh craft brewer Innis & Gunn, has a wealth of experience within the beer market, having held previous roles as Deputy Managing Director of Marston’s Beer Company and Sales Director of Wychwood Brewery. He has assumed the new role with immediate effect. Founded in Parsons Green, London in 1995, Freedom Brewery relocated to Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, in 2004 where it has built a modern 40,000hl brewery, with purpose-built kegging, canning and bottling lines to meet the growing demand for its unpasteurised lagers. It has won the ‘Green Brewer of the Year’ award for its sustainable brewing and is one of the few brewers to champion organic lager - through its Organic Helles. All of its beer is 100% Vegan certified. Coyle said: “Freedom Brewery was the original craft lager specialist, a real pioneer. I have been an admirer of their beers since inception

and am delighted to be joining at this exciting time as we look to accelerate growth following considerable investment in doubling the capacity of our brewery and installation of new canning and kegging lines within the last 12 months. We see a great future for British craft lager and aim to be at the forefront of meeting the growing demand for authentic, natural and sustainable beers.” Managing Director Matt Willson added: “I’m delighted to have James on board to support the growth of our business. His experience in building leading craft beer brands, overseeing capital investment projects and developing inspiring marketing campaigns, will be a great support to me and the wider team. We’re on track to double our volume to 40,000hl, and our ambition is to achieve 100,000hl in the coming years. We are planning additional investment in our marketing and brewery as we are currently running at capacity and overwhelmed by the support from our customers and drinkers.” Find out more at www.freedombrewery.com

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Brewery news

It’s Go time for DropZone Brewery’s brand new cider

DropZone Brewery, a company that is founded and run by a group of veterans, has just launched its first ever cider, Green On Go! The brewery, which enriches the community of current and former service people by committing 20% of all profits to help veterans, now has three drinks in its ranks, with the new addition joining popular lagers, Red On and Thin Blue Line. Green On Go is a crisp and refreshing medium dry cider, blended from over 45 heritage cider apples. These fresh, fruity and full-bodied flavours give every single drop a pleasant and subtle acidic finish. Offering something for everyone, the cider is also vegan and gluten free. DropZone’s founder and former member of the British Army, Sean Crawford, said: “A lot of work has gone in to creating Green On Go and we’re so excited to see what people think. The brand itself is only three months old so to already find ourselves with three different offerings is testament to the team here. It was always in our plans to release a cider. After perfecting the taste we feel now is the right time and think it will make a lovely summer drink. We’re so passionate about the Veteran Community and hope Green On Go will go a long way in helping to support some incredibly worthy causes.” DropZone Brewery also has its own brand of coffee and merchandise. For more information visit www.dropzonebrewery.co.uk

Skinner’s Brewery heralds a new heyday, with a revived look for Betty Stogs Skinner’s Brewery has revealed a new(ish) identity for its flagship amber ale, Betty Stogs, leaving lovers of Cornish beer pleasantly surprised. Betty Stogs has been a flagship Skinner’s beer since 1997, standing the test of time and now being discovered by a new generation of beer fans looking for a sophisticated, balanced and food-friendly taste. The new look harks back to the most memorable moment for much-loved ‘Betty’, reworking the image created to celebrate the beer being crowned ‘Champion Best Bitter of Great Britain’ at the Great British Beer Festival at Earl’s Court in 2008. Shortly after that prestigious win, artist Nick Beringer worked closely with brewery Founder Steve Skinner, creating an image depicting Betty returning victorious from London; it is this image which has been reimagined to adorn bars in Cornwall and beyond today. The beer itself remains unchanged of course; it’s a Cornish twist on a classic smooth-drinking ale with a light malty aroma leading to a floral, even cedar taste, and a sharp tang of bitter grapefruit. Steve Skinner explained the nostalgic choice for the rebrand, saying: “These days I think a

lot of beer branding looks generic, and Betty is anything but generic! Skinner’s is known for its quirky nature and warm-hearted approach; Betty is the epitome of that. We are proud of the beer and a brand which celebrates difference by being stubbornly non-generic!” With the revival of the old artwork the brewery, owned by Steve and his wife Elaine, has mounted a campaign to ‘Bring Back Betty,’ as Elaine explains: "This artwork has always been our favourite, and it was loved by our loyal customers. It's a celebration of everything Skinner’s is known for, and what Betty (masterfully played by Fred Thomas) stands for. We aren't a homogenous brand, and we aren't afraid to show what we believe in. After a tough few years as a result of Covid-19, and overcoming many obstacles to bring the brewery back under our exclusive ownership, we felt it was the right time to Bring Back Betty!" You can enjoy a new-look pint of Betty Stogs at brewery tap, The Old Ale House on Quay Street in Truro, and the newly reopened Tap Yard Bar and Café at the brewery itself in Newham. Find out more at www.skinnersbrewery.com

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

‘Harvest Thanksgiving’ Ode to Barley “Barley, which any fool can eat, but for which the good Lord intended a more divine means of consumption; let us give thanks, and praise his bounty, by brewing beer!” Friar Tuck, 1196 AD.

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Brewery news

Craft vinegar production saves Bluestone Brewing Co beer from going to waste breweries faced the loss of beer that had been brewed but now had nowhere to go. Bluestone Brewing Co in North Pembrokeshire was no exception. With 3,000 litres of beer ready to go, the brewery was facing the difficult decision to pour it away. In conversation, Simon Turner mentioned this to Alex Jungmayr, director of nearby In the Welsh Wind Distillery. Simon says: “We were gearing up for a really busy Easter and had just filled our cold store up with a huge amount of cask beer. When the first lockdown happened, we lost our market overnight. All of a sudden we had nowhere for all of that beer to go and it was a really worrying time for us as a business. Cask beer has a short life and so we had to come up with a plan quickly to save it from going down the drain.” Born out of the first lockdown, and the need to prevent the waste of 3,000 litres of perfectly good Welsh beer, west Wales businesses Welsh Wind Distillery and Bluestone Brewing Co have launched Welsh Cask Vinegar. When the pandemic hit the UK in 2020, pubs and restaurants were required to close. Many

Unwilling to sit back and watch the beer go to waste, Alex put his thinking cap on and came up with the idea of a Welsh cask-aged vinegar. Alex says: “I was dismayed at the prospect of all this hard work - and beautiful beer going to waste and was determined to see if there was something we could do to help. Fortunately, I like a challenge! After I had done some research, vinegar seemed like the clear solution.”

Brewing up an IPA for India

To ensure the final product would be top quality, Alex reached out to the team at Orkney Craft Vinegar - Celtic cousins already well versed in the art of vinegar making, The small team in Scotland have been making exceptional vinegar for several years. They were pleased to help, and provided expertise and vinegar ‘mother’ to get production underway. Completing the puzzle, the team at In the Welsh Wind sourced oak casks from another Welsh whisky distillery to house the beer as the ‘mother’ worked its magic and transformed the beer into vinegar. Unlike industrially produced vinegar, this cask-aged vinegar is softer and more complex on the palette. Relish in candied citrus peel, oatcakes and a gentle, yet moreish acidity, allowing uses in both the kitchen and your cocktail glass. Vinegar can be used to create a ‘shrub syrup’ for drinks; in the kitchen, it is commonly added to salad dressings, but vinegar can be used in a variety of other ways, including to bring out flavours in fruit. Find out more at www.bluestonebrewing.co.uk and www.inthewelshwind.co.uk

Back in June, with more than 300,000 recorded deaths, and the real toll likely to be much higher, India urgently needed aid to get oxygen and medical supplies to communities that desperately needed it and the UK brewing community came together to raise funds to help. It would take a heart of stone not to have reacted strongly to the funeral pyres on the streets of India, and the pleas to help find sick and dying relatives and hospitals with oxygen on social media, so Goffs Brewery manager Libby Elswood decided she would try and do something about it. Bringing together 15 UK breweries, under the banner of IPA for India, they all brewed their own interpretation of a classic IPA in June and are sending all of the profits to SEWA UK, a 100% volunteer-run charity that is sourcing oxygen and PPE and establishing connections in the hardest hit rural areas of India. The band of brewers thought long and hard about whether IPA was appropriate, given its colonial roots, but felt that it was more likely to grab drinkers’ attention, as IPA holds the top spot as the best-selling craft beer style in the UK, and would raise the most funds. The initiative used the hashtag #IPAforIndia to get the word out on social media about the beers they were producing and get customers involved in the push to raise funds. Commenting on the initiative, Libby says: “There wasn’t really an idea on how to do this originally, it was just a human reaction to a human crisis. We have not only had an astonishing response from brewers wanting to get involved, but also from suppliers - Charles Faram, Crisp Maltings, Lallemand, Morrow Packaging and Colorscan - as well.

Breweries involved were: Goffs Brewery • Fresh Standard • Brass Castle • Blackjack • Bang The Elephant • Hollowstone • Navigation • Little Mesters Yorkshire Heart • Grafham Brewing • Ride Brewing • Errant Brewery • Bliss Brewery • Black Storm Brewery • Bunnyhop Brewing www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

1921 2021

Making it Happen for

100 years As we celebrate reaching our centenary, we want to take a moment to thank those that have been with us on the journey. To our customers, farmers, hauliers, suppliers and employees, thank you. As we look to the next 100 years we remain committed to delivering high quality brewing malt and malt extracts you can trust, working together on making positive changes for a sustainable future and exploring new and exciting innovations and collaborations. Cheers! MUNTONS, PASSIONATE ABOUT MALT SINCE 1921

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

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Brewery news

Salcombe Brewery appoints new Commercial Director Salcombe Brewery Co. has announced the appointment of Jordan Mace to the newly created role of Commercial Director as the company continues to expand to meet the growing market for its award-winning beers. Jordan, whose background includes experience with Barcadi Brown Forman, Fuller’s and Guy Ritchie’s brewery, joins at an exciting time for Salcombe Brewery Co. which recently experienced its busiest week in the brewery’s history. Chairman John Tiner said: “As we approached the emergence from lockdown, we made a substantial investment in the business including establishing our own bottling, canning and kegging facility, increasing our brewing capacity by threefold, forming long term strategic partnerships with a number of key customers and investing in the capabilities of the Salcombe Brewery team. To support our growth we created the role of Commercial

Director and I am delighted to welcome Jordan Mace to this position. “Jordan joins us at a key stage in our development with sales rocketing over the summer due to our new partnerships, some key retail listings and the full reopening of hospitality businesses combined with some fantastic sport viewing opportunities and significantly more people staying in the UK for their holidays than usual. Jordan’s expertise and experience will be pivotal to the business as we move forward and I am really looking forward to working with Jordan in the future.” Jordan added: “I am so excited to be joining Salcombe Brewery Co. at a time of such rapid growth. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to share my knowledge and skills with a dynamic young team in the most stunning part of the UK. I am looking forward to being part of their ongoing success story. “ For more information visit www.salcombebrewery.com

So Lets Talk collaborates with Tiny Rebel to create no and low beers that support the hospitality industry So Lets Talk, a not-for-profit platform that provides education and support on all aspects of mental, physical and financial health inside of the hospitality industry, has collaborated with Tiny Rebel Brewery to release two no and low beers aimed at directly supporting hospitality workers. Tiny Rebel is an award-winning brewery from Newport, South Wales, the youngest and only Welsh brewery to win Champion beer of Britain. The So Lets Talk x Tiny Rebel collaboration sees the launch of two beers, 86 The Silence and Speakeasy, generating a culture change in the hospitality industry by 86’ing the silence (‘86’ is a hospitality bar call which means to remove or get rid of something).

Arron Smallman of So Lets Talk said: “After many years of hiding from my own mental, physical and financial challenges, it feels good to be able to help others in a similar position to faceup and overcome theirs. This collaboration is a huge step in facilitating this change. “We approached Tiny Rebel with the idea at the start of the year and they have been incredible in helping us in our mission to 86 the silence. We’re excited for everyone to get behind this collaboration and help us to make a healthier and happier industry.” Find out more at www.tinyrebel.co.uk and www.soletstalk.co

So Lets Talk is pushing to raise the bar in no and low beers, while also looking to garner respect for mindful drinking across the industry and working with Tiny Rebel to create two flavours which are hard to come by in the UK - but universally respected by hospitality staff. 86 The Silence is a 2.5% Pomegranate Raddler, which has been designed to be the perfect after-work beer to wind down with. It’s also ideal for those who want something a little lighter on the ABV, while making the most of their precious time off. Speakeasy is a 0.5% Hazy Pale Ale designed for those looking to be social and have a beer, but without the beer fear of a hangover the next day. Speakeasy is a refreshing and light beverage with hoppy, citrus notes. The can designs for the two beers are also a reflection of the So Lets Talk national mural project in collaboration with Shawn Sharpe from Good Good Graffiti. The project has seen dedicated hospitality murals created across the UK, designed to raise awareness of the challenges the hospitality industry is currently facing.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

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Brewery news

The Coastal Brewery revival Following a two-year hiatus due to a location change, Coastal Brewery has officially announced it is coming back! Previously based in Cornwall, the business (still under the same ownership) has made the move back to common territory in Crewe once more. Reviving some of the classic Coastal beers such as Angelina and Hop Monster, the aim for the brewery is to be back at some level of operation in time for Christmas. The brewery is currently housed below an on-site pub (Craft Beer Oasis Crewe) which opened back in June and is doing very well. The pub itself includes 20 handpumps showcasing an array of different beers with three handpumps dedicated to Coastal beers. Coastal Brewery and Craft Beer Oasis can be found on the High Street in Crewe, Cheshire. For more information go to www.facebook.com/CoastalBrewery/

Bog Brew Beers relaunches as Six Hills Brewery It's been a busy 18 months or so for Paul and Marie Clinton at Six Hills Brewery, formerly known as Bog Brew Beers. Not only did they move the brewery to a new location adjacent to their taproom, The Broken Seal, and increased their capacity with new equipment, they have also recently gone through a rebranding exercise in consultation with 5HT. "We felt that the time was right to move away from Bog Brew Beers. Soon after we made the decision to rename the brewery but hadn't settled on a new name or branding. Coincidentally Phillip from 5HT popped in to see us as he had recently moved to Stevenage

and loves craft beer," said Paul. "We got chatting and Phillip mentioned that he was working with Duration and Mad Yank on their projects, and I said that we were in the early days of planning to rebrand. One thing lead to another, and a couple of months later Six Hills Brewing was born!" The Six Hills in Stevenage are somewhat of a mystery. Because they are listed ancient monuments they are not allowed to be excavated, but it is believed they are Roman (or possibly earlier) burial burrows. However, urban myth has it that the devil actually created them by throwing clods of earth at travellers on the North Road.

He was so irked at missing them that the seventh clod he threw in a fit of pique and it hit the church spire in Graveley, which remains twisted to this day. The other characters illustrated all have a connection with Stevenage and their own interesting back stories, which are told on their website and social media. Find out more at www.sixhillsbrewing.co.uk

Nottingham Brewery sells current site to lease new larger one nearby After severe financial stress due to the pandemic closures and restrictions, the directors of The Nottingham Brewery have decided to realise the asset of the land that the brewery stands on, and move to a larger rented site quite close to their present location in a more purpose built building and yard. The brewery taphouse, The Plough, will remain, which was the cause for great consternation from local groups who were in uproar at the thought of its demolition. The iconic pub, made famous by writer Alan Silitoe as his watering hole during his novel ‘Saturday night and Sunday morning’, has been the site of a tavern since 1729 will continue to trade serving fine Nottingham ales.

The Nottingham Brewery was established in the late 1800's and its company motto ‘Pace et ballo Paratus’ loosely translates to ‘Ready for Anything’.... although the team admits it wasn’t quite ready for Covid! Find out more at www.thenottinghambrewery.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Brewery news

New brewery and taproom for Titsey Brewing Co. Exciting times at Titsey Brewing Co. as plans progress for the new brewery and taproom. Change of use has been approved for the old barn at Clarks Lane Farm which will house the brewery/ taproom and water has been found deep below the chalk on the North Downs Way. The expansion can’t come soon enough. Since April, Titsey Brewing Co. (founded 2017) has been brewing at capacity. Earlier this year the Titsey Estate Company purchased a majority stake in the brewery which has accelerated development plans. “The current level of sales and day-to-day profitability have fully justified our decision and has made the new brewery and taproom investment an exciting reality,” said John Innes of the Titsey Estate Company. The pandemic disrupted the business, but did

have the benefit of making Titsey focus more on the bottled beer and local sales through the website. This is now an unexpected, additional revenue stream that continues to grow. The ales are all bottle conditioned and the lager is canned, unfiltered and unpasteurised. Add in the traditional branding and they sell particularly well in farm shops and local markets. The core beers in cask reflect the demands of the walkers, cyclists and drivers who visit the Botley Hill Farmhouse, a destination pub and wedding venue next to the brewery’s current base. The beers are traditional, session strength ales whose names reflect the heritage of the Titsey Estate. Craig Vroom, founder and head brewer, hails from South Africa and is a keen mountain biker. His adventurous spirit is reflected in some of the seasonal and special beers,

for example, a single hop pale ale using the unusual Huell Melon hop. The consistent quality of the beer enabled the Botley Hill Farmhouse to get into the Good Beer Guide for the first time in 2021. The seasonals and specials (plus a new liveried van) have enabled Titsey to expand their delivery area to independent pubs, clubs and micropubs throughout Surrey, Kent and Sussex. “I am super happy with the progress we have made so far,” said Craig. “The beers are tasting just as I want them, we’re building a good team and the feedback we are getting is really gratifying. The new brewery and taproom will be the next big step up.” - and it is still only the start of the journey!”. For more information go to www.titseybrewingco.com

Abbeydale Brewery announces Funk Fest 2021 Sheffield based Abbeydale Brewery is bringing back its popular “Funk Fest”, a unique celebration of wild and mixed fermentation beers, as a multivenue festival - taking place from Monday 25th to Sunday 31st of October 2021. Abbeydale Brewery is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and has hosted Funk Fest for the past three years, with the first two events being held within the brewery itself, and 2020’s taking place virtually as “Funk Fest At Home”. This year’s event sees a change of format, with Abbeydale aiming to curate an accessible series of events which celebrate the varied and vibrant nature of the UK

Simple Things Fermentations updates the classic 80 Shilling style Glasgow brewery Simple Things Fermentations is maintaining and modernising a classic Scottish beer style with its two novel takes on Scottish Export, aka 80 Shilling. The first is brewed with locally foraged spruce tips, infusing the toffee-caramel malt foundation with pine resin, citrus and gentle spice notes. The second is last year’s brew of the same style, a portion of which was retained and inoculated with a blend of brettanomyces

mixed fermentation beer scene, as well as supporting venues which have faced enforced closure for much of the last 18 months. The week will see new beer releases from Abbeydale’s own Funk Dungeon barrel ageing and souring project, including the launch of a pink peppercorn saison brewed with Queer Brewing and Out & About Sheffield – a proportion of the proceeds from which are to be donated to local charity SAYiT. Also in the pipeline are an array of tap takeovers, food and beer pairings and virtual online tasting sessions, taking place around Sheffield and beyond. Funk Dungeon lead brewer Jim Rangeley

yeast strains and left to mature and develop for 12 months. Brewery owner Phil Sisson said: “80 Shilling is an iconic Scottish beer style that’s recognised and revered worldwide, but you’re more likely to find a really interesting example of it in Dallas than Dumfries. Here in the UK it’s been largely ignored by modern craft brewers; it’s rarely seen outside of Scotland and even here the stuff you do find is frequently disappointing. While there’s no lack of innovation around many of the traditional British styles, that's not been the case for the rich brewing heritage we have north of the border, which is odd when you consider how great these beers can be. I’d love to see more breweries applying their creativity to the ‘Shilling’ styles and producing beers that do justice to the mighty reputation these beers have.”

says of the festival: “we're really excited to build on what we've begun over the past three years and continue the spirit of conversation and celebration around the wonderful world of mixed fermentation.” Any producers, retailers or venues that would like to be involved are very welcome to join in and help share the spirit of support, collaboration and funky celebration that Abbeydale Brewery is keen to ensure Funk Fest is all about. Email Laura at marketing@ abbeyalebrewery.co.uk for further information or visit www.abbeydalebrewery.co.uk

Both beers are bottle conditioned, vegan friendly and available through the Simple Things web store, independent bottle shops and pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK. For more information go to www.simplethingsfermentations.com

The beers appear as part of the brewery’s Big Ideas Series; Scottish Export with Spruce Tips (5.5%) is number 8.1 in the series and Bretted 80/- (7.2%) is number 22. www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

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Brewery news

Bundobust gives away 200 pints as it launches its new brewery Located in the Grade II-listed St James Building on Oxford Street in Manchester – just a stone’s throw from Oxford Road station – it’s the perfect place for a quick post-work pint, a no-holds-barred mid-week feast or a celebratory weekend session. Adding to Bundobust’s roster of successful venues in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, this second Manchester site comes in the form of a 150-seat taproom and restaurant – within a fully-functioning brewery. Already well-known for its discerning taste in craft beers and an iconic lineup of collabs with internationally renowned breweries, Bundobust now has the facility to brew its very own, right on site. Bundobust Brewery has been under construction since 2019. Now complete, the 10-hectolitre custom-build is capable of producing 20,000 pints per month.

Renowned craft beer and Gujarati street food venue, Bundobust, last month announced the opening of its longawaited brewery. And the first 200 pints were being given away for free (*with the purchase of food).

Marko Husak, Bundobust Co-Founder, said: “We were due to open in May 2020. The past 18 months have slowed us down, but the delay has meant that we’ve been able to develop our beer recipes. Expect the familiar Bundobust vibe and menu, with the bonus of being in a working brewery.”

Sustainable furniture outfit, Woodmancote Retro has created the brewery’s high tables and stools. The overall design is influenced by US brewpubs, with a nod to German beer hall camaraderie. Each chair is made from 40 recycled plastic water bottles, while school desks have been repurposed into beer hall-style tables, complete with “I Woz ‘Ere” etchings. Keep an eye out for original features from the space’s previous incarnation as a car park, from vintage alarm bells and glazed bricks to ‘Drive Slowly’ signage. A show-stopping giant glass atrium mirrors the Piccadilly branch’s glass apex. Mayur Patel, Bundobust Co-Founder, said: “The opportunity to carve out an iconic Manchester building from scratch has been a massive undertaking, and we’re excited to welcome people in. We’re looking forward to opening a unique space alongside theatres and gig venues, Oxford Road station, and great pubs like The Peveril of the Peak.” Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Marko Husak on pages 38-45 in this issue and for more information go to www.bundobust.com

Maxim Brewery brings iconic Samson beer back to Sunderland AFC lasting partnership between SAFC and Molson Coors Beverage Company that launched in 2015 and will now run until summer 2026. Alongside the introduction of a state-of-the-art EPOS system, the club will also be launching new beverage pricing throughout the venue to ensure supporters enjoy competitive value and enhanced speed of service.

For the first time in over 24 years, Maxim Brewery’s Samson beer will be served inside the Stadium of Light, as SAFC rekindles an historic partnership with a synonymous local brand. The move is part of a unique five-year partnership with Molson Coors Beverage Company in collaboration with Maxim Brewery. The multi-year agreement marks the continuation of a strong and

Maxim Brewery’s Mark Anderson said: “Many SAFC fans will remember when Samson appeared on the shirts of Sunderland in the 1994 to 1997 football seasons, but when Vaux Breweries closed in 1999, this was one of the brands that we were able to save at that time. We were delighted when Sunderland AFC gave us the opportunity to return a locally brewed draught beer to all the bars at the Stadium of light and we are pleased to team up with Molson Coors to bring fans and visitors a unique partnership of our award-winning Samson Smooth alongside their nationally recognised brands.” Gary Barker, Key Account Manager at Molson Coors Beverage Company, added: “Molson Coors Beverage Company are absolutely delighted to continue our relationship with Sunderland AFC for a further five years, as the club’s official drinks partner. We are also thrilled to team up with Maxim Brewery to bring fans a unique winning combination of Samson Smooth alongside our national and internationally recognised brands.” www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

gplus ke LY ON

DA YS

Gold members

NIT PER U OR T H E FIR ST 3

You’re in control of driving costs down SHORTER CYCLE = LOWER COSTS We successfully launched EkegPlus at BrewLDN in July and the flexibility, cost and time saving features have been extremely well received by brewers already using our new pooling product. Transparent, flexible costs • Only pay for containers when you use them • 80 day cost cap for longer hire periods • Keep track of costs on our PlusPortal management system

Containers ready when you are • Access to our 340,000+ fleet • Collect and refill ekegs and ecasks as needed • Deliver direct to venue or through approved wholesalers Time saving technology • Track and manage hundreds of containers in seconds with RFID bulk scanning technology

How does it work? EkegPlus is a container rental pooling service that gives customers more flexibility. Our outsourced keg and cask solution allows you, the brewer, to only pay for the time you use containers – with prices starting at just 99p for 30 days. With access to our fleet of over 340,000 ekegs and ecasks, brewers have the freedom to adjust usage and costs as required. You simply keep the agreed stockpile of containers needed onsite, or collect and refill from a range of locations. Each container is embedded with RFID technology, making it uniquely identifiable. After you’ve scanned an ekeg or ecask into a hire cycle, you can track where your product is and how much it’s going to cost on our PlusPortal management platform.

RFID tracking and the PlusPortal provide traceability, are straightforward to navigate and give clear visibility on the charges and billing. It is a big advantage to be able to view data, allowing us to reconcile an invoice at a granular level if necessary.” Danny Janes, Procurement Manager | Thornbridge Brewery

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Gold members

Your supply chain, your choice EkegPlus gives you the flexibility to deliver products directly to retail venues or to any of our approved wholesalers. When the ekegs and ecasks you’re using are empty, collect them yourself to reduce costs, or wait for us to recover them, closing the hire cycle for you. With access to our large fleet of kegs and casks, you could extend your product’s reach across mainland UK. There’s no obligation to recover containers from wholesale and our pricing cap stops brewers from being overcharged.

Technology driven Our award-winning RFID technology allows more visibility when managing containers and costs. Every time the containers you’re using are scanned, the data is logged on the PlusPortal management system. This allows you to trace the progress of your product throughout the supply chain – from fill to closing the hire cycle. The PlusPortal provides an overview of the keg or cask fleet you’re using and charges, as well as data about container usage that could help you to make logistics more efficient and improve profitability.

Active cycle pricing consists of three components: 1. The one-off fill fee: Applied at time of fill.

PlusPortal features and benefits: • Live view of cycle times and costs, plus transparent automated billing

• • • •

Pricing model

Cost reducing visibility on container locations Intelligent hardware for bulk scanning assets easily Detailed customer management insights

2. The daily hire: A fixed daily hire fee is applied until the container is scanned back to an approved location or if the cycle cap is reached. 3. The cap: A fixed number of days where, if the container has not been scanned back into stock, the daily hire fee will stop.

Effectively streamline production

ALL CONTAINERS ARE FITTED WITH RFID TAGS

1. YOU RESERVE

the containers you need, store them onsite or collect from our local depots

STARTS

2. YOU BULK SCAN the containers when filled to start the hire cycle

ENDS

3. YOU DELIVER

your product direct to venue or to an approved wholesaler

4. YOU COLLECT

and rescan the containers when empty OR WE COLLECT them, automatically ending your cycle

To find out more call us today on 01425 485421 or visit ekegplus.com www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Gold members

A continuation of last year’s open letter to all members and prospective members of SIBA A few post Covid thoughts (hopefully) Well - We have not surrendered. Times remain tough and uncertain but through heroic and stoic determination, the Great British Brewing Industry has survived to fight another day. I would like to thank all our customers who have shown resolve and creativity which has embedded a tremendous sense of hope for the future. Travel restrictions but open pubs, over the long holiday period, have allowed more people to experience our wonderful regional and craft beers otherwise unavailable in southern Spain and other popular summer destinations. Despite a busy time since the re-opening of the Hospitality Industry, many challenges remain. As Brian Hickman mentions in his crop report, we have faced significant increases in all cereal prices. When these are combined with upward pressures on all other facets of running a business from people and energy through to transport, we realize the dark shadow of real inflation is upon us. I am hopeful that some aspects of inflation such as ‘weather and demand’ driven commodity hikes and the Covid - Brexit - Suez driven transport hikes will be short lived as the commercial world returns to some form of normality. As a business, we will continue to invest in all areas that will enable us to continue to supply top quality malts to wherever they are required. We are fortunate to be one of the few to operate our own transport fleet and our mantra remains ‘Quality & Service’. We remain committed to SIBA and all the good things for which it stands. I wish all connected to SIBA and the wider Brewing World well and that we can all start to make real progress in 2022 and beyond. Yours sincerely

James Fawcett Chairman & Managing Director

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Gold members

HARVEST REPORT 2021 by Brian Hickman, Production Director, Thomas Fawcett & Sons Ltd Mother nature has a wonderful way of correcting imbalances; the early concerns we had back in April about another high nitrogen crop due to lack of rain, and a late harvest, were unfounded once the rains did come, just in time, and the crops recovered well. Some welcome sunshine and warmer weather at the beginning of July then ripened the winter barleys and they started to be combined in the last week of the month. Interestingly, the first Maris Otter barley was delivered to our store only one day later than the previous year. This year’s winter barley crop is generally low nitrogen, with the only issue being slightly smaller grain size and higher screenings. This is particularly true for the Southern and East Anglian barleys. The barleys from Shropshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire were generally of higher quality. The early spring barley samples were good for grain size and low nitrogen, but there were varying degrees of skinned grains where the husk had been damaged or removed in the combine. Germination results are much better than last year, but there has been a delay in harvesting spring barley due to poor weather and farmers will

Although yields were slightly down, we have enough quality barley to cover sales next year and to compensate for the shortfall last year. Sadly, the price of all cereals has increased significantly due to demand. preferentially cut their wheat crops before the remaining spring barley. If the weather forecast is correct, we should see the vast majority of the spring malting barley cut this week. It will be interesting to see whether the weather and the delayed harvest result in a detrimental effect on the quality, as it did last year. To date we have bought some very good quality barley; the heritage varieties of Maris Otter, Golden Promise, Halcyon, and Pearl have all produced some excellent low nitrogen samples. Although yields

were slightly down, we have enough quality barley to cover sales next year and to compensate for the shortfall last year. Sadly, the price of all cereals has increased significantly due to demand. Most UK maltsters are short of old crop barley due to Covid caution and the poor quality that was on offer in 2020. In addition, the shortage of wheat last year has created a significant increase in demand for the 2021 crop. There is significant export demand for UK malting barley into Europe as much of the European crop is of poor quality. Weather problems elsewhere in the world, such as unseasonal droughts in South and North America, have kept the market buoyant. Prices have risen steadily from the start of harvest all the way through August and remain very high for later in the year. This will have a knock on effect for malt prices next year. Everyone is in the same boat and the trend in malt is systematic with macro-inflationary pressures affecting all areas of the economy. Despite this, the demand for quality malt is as strong as ever, both in the UK as well as over-seas. We hope the global recovery will continue a pace in 2022.

We are customer driven to help brewers of all traditions and sizes. For further information or for a bespoke quotation to reflect your malt variety preference, volume, packaging and delivery requirements please email: sales@fawcett-maltsters.co.uk or call us on 01977 552490.

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

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Supplier news

GEA pledges net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 Industrial technology specialist GEA Group AG has announced a comprehensive new climate strategy. With the corresponding climate targets, GEA is making a clear commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions along its entire value chain by 2040. The company has submitted its net-zero commitment and 2030 interim targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the globally recognised, independent body for reviewing climate targets. Validation of GEA’s interim targets by SBTi is expected in the second half of 2021, confirming GEA’s

targets are aligned with the latest climate science and are effectively contributing to the 1.5 degrees Celsius target of the Paris Agreement. “GEA is taking bold action to support the global transition to a net-zero economy. Our new climate strategy positions GEA as the leader in our peer group. We are pursuing the most comprehensive and ambitious climate strategy in the mechanical engineering industry,” says Stefan Klebert, CEO GEA Group AG. “We are incorporating our entire value chain into this effort, tackling both direct and indirect emissions. And by doing so, we are taking clear action in line with GEA’s purpose: ‘engineering for a better world’.”

By investing globally in Gold Standardcertified projects to generate clean energy from wind, sun, biomass and waste gases, GEA's own operations are already climateneutral since the beginning of 2021. Established by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Gold Standard certifies climate protection projects that have highest possible positive climate impact. “Carbon offsets for the emissions that we cannot yet avoid is, of course, only the first step on our net-zero journey. That is why we are working to transform our business operations to effectively contribute to limiting global warming,” adds Klebert. Find out more at www.gea.com

Polykeg, Murphy & Son and Reborn announce the UK’s first keg recycling service Polykeg is working with Murphy & Son on a new partnership with Reborn to launch a keg recycling program which collects used kegs, shreds them down into pellets and then uses the pellets to make a range of products including clothes and promotional merchandise. Murphy & Son is a long-established and well-respected distributor to breweries throughout the UK. It now exclusively distributes Polykegs and wants to ensure that all Polykegs sold into the UK market are 100% recycled, with the lowest carbon footprint. Brandon Critchell, Sales and Marketing Director for Murphy & Son, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer this service to all of our customers. It is so important that we are now able to recycle Polykegs and we are delighted to be working with Reborn. Being able to see the kegs being turned into products which are then sold back into our industry is very satisfying.”

Reborn is an organisation passionate about preserving our oceans and global ecosystem. It works extensively with the hospitality industry collecting and recycling plastic waste before it ends up in landfill or our oceans. This is then made into a range of sustainable products including uniforms, point of sale items, chairs, and bars. Zak Johnson, CEO & Founder of Reborn, said: “I am thrilled to be working with Polykeg, especially as it is the UK’s first keg recycling service. At Reborn we are passionate about preserving the oceans and environment and see plastic waste as a commodity that can be turned into useful and long-lasting. Rather than going to landfill or ending up in our oceans, businesses can turn their own plastic waste into sustainable merchandise and clothes creating a circular economy. Polykeg is a great partner for us especially as the kegs are very easy to dismantle and 100% recyclable. This is a win-win situation for Polykeg, Murphy and Son and the brewing industry.”

The way the program will work is that there will be several drop off locations around the UK. In some cases, collections can be arranged. The kegs will then be shipped from the drop off locations to Reborn’s recycling centre in Buckinghamshire. There they will be dismantled and shredded down into pellets. The pellets are then shipped to Reborn’s manufacturing plant where they are used to make a range of products.” Tony Hird, Managing Director of Polykeg UK, added: “This is a very significant milestone for Polykeg. It is the first recycling program which is not only based in the UK, but which uses recycled plastic to produce products sold back into the industry. The carbon footprint of the program is negligible when compared to other recycling programs which ship the kegs to other European countries to be recycled.” The service is free of charge and available to all Polykeg and Murphy’s customers. Find out more at www.polykeg.com/en/

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Profil Solutions - approved UK agents for Carlson Filtration Ltd, Merck-Millipore & VLS Technologies (Velo Acciai). Profil supply DE Filters (horizontal and vertical leaf), Crossflow filters, sheet filters and other equipment manufactured by VLS Technologies (Velo Acciai). Profil also supply Carlson filter sheets & lenticular filters, Merck-Millipore filter cartridges and sterile membranes. Filter cartridge housings and lenticular filter housings, bag filters, strainers and most other type of filtration equipment. For further product information please contact Dave Manns on 01531 636704 or e-mail to davemanns@profilsolutions.com Profil Solutions Ltd A.B.E. Estate, Bromyard Road, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 1LG T: 01531 636704 F: 01531 806396 M: 07894 704895 W: www.profilsolutions.com

Enjoy perfect drinks dispense with T&J We are a leading service provider to the UK drinks industry T&J delivers great ROI and peace of mind to the nation’s independent and major brand owners. We ensure your products are always served at the highest quality – whether in a pub or a stadium.

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Supplier news

Innovus Engineering supports Bestens Brewery through the pandemic

Supplier Case Study

The pandemic has hit businesses across all sectors, including the craft beer industry, but with Innovus’ help, one local brewer has been able to thrive in these challenging times. West Sussex start-up Bestens Brewery moved to a new HQ in Lower Beeding back in the summer of 2018, enabling the business to base a brewery, shop and taproom on the same site. From the start, Founder and Head Brewer Paul Swaffield had opted for cans rather than bottles for the Bestens range. Cans are lighter, take up less space and are easier for brewery workers to handle. From a quality perspective, cans can deliver zero UV light penetration, keeping the beer

fresher for longer than would be the case with bottles, while the full hermetic seal between can and lid keeps oxygenation to a minimum, protecting the unique flavour of the beer. At the time of the move, Bestens had a one-barrel brewhouse, and a simple, manual canning system, but as Paul explains, this was proving inadequate for his growing company: “We had been having problems with inconsistent seals and oxygenation of beer on the very basic manual system that we had at the time. We were also able to only can approximately 60 units per hour, which was far too slow.” Fortunately, Innovus was able to help. In 2019, Bestens invested in a major canning equipment upgrade, taking delivery of a new Innovus Engineering CF10 Can Filling and Closing Machine. The CF10 is a fully stainless steel semi-automatic mobile canner, with a capacity of up to 600 cans per hour. According to Paul, Innovus’ attention to detail and understanding of the needs of the artisanal brewing sector, as well as their post-installation aftercare, were crucial in his choice: “Matt at Innovus arranged for us to see a machine in use at another local brewery and have an honest discussion with that brewery. The testimony of the other

brewer was key, as he spoke so highly of the aftercare he had received. We have been so grateful for the service and advice that Matt and Nathan have provided since they installed our Innovus machine.” Paul’s decision to invest in new Innovus canning technology was perfectly timed. In 2020, Covid hit the UK and the hospitality industry was devastated. Pubs and bars were closed and sales of beer kegs plummeted as demand shifted to takeaway and delivery beer products. With their new Innovus canning line up and running, and an increased brewery capacity of four barrels, the Bestens team was able to rise to the challenge of increased demand for canned beers, delivering their range of high quality IPAs, pale ales, porter and stout across Sussex and the UK. As the COVID-19 lockdown has eased, Bestens has been able to resume regular sales to hospitality venues and shops throughout the county and the wider South-East. Paul adds: “Without our Innovus machine, we would not have survived, it is as simple as that. Innovus has given us the confidence that our beers will reach our customers exactly as we would want them to, and will remain fresh for longer.” For more information visit www.innovusengineering.com

AEB launches into the UK market with a range of products and services for craft brewers AEB, an international brand of Italian heritage, is launching in the UK for the first time, offering its innovative biotechnology brewing ingredients to the thriving British craft brewing market. The global brewing company offers expert advice and solutions to help brewers create better beer, including yeasts, enzymes, tannins, clarifying agents and stabilisers. AEB enables breweries to stay ahead of trends in the beer industry, supplying products that help craft brewers meet the rising demand for low or no alcohol beers and gluten-free beers without compromising on flavour. Its products allow for craft breweries to produce speciality style beers effectively, using

the processes they know, without investing in expensive equipment, while giving brewers more control over the flavour profiles of beers by enhancing or suppressing certain characteristics. In addition to brewing products, AEB offers a unique brewing expertise service, with three digital support packages available. Subscribing to any support package gives brewers access to dedicated support Monday to Friday, via WhatsApp, Quick Chat and Call-back, as well as a monthly audit of brewing processes. Subscribers will be paired with AEB specialists so they will always have the same point of contact who can truly get familiar with their business and brewing needs. Mario Tomasoni, CEO of AEB, said: “We’re really excited to be introducing our products

and expertise to the UK for the first time, as there are so many passionate craft breweries here, producing excellent beer. Our products allow brewers to produce a more consistent product, and to be able to magnify certain desirable characteristics in their brewing. We want to work alongside brewers in the medium and long term with our unique subscription packages to help them brew better beer!” Find out more at www.aeb-group.com/uk/beer

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Batch Traceability SALSA data collation

Supplier news

WBC launches new advent calendars for beer Packaging specialist WBC has launched a new format advent calendar for Christmas 2021 specially aimed at the beer market. Calendars are already big business, receiving massive publicity each year, and are selling out in record time. No longer the sole domain of the chocolatier, an increasing number of “adult” advent calendars are popping up on the market and this year WBC is launching one of its own aimed at the beer market. The advent calendar for beer cans can be offered as ready-filled gifts instore or online or as a classy ‘choose your own selection’ tailored to individual tastes. The 24 can advent calendar capitalises on the burgeoning craft beer market and houses 330ml and 400ml cans (max 73 x 150mm). It also works great with smaller bottles of spirits, pre-mixed cocktails and a host of other weird and wonderful concoctions available these days. And don’t forget the non-drinkers! The price is £12.32 each ex VAT. Both sizes have strong transit outers available for purchase separately for those intending to send them through a courier network. WBC’s beer advent calendars available now and the full range of off the shelf gift and protective packaging for bottles and cans is in stock and available for next day delivery. Find out more at www.wbc.co.uk

New Easyfill KeyKeg Filler from Vigo Ltd Vigo has introduced Malek Brautech's new Easyfill semi-automatic KeyKeg Filler to its range. KeyKegs take advantage of the keg concept without the need to collect the empties (your assets); without the need for keg cleaning equipment (for their reuse); and without the product coming into contact with dispensing gas. Malek Brautech designed and manufacture the new Easyfill KeyKeg filler and are official suppliers of filling machines for KeyKegs. The Easyfill filler provides an optimised filling process and typically fills 50 to 60 KeyKegs per hour, depending on the product pressure and the operator. It is user-friendly and designed to be operated by only one operator. Features include: • Single filling station • Integrated touch-screen control panel

• Program steps configured as per the recommendation of OneCircle, founders of the KeyKeg • Fill process controlled by inductive flow meter & all pressures monitored with sensors • Small footprint • Excellent price-performance ratio Brewers looking to expand their packaging format to include an easy one-way dispense option can contact Vigo to discuss their requirements. Higher capacity keg (steel) filling machines and filling lines are available with the extra flexibility of being able to fill KeyKegs via additional change parts. As with all equipment supplied by Vigo, installation is carried out by their team of engineers (6 engineers & 2 apprentice engineers), who also offer a full technical support including maintenance and repair for the lifetime of the machine. Find out more at www.vigoltd.com

The Carling Partnership has announced the return of Penny Zaloumis to its recruitment team. You can contact Penny on 01483 893100 or at penny.zaloumis@carlingpartnership.com Welcome back Penny!

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Gravity Systems was formed to meet the growing demand in the craft beer market for a single source for all brewhouse, fermentation, services generation and distribution. It is our aim to be the most complete partner in the brewery industry by building long term partnerships with our customers.

+44 (0) 1733 834264 | www.gravity-systems.co.uk

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Supplier news

Introducing Charles Faram Farms Already a well-known fixture within the brewing industry, grower-owned hop merchant Charles Faram has announced its partnership with new UK hop grower group, Charles Faram Farms Ltd. “We already work very closely with our grower partners worldwide,” said Paul Corbett, Managing Director of Charles Faram. “But this is to take the link with our local UK growers to the next level. Charles Faram Farms will be heavily involved in creating and retaining strong, long-lasting partnerships between its grower members and the brewers who use their hops. Members will be working closely with us on all aspects of our Hop Development Programme and raising standards throughout the group through the sharing of knowledge and best practice via the Wellhopped Quality Programme. It is a very exciting development and we invite brewers to join us in working more closely with the farms that grow hops for them.” Simon Parker, recent Chairman of the British Hop Association and a Director of the new group, said: “We have worked closely with Charles Faram for many years and to be able to move this forward in such a positive way in such a difficult time for hop growers is a fantastic opportunity. Every member of the new group is delighted to be involved and we are looking forward to working with the

team at Charles Faram and their brewery customers.” The growers in the new 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 is also growing a large proportion of the own brand Jester®, Olicana® and Harlequin™ acreage for Charles Faram. They are 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. James Hawkins, another of the grower Directors in the new group, said: “Growing of hops is a passion we all have in abundance, to link directly with Charles Faram and have access to their Development Programme is very exciting. We are already growing four of their new varieties commercially and look forward to seeing others come through. To have a

James Hawkins and Paul Corbett (pictured) will be directors of the group alongside Richard Phillips and Simon Parker] closer relationship with brewers and meeting their requirements gives me confidence that we can keep supplying British Hops and make sure that the sixth generation of our family will continue to grow hops as I and the four before me have.” Charles Faram Farm hop growers are very keen to work closely with British Brewers to help them reduce their carbon footprint. It is hoped that brewers will recognise the value in buying local, sustainably grown hops, reduce their food miles and help the environment. Look out for the grower links at www.charlesfaram.co.uk/charles-faramfarms-meet-the-growers/

Jane Peyton’s School of Booze named in London & South East’s Top 100 Businesses Jane Peyton, beer sommelier, drinks educator and founder of Beer Day Britain, has been awarded a top business accolade. Her company School of Booze has been named as one of London and South-East England’s Top 100 Small and Medium Sized Enterprises 2021 at the South-East Business Awards. School of Booze was founded by Jane in 2008 and is unique in the range of services it offers – beer, cider and wine training in person, by video conferencing, and via an e-learning platform, drinks writing services, drinks consultancy, and corporate tasting events. The Awards are run in association with NatWest bank and Newsquest Media Group to recognise, celebrate, and encourage British enterprise and business leaders. This is especially crucial because of the global pandemic’s negative impact on smaller

businesses including School of Booze which made a 360˚ pivot by developing an e-learning platform for beer, cider and wine training, and offered corporate events and drinks training via video conferencing. For this rapid adaptation School of Booze has also been recognised by another business awards programme, being named a finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards to be announced in November. Jane Peyton said: “It’s a fantastic feeling for me and School of Booze to be recognised in the business awards. I get such pleasure from work and meet wonderful people so to be rewarded for doing something that I love is even more special. Seeing how well my beer, cider and wine e-learning platform has been received by hospitality clients and members of the public who want to learn more about their favourite drink has been particularly exciting.” Contact Jane at jane@school-of-booze.com

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Supplier news

ICE Vector establishes Clearmark’s foray into pallet labelling Digital coding innovator Clearmark is celebrating its 20th anniversary by making its foray into the logistics labelling space with the launch of the ICE Vector Pallet Labelling System. The ICE Vector brings to the marketplace a new high performance, low maintenance tertiary option that is easy to integrate with line and warehouse management systems. ICE Vector completes Clearmark’s coding portfolio, enabling customers to benefit from joined-up coding solutions across their primary, secondary and tertiary operations paving the way for the production facility of the future. Unique engineering differentiators makes the ICE Vector a high performance system including: climate controlled cabin to ensure consistent print quality; robust longreach cartesian-style arm guarantees GS1 specification label placement on all pallet configurations; a dual operator interface for continual working during ribbon/label reel changes; intelligent I/O system to seamlessly communicate with today’s highly automated warehouses. “We have been paving the way for entering

Moody Direct becomes sole UK distributor for Fischer Heat Exchangers

the tertiary marketplace ever since we moved into secondary coding with our now flagship product, the ICE Vulcan, in 2014. Having spent the intervening years building our expertise in print and apply and honing our technology, we have developed a tertiary offering that is unmatched by anything else available on the market today,” says Clearmark’s Technical Managing Director, Chris Simpson. The launch of ICE Vector is timely, with warehouses accelerating their investment in intelligent automation, mitigating supply chain issues (exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic). As more products flow through supply chains at speed, warehouses call for smarter, faster, self-reliant systems to meet demand. The Government’s recently announced capital allowance incentive for investments in new machinery and plant is providing further impetus for automation. Between now and March 2023, British manufacturers investing in qualifying plant and machinery assets will be able to benefit from 130% corporate tax relief (usually 18%) allowing the financial case to stack up. Find out more at www.clearmark.uk

Moody Direct Ltd, a leading supplier of process solutions in the UK, has become the sole UK distributor for Fischer Maschinen- und Apparatebau GmbH heat exchangers. Moody Direct has been providing products and services to a range of industries for many years, with their core customer base in the food and beverage sectors. Fischer Maschinen- und Apparatebau GmbH is a specialist in thermal processing technology, based in Austria. Its operations began by producing heat exchangers specifically for the food and beverage industry. Moody Direct offers a one-stop-shop to its customers, with a range of services available through dedicated divisions. Moody Heat Exchangers, one such division, provides a range of thermal transfer solutions. These solutions include; sourcing, supplying, installing, commissioning, maintaining, servicing, testing, and refurbishing a wide range of heat exchangers from a variety of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Similarly Moody Projects can incorporate Fischer heat exchangers into a complete turnkey solution. With many years of experience within the hygienic sector, a new liquid processing system can be individually designed to suit each

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

customer’s unique requirements. Ken Wild, Director at Moody Direct Ltd, said: "We've developed a close relationship with our customers through our special understanding of their requirements within the hygienic sector. Fischer products are manufactured to the highest quality and with hygiene as the focus point. We are thrilled to be appointed as Fischer's sole UK distributor as it allows us to offer our customers an enhanced range of thermal processing solutions." Bernhard Fischer, Managing Director at Fischer Maschinen- und Apparatebau GmbH, added: "At Fischer, our core vision is to put our customers first. This partnership will allow our UK customers to be supported by a trusted, well-known supplier whose reputation speaks for itself. We look forward to where this endeavour will take us both in the future." As the Sole UK Distributor, Moody Direct is able to supply Fischer Heat Exchangers complete range of heat exchanger units, plate packs, gaskets, and more. In addition, its large UK facility holds stock of replacement packs, gaskets and other components, allowing a next day UK mainland delivery service. For more information visit www.moodydirect.com or www.moodyheatexchangers.com

many new drinks industry promotions have come and gone but the traditional cotton bar towel is still a must for the modern brewer. this is especially true for micro breweries where our low minimum order quantity makes for an inexpensive promotional campaign.

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Arlington Packaging Ltd., SN9 5PZ www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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The UK’s leading Malt Mill Manufacturer serving Breweries and Distilleries Worldwide The AR 2000 range of mills offer highly efficient, precise, dust-free milling The AR 2000 range of mills are fully ATEX compliant & certified Significantly increased extract figures Additional savings on grinding charges Consistent, high quality grist sample Complete process control Full range of Conveyors, Elevators, Grist Cases, Malt Hoppers & Control Systems designed and manufactured Complete Bulk Malt Intake Systems for 25kg sacked malt through to 30 tonne silos *All equipment designed and manufactured in-house to individual specifications*

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Supplier news

SIBA Members get a 5% discount from Hatton Textiles International

Hatton Textiles International, which specialises in woven bar towels, is offering a 5% discount to see SIBA Members (see code at the bottom of this article). First established in 1984, Hatton Textiles has been designing and delivering high quality towels for over 35 years and is now part of The Purple Group offering a comprehensive range of branded merchandise. With the long awaited return to pubs, bars and many other hospitality venues now in full swing; Hatton Textiles International is well placed to help the brewing community promote their new and favourite brews to the discerning drinker using the tried and tested, traditional medium of woven bar towels. Designed in the UK, these absorbent 100% terry cotton, machine washable bar towels have long been a staple advertising product especially for micro breweries where low cost, low minimum order quantities and short lead times are critical. There are over 80 different towelling colours available which can be woven in one or more colours with brewery branding, beer or cider. The team at Hatton have a wealth of experience and provide a free visualisation service that can be used to help you bring concepts to life. For more information contact sales@hattontextiles.co.uk or go to www.hattontextiles.com *Quote SIBA010921 to claim your 5% discount*

A malt style like no other

Supplier Viewpoint

Crisp Malt’s Jodie Harvey celebrates 56 years of No.19 Maris Otter… ales, from Bitters to Pale Ales to Stouts. It’s now re-emerging as a hero of craft beer as brewers are discovering––or rediscovering––the flavours it delivers. “We continue to malt some of it in our No.19 floor maltings. It’s a slow and gentle process, and the unique shape of the malthouse is able to give a malt with a fuller aroma and greater complexity than the regular malting process, making it a truer taste of traditional Maris Otter.” No.19 Maris Otter is a classic malt, steeped in a rich history. Renowned among ale brewers in Britain for its consistent performance in the mash tun, the malt is also known to drinkers for the characterful, flavoursome beer it produces. “And those flavoursome beers using the malt can continue,” says Crisp’s marketing manager, Jodie Harvey. “For its 56th year, the Maris Otter harvest has provided good quality, low nitrogen grains – great for malting and brewing to create delicious beers.”

Persistence because of provenance Grown and malted only in England, and essentially limited edition, Maris Otter is sought after by discerning craft brewers around the world. They turn to it for its quality, consistency, reliability - and forgivingness in the mash tun. And for the fact that no other malted barley replicates its distinctive flavours. “Norfolk is the heartland of Maris Otter,” says Jodie. “The Mother Field is just a short drive from our malting, and some of our farmers have grown Maris Otter for over 50 years.”

Traditionally crafted for authentic taste Jodie continues: “the most distinctive flavour of Maris Otter is its rich biscuity depth, which works so well in British

A whole lot of history In 2020, Maris Otter reached its 55th anniversary. This is an exceptional record: most cereal varieties are superseded within five or six years.

But the history of malting barley is one of constant change. New breeds usually replace old ones within a few years, with agronomics and price––rather than brewing qualities and flavour––driving the decisions. While Maris Otter has always had its hugely desirable malt characters, and has always worked superbly in the brewhouse, farmers started to struggle with it. Cross-pollination and uncertified seeds were affecting it and there was a lower yield than other varieties. It declined almost to the point of disappearance. A sprinkle of soil + a dash of reselection = a loyal variety Jodie says: “regular re-selection is essential to guarantee that the variety remains of the highest quality and true-to-type over time, while controlling the supply of seeds makes sure that it’s grown only by the best growers on the most suitable soils– which is why there’s always been a premium on Maris Otter malt. “Really that’s what’s important with heritage malts like Maris Otter is its flavour, loyalty and consistency in brewing. Those characteristics combined give brewers a broader choice of ingredients for their different beer styles.” Find out more at www.crispmalt.com

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Supplier news Supplier Case Study

CFB Boilers works with Seven Bro7hers Brewing

Seven Bro7hers Brewing is one of the UK’s largest family run breweries. It was founded by seven brothers who own the brewery, and there are also four sisters who run a gin company, so they have vast experience in all aspects of the brewing industry. When the decision came to invest in a new steam boiler, they came across CFB Boilers Ltd, who much like Seven Bro7hers is a family run business. This appealed to the brothers, along side the fact that CFB Boilers has 125 years’ experience in the steam boiler industry and that its boilers were manufactured at their purpose-built facility based in Clacton on sea, Essex. After a competitive quote had been sent in, Seven Bro7hers purchased a 20HP 4VT Steam Boiler from CFB Boilers which not only had a 20% steam capacity compared to the existing steam boiler on site, but also is more efficient and energy saving than any

like for like competitors on the market to date. With the purchase completed, the next challenge was the timescale. The project was on a tight time scale, as the boiler installation needed to take place within days of the brewing vessels arriving and being installed. This wasn’t a problem for the CFB Boilers Installation Team, who installed the boiler and equipment within the allotted time frame, all as per the customer’s request. Dan from Seven Bro7hers says: “We just wanted to say thank you to the whole team over at CFB. It was a pleasure to deal with all of you; plus, the expert advice we received from the CFB engineers as well; all were superb! We had a few issues with the commissioning, but I have got to say that the engineer was very professional about things and came back yesterday to finish off the service after we had to increase the gas pipe. Whilst it was something that we hadn’t envisaged, the engineer did exactly the right thing getting the pipework increased to meet Gas Safe regulations. So again, thanks from everyone here at Seven Bro7hers, you have a customer for life now.” The CFB 4VT Range of steam boilers are designed to be super efficient. With four passes of heat transfer, low exit flue temperatures, and minimal running costs, this ultimately results in an overall efficiency of between 92-94% compared to other boilers. A 30% larger steam chamber allows for variable steam loads efficiently, keeping up with the steam demand required during processing. The production of drier steam not only creates a faster production time across all industries but helps to reduce the buildup of limescale and can have a positive impact on potential boiler priming occurring during high peak demand. The cladding used on the 4VT range of boilers allows for a fast start up time of 10-15 minutes; which saves time; energy and maximises production hours. For more information go to www.steamboilers.co.uk

Fame and fortune and the brewer’s art In this issue, Myles Pinfold from WPA Pinfold ponders on the importance of standing out from the crowd… “I visited our newly opened, local bar and bottle shop the other day. The draught beers were great and flowing fast, and drinkers were guided by a clear and concise beer menu that left you in no doubt what style and brand of beer you were purchasing – quite gratifying as prices were up to £8.50 a pint… By contrast, the customers that drifted into the bottle shop area (more cans than bottles, to be accurate) were spending an age looking through the shelves. It reminded me of when people visit their local library and spend hours perusing the shelves trying to decide on which books

to choose. At least in the library you could easily flick through the pages and get an understanding of what might be in store and, whilst ‘you can’t tell a book by its cover’, there would be sufficient clues to give you an insight into what you were going to read. Back to my newly discovered bottle shop, if you went by the ‘covers’ of the cans then you would struggle to differentiate between them and decide which to choose. Many didn’t tell you the ‘author’ or give many clues to the content. It seems everyone wants to be part of the canned art crowd right now and it can be a real challenge to stand out and be relevant when there are over 2,000 brewers in the UK all competing for the same space. By contrast, the commercial reality is that

Supplier Viewpoint

the top craft brewers have brands that deliver tangible ROI. From stalwarts like BrewDog and Beavertown to Cloudwater and Magic Rock, they all make their presence felt on bar and on shelf. They have true brand sense, built on a clear vison and a consistent brand plan. They appreciate the commercial reality of building equity and all have differentiating brand definition and clear signposting for the consumer. Fame and fortune tends to be with the brave who are prepared to stand up for what they believe in and stand out from the crowd.” Myles Pinfold is founder and strategic director of WPA Pinfold. Find out more at www.wpa-drinks.co.uk

www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

Gold & Silver members

Gold members Brewers Select

Ken Steer Jones ksteerjones@brewersselect.co.uk

Charles Faram & Co Ltd Any of the Team sales@charlesfaram.co.uk

Silver members

Alfa Laval

Rebecca Halpin rebecca.halpin@alfalaval.com

Mark Banks enquiries@closebreweryrentals.co.uk

Muntons Plc

Beatson Clark

Napthens

Beer Box Shop

Paktech OPI

Breww Ltd

Pentair Food & Beverage Solutions

Tertia Rimell tertia.rimell@anton-paar.com

Tim Croxson Tim.croxson@croxsons.com

Core Equipment Ltd

Frances Maud frances.maud@murphyandson.co.uk

Quality, Consistency & Support

Crisp Malting Group

Rob Moody rob.moody@crispmalt.com

Premier Systems Ltd Sam Williams Sam@premiersystems.ltd.uk

Thomas Fawcett & Sons Ltd

James Fawcett james@fawcett-maltsters.co.uk

Framax UK Limited

Sales Team sales@vigoltd.com

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Jim Rankin sales@rankincork.co.uk

Rastal GmbH & Co KG Nick Crossley ncrssly@aol.com

Mike Impson mike.impson@smurfitkappa.co.uk

IGC Engineering Ltd

Chris Hamlett chrishamlettigc@onetel.com

Kegstar

Vale Labels Ltd

John Riches john@valelabels.co.uk

Willis Publicity

Carl Andrews carl@willispublicity.co.uk

Lallemand UK

Sarah Young syoung@lallemand.com

Rankin Brothers & Sons

Saxon Packaging Ltd

Elizabeth Smith esmith@framax.co.uk

Jake Mortiboys jake@kegstar.com

Vigo ltd

Malcolm Ireland Malcolm.Ireland@napthens.co.uk

Debbie Larkin debbie.larkin@pentair.com

Jonathan Chaplin jonathan.chaplin@core-equip.com

Murphy & Son Ltd

Vanessa Makings vanessa.makings@muntons.com

Nancy Baker nancy.baker@paktech-opi.com

Simon Hulse sales@beerboxshop.co.uk

Max Andrew max@breww.co.uk

Croxsons

Andy Mogg hello@lemontopcreative.com

Anton Paar Ltd

Charlotte Taylor charlotte.taylor@beatsonclark.co.uk

Close Brothers Brewery Rentals

Lemon Top Creative

LALLEMAND BREWING

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evolutionbps.co.uk www.siba.co.uk | SIBA Independent Brewer | Autumn 2021

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 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 Administrator elle.spencerblanchard@siba.co.uk

All General Enquiries contact office@siba.co.uk

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 SIBA Roy Allkin Boss Brewing

East east@siba.co.uk

Chair Richard Naisby Ian Rydings Marcus Beecher

Midlands midlands@siba.co.uk Chair Ken Munro Anneli Baxter

Autumn 2021 | SIBA Independent Brewer | www.siba.co.uk

Milestone Brewery White Horse Brewery

North East northeast@siba.co.uk Chair Ian Fozard Ewen Gordon Mark Anderson

Rooster’s Brewery Ltd Saltaire Brewery Ltd Double Maxim Beer Co

North West northwest@siba.co.uk Chair Kirsty Ridge William Mayne

Lakeland Inns Group & Lakeland Brewhouse Bullhouse Brewing Co

Scotland scotland@siba.co.uk Chair Christie Slater Jamie Delap Fiona MacEachern

Loch Leven Brewery Fyne Ales Loch Lomond Brewery

South East southeast@siba.co.uk Chair Andy Hayward Peter Hills Robert Wicks

Thames Side Brewery Hackney Brewery Westerham Brewery Co Ltd

South West southwest@siba.co.uk

Chair Paul Arrowsmith Red Rock Brewery Darren Batten Palmers Brewery Alan Collyer The Exeter Brewery

Wales & West west@siba.co.uk Chair Roy Allkin Buster Grant Glenn White

Milton Brewery Leigh on Sea Brewery Elgood & Sons Ltd

Boss Brewing Cold Black Label Ltd Brew Monster Group

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