Utopian Brewing releases first scope 1,2 and 3 carbon audit and longer term plans for sustainability and net zero

Devon’s Utopian Brewing has used its 4th anniversary to release its first full carbon audit, covering all of its Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions, using BIER[1] and GHG[2] protocol guidelines. The company has also announced that it has applied to join the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi)[3] for Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction.

Releasing the report, co-founder and Managing Director Richard Archer said: “Creating a sustainable business was in our core values right from the very start but today marks a very important landmark in the development of our longer term goal of reducing our Green House Gas emissions and ultimately becoming a net zero brewery. We now have a benchmark to measure ourselves against and have a number

New Cornish session beer, Sea Shanty, receives a rousing reception

Sea Shanty is vegan-friendly, and like all other beers in brewery’s range is tested gluten free.

The official launch took place on St Piran’s Day, when Stunsl’s Sea Shanty Group performed in characteristically rousing fashion at The Driftwood Spars brewpub.

Sea Shanty was also thoroughly put through its paces over the weekend of A Barrel of Laughs; the pub’s inaugural comedy and beer festival earlier this month saw “wicked laughter, silly dancing, awesome beer and tasty food” enjoyed by an appreciative crowd.

The Driftwood Spars Brewery in Trevaunance Cove, St Agnes, is celebrating the successful launch of its first new core cask beer in five years.

Sea Shanty – a golden pale ale – is refreshingly light with a low ABV (4%) and subtle tropical, fruity notes; it joins the coastal microbrewery’s award-winning range of permanent brews available in bottle and cask.

Head Brewer, Mike Mason, said: “Sea Shanty is light and supremely drinkable, but with a unique house character. We used a special signature yeast – something which is fairly unusual these days. The nature of the yeast, and the method of reusing it over several batches, means that it takes on the character of the surrounding environment and imparts that into the beer – in our case the fresh, salty sea air!”

He added: “We used some of our favourite English-grown, New World-style hops, and experimented for over a year on our pilot brew kit to get the balance of flavours just right. Sea Shanty is tropical and fresh but not too ‘in your face,’ fitting nicely into our range as a low ABV pale ale.”

Louise Treseder, Owner of the famous coastal brewpub and microbrewery, said: “Sea Shanty enjoyed a rip-roaring reception at the festival, going down a treat with both our regulars and visitors from further afield. It’s a fantastic addition to the range – a real Cornish session ale for all seasons.”

For Louise, the new release is a timely nod to the brewery’s Founding Brewer, Pete Martin, who would have been 60 years old this month but sadly passed away suddenly in 2020. Louise said: “Pete loved a beer festival, and a shanty, and would’ve enjoyed many a pint of Sea Shanty, I’m sure. Mike is doing a great job of maintaining his legacy while also looking to the future with contemporary releases like this. We’ve an exciting few years ahead here in Trevaunance Cove - our reputation as a bastion of handcrafted beer appreciation is growing!” Plans were recently submitted to modestly enlarge the microbrewery, which is across the road from the brewpub, improving production facilities and allowing more tastings and tours to take place.

Find out more at www.driftwoodspars.co.uk of major investments in progress that will deliver significant reduction in our emissions in the short term. These first initiatives are predicted to make annual reductions of over 40 tonnes CO2e per year more than 10% of our total in 2022.

“The application to join SBTi, subject to approval, will provide the company with a clearly defined path to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. Being a part of the initiative will also provide an essential auditable framework to track progress against targets and to continuously announce and report on our progress to stakeholders.”

Find out more and download the full report at www.utopianbrewing.com

Deviant & Dandy Brewery partners up with Street Sounds for a series of limited edition beers

Deviant & Dandy Brewery has announced a series of limited edition beers in collaboration with the legendary Street Sounds record label.

‘ELECTRO 1’ will be the first in a range of beers which will be released throughout the year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the iconic Electro/Hip Hop album series which was started in 1983.

About the partnership, Ben Taub, founder of Deviant & Dandy said: “Having grown up listening to hip-hop and dance music, the opportunity to start a range of beers celebrating the 40 years of the legendary Street Sounds label was a no-brainer and a really exciting project to be involved in.”

’ELECTRO 1’ is a punchy 8.1% ABV old school Double IPA available in 440ml cans featuring original artwork picked up straight from the iconic compilation albums with peelable labels revealing liner notes about each release.

Find out more at www.deviantanddandy.com

Ossett Brewing Company marks silver milestone birthday with anniversary ales

Leading independent Yorkshire brewery Ossett is toasting 25 successful years with a series of innovative special cask ales, as sales continue to grow despite market challenges.

Brewer of nationally renowned brands such as Yorkshire Blonde, White Rat, Silver King and Excelsius, the progressive Ossett Brewing Co began life in 1998 on a five-barrel-brew-length kit behind the Brewer’s Pride pub in Ossett, West Yorkshire. Within three years brewing capacity was 40 barrels a week. Winning many national and international

Abbeydale Brewery scoops top national prize

awards, today’s modern brewery stands only a short distance from the original site in Low Mill Road producing an eclectic range of cask ale and lager. The company now produces 440 brewers-barrels a week serving a pub estate of 35 outlets, freetrade customers and national customers all over the UK. The company has received various CAMRA, Publican and SIBA national awards over the years including supreme national champion with Excelsius.

Silver King won its first national award in 2001 and two decades later in 2021 won another national gold medal.

Launching the celebrations, the first of a creative four strong Silver Series of anniversary ales is Premium Golden Ale, Dazzler (4.5% ABV). First brewed in the Summer of 1998, Dazzler was one of the very first Ossett beers. Twenty five years later, this is an updated version of an old favourite, but with more hops.

The second roll out will be Easy Does It (3.4% ABV) an easy drinking session summer bitter.

A third brew for the autumn is Alter Ego (5.5%

ABV) exploring the NEIPA (New England India Pale Ale) style and proclaimed as a ‘souped up’ dry hopped mutation of Ossett’s highly popular White Rat (4% ABV). And a vanilla stout concludes the celebrations. Irish stout style, Jet (4.2% ABV) is black with vanilla, chocolate and coffee notes on the aroma and a dry and bitter finish.

Ossett owner Jamie Lawson said: “These post pandemic times have been particularly challenging for the brewing and pub industry. However, the past two years have seen us enjoy steady growth and we are now delighted to be celebrating our milestone 25th year with our Silver Series. We believe in the future of cask ale and are determined to build on our deep roots to sustain Ossett for the future through broadening the appeal of cask with inventive and exciting brands - as seen with our Silver Series, Synergy Series, Collaboration Ales and our Single Hopped programme as well as the all-time favourites that sit within our core range.”

Find out more at www.ossett-brewery.co.uk

Abbeydale Brewery’s popular beer “Black Mass”, a 6.66% Black IPA, took home the top prize at the SIBA Independent Beer Awards 2023.

Sheffield-based Abbeydale, most famous for its Moonshine pale ale, received the accolade of Overall Champion of the bottle and can competition for its Black IPA at the beer trade association’s national finals, held at BeerX in Liverpool in March.

Abbeydale Brewer Christie Mcintosh said: “Black Mass is a joyous, strong, bitter, fruity dark ale. Winning the National as a Black IPA is pretty wild - we won the Speciality IPA which we were really pleased about, but to then go up again and win the Overall Gold is just amazing."

SIBA Chairman Richard Naisby congratulated the winners on their huge achievement and said: “Judges had a tough job separating the pack as the standard was extremely high once again. The winners from the SIBA competition are officially the best independent craft beers in the UK, something brewers should be extremely proud of.”

Black Mass has been part of Abbeydale Brewery’s permanently available beers since the business was founded in 1996, and the team believe it to be one of the world’s first and longest standing beers of this style in existence. Sales Director Dan Baxter says of the award: “Black Mass has been with us since our very beginnings as a brewery, and we’re absolutely thrilled that it’s being recognised as being at the very top of its game. It’s classic and familiar, yet simultaneously unique and boundary defying, and a true favourite of many of the team here!”

Find out more at www.abbeydalebrewery.co.uk

& Company launches Sussex range of canned beers

Sussex-based craft brewer Hepworth & Company is launching a new range of canned beers, named after its home county. The Sussex range will be available in pubs, retail and through the Hepworth's brewery shop and web store. The new range marks a new direction for Hepworth's. Creating a more contemporary image for the brewery and its beers will better communicate its status as an innovative, forward-looking business, which is blazing a trail for sustainable brewing.

All four beers in the range: Sussex Premium Lager, Sussex Premium Pale Ale, Sussex Premium APA and Sussex Low Alcohol Lager, are packaged in black 330ml cans with single-colour graphics that ensure strong standout on-shelf. They are all gluten-free and vegan-friendly and brewed from local ingredients where possible.

The beers are the first new brews from Hepworth's to roll off the brewer's canning line, installed last summer. The 3,000 cans/ hour capacity line is already used for contract canning, for a range of customers including M&S, Hiver, Coalition and Prime Time. Hepworth's has secured listings for the Sussex range in Abel and Cole and a number of independent free trade customers in Sussex. Driving forward the new direction for Hepworth's is a new team, led by managing director Leo Murphy, who was appointed to the role last autumn. Dave Paterson joined at the start of 2023 as head of sales and marketing, working with Murphy to update the Hepworth's image while retaining its core ethos of sustainable brewing and quality ingredients.

Murphy said: "The launch of the Sussex range marks a step change for Hepworth's. We have always had a reputation for brewing top-quality beers and for leading the way on sustainable brewing - we installed the world's first beer source heat pump, among other measures.

"However, the way we presented our beers to the world, in terms of branding and pack design, didn't always communicate that combination of brewing excellence and innovation. We're seeking to do that now with the launch of the Sussex range, which places Hepworth's firmly in the craft beer space, while keeping the brewing tradition that has been at the core of the brewery since it was founded by Andy Hepworth in 2001."

Find out more at www.hepworthbrewery.co.uk

Castle Rock celebrates summer with its annual Yard Party

Castle Rock Brewery welcomed summer early this year, tempting the sun and beer lovers from near and far to the brewery HQ for its annual Yard Party.

The set up included a lorry for a stage featuring some of Nottingham’s best local talent, no less than five bars, five street food vendors, and an

Iron Maiden and Robinsons Brewery’s Trooper beer celebrate 10th birthday

all-important beer line up boasting over 40 keg beers and more than 20 on cask.

Four of Castle Rock’s “Beer Gin” variations poured from the Franklins & Sons gin bar, all of which were made from distilled beer over lockdown, saving gallons of beer from the drain.

The lovingly curated beer list featured local and national favourites, including breweries such as Brass Castle, Vault City, North Brewing Co. and Deya. Alongside the multitude of beers, Castle Rock collabs featured on the bar, including a mild brewed with Black Iris; a pilsner brewed with Freedom Brewery and a juicy IPA brewed with Ossett. Attic Brew Co., Heist and Abbeydale are all next on their list.

The brewery also showcased two of its latest Pilot Project beers (Apricot Saison and Musson’s Boom, a peanut butter porter brewed with Lock 15 all the way from Ohio). The Pilot Project is Castle Rock’s 160 litre brew kit, which they have been tinkering with for past two years. Used primarily for R&D, it allows the brewery to experiment and innovate on a small scale, providing freedom to explore with new processes, ingredients and styles.

Castle Rock’s marketing manager Jess Collins said: “For the last few years the whole company has pulled together to make the Yard Party happen. It’s a celebration of everything we love about the industry: the beer, the breweries, and the chance to enjoy it all with friends. Mostly it’s a thank you to all our loyal customers that make it possible for us to carry on doing what we love.”

Find out more at www.castlerockbrewery.co.uk

Trooper Beer, the hugely successful and award-winning beer produced in collaboration between British music icons Iron Maiden and Stockport-based Robinsons Brewery, celebrated its 10th birthday in May this year.

To celebrate the milestone, and the achievement of over 35 million pints being sold worldwide, a brand new 10% ABV Trooper X Imperial Stout has been created by Bruce Dickinson and the Robinsons team. Each 660ml bottle of Trooper X comes in a presentation box and is available to order online from IronMaiden. com and Drinks Aisle.

The new brew has again been created by Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce, alongside Robinsons’ Head Brewer Martyn Weeks. Martyn said: “Trooper X is packed full of roasted malt flavours which perfectly balance the complex and delicious aromas. This is the ultimate super smooth sharing beer which, if you can resist drinking straight away, will mature in the bottle and get even better with age.“

In further celebrations, the original Trooper Beer, which kickstarted Iron Maiden’s foray into the brewing world 10 years ago, will feature a special anniversary label to mark the occasion.

Launched in 2013, the 4.7% ABV Premium Ale has proved a runaway success around the world and is now firmly established as one of the leading British ales globally, being exported to 68 countries worldwide.

Bruce Dickinson said: “I’m immensely proud that Trooper has reached this milestone. To get to 10 years is a brilliant achievement, and I’m having a great time working with Robinsons and our partners around the world coming up with some fantastic beers! Thanks to our fans, Trooper has become a permanent feature with beer lovers around the world, and it’s still growing.

“We are delighted to add ‘Trooper X’ to the roster and there’ll be more beers to come as our Trooper family continues to expand and provide new beers and choices to our fans everywhere.”

Find out more at www.robinsonsbrewery.com