Pubs and Bars / Features
We tasted an ale made of bread for you
Upon entry to the King Street Brewhouse I was handed half a pint of free beer. What an impeccable start to the evening. I was attending a launch party for a new ale called Toast Ale, the brainchild of award-winning campaigner, writer and all-round eco-warrior, Tristram Stuart.
Around one third of the food produced in the world is wasted, which can largely be attributed to financial or logistical complications. Bread is one of the main offenders, with about 44 per cent of the loafs produced being squandered, apparently.
Toast Ale looks to utilise this wastage by taking discards from nearby bakeries and using them as a substitute for the barley that is typically used during the brewing process.
Remarkably, all profits go to Feedback, a charity also set up by Tristram Stuart to prevent food wastage. The result is a very drinkable little pale ale, with subtle citrus notes, and an ABV of five per cent.
Using fermented bread for alcohol is not a new idea. Stewart was initially inspired by Babylone, a beer from Brussels that bases its name on a 7,000 year-old technique.
With its not-for-profit structure and eco-friendly ethic, Toast is an intelligent and refreshingly selfless endeavour. Spokeswomen Julie Prebble said the company are looking to encourage home-brewers to mimic their methods and post recipes online.
Toast also hopes that large-scale food suppliers will begin to adopt similar techniques for their own brewery ranges. If this were to happen, and bread wastage were to be significantly reduced, the company would simply “move on to something else”, admits Prebble with a chuckle.
Launched on Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast, the ale proved popular. Very popular in fact, with the Toast website actually crashing for two minutes due to the high level of orders flooding in from across the country.
Despite their infancy, it appears Toast Ale has already brewed up a storm.
Read more: Pub of the Week: King Street Brew House
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
