We first raised some money for FareShare South West back in November 2020, compelled at that time to try and help where we could with challenges many people were facing in the depths of COVID. Fast-forward 18 months and sadly supporting their mission to join up the dots between hunger and food waste seems even more relevant with the cost of living crisis that many are facing. This time, we’re not just donating money for each order placed at our online shop; we’ve collaborated on a beer, of which 100% of the profits will go to FareShare South West.
We were delighted to welcome a horde of the FareShare South West team along for the day to brew this special collaboration. For the recipe, we chose to create Amber Ale using the beautiful heritage malt Plumage Archer, paired with American favourite Chinook hops. Plumage Archer is termed a heritage barley “paving the way for modern barley” as described by our supplier Crisp Malt. Despite being grown for thousands of years, it was the first example of cross breeding, bringing together the Danish Plumage with the British Archer in 1905. The result from a farmers’ perspective meant better resistance to storms, higher yields and the flexibility to be used in a wider range of soils. For brewers it meant subtle sweet caramel and light fruit notes, which was in relatively sharp contrast to the prevalent at that time Chevalier. This is the first time we’ve really experimented with Plumage Archer and we’re really excited about the platform it’s provided for the pine and spice notes from the Chinook hops.
Comparing malt varieties on brewday
The FareShare South West team really got stuck in on brew day, helping our brewer Fearghal work his magic with these special ingredients, and enjoying a canning masterclass with our Packaging Lead, Charlie. The finished beer is now ready to enjoy, and we can't wait to share it with you.
Learning about the canning line with Charlie
We always look forward to enjoying the fruits of our labour with our collaboration partners, but we’re even more excited than usual this time as we’ll be doing so with a fundraising event; Comedy and Curry! The event is now sold out, but we hope those of you who managed to nab tickets are really looking forward to the first draught pour of the collaboration beer, and a night of great fun for a fantastic cause. The timing of the event also couldn’t feel more perfect, having just celebrated the opening of our new taproom. When we sat down over a year ago to plan our vision for the space and the role we wanted it to play, offering community and fundraising events was one of our key intentions. Kicking off our first full week of trading with an event like this feels like we’re starting as we mean to go on. We hope lots of you will buy a pint of Sharing is Caring in one of our taprooms, or order a few cans from our online shop; available here.
