Bready for Action

Introducing Turning Tide, a raspberry Scotch Ale, and our fourth and final collaboration of 2021; where beer has been made with a likeminded brewery and has focused on our journey towards a sustainable future. Turning Tide is a little bit different to the previous three releases, in that it’s also being included in The Companion Series; a special collection of beers brewed with surplus bread and curated by our friends at Toast Ale.

Toast Ale has created a collation of 26 breweries, including Adnams, which aims to highlight the issue of food waste. The companions (from the Latin ‘com’ - together with, and ‘panis’ - bread), have all brewed with Toast’s surplus bread crumb and have come together with a simple message for world leaders meeting at the COP26 climate talks: ‘We're in a climate and nature emergency. There’s no time to waste.’

This year we have been focusing on projects that balance our environmental impact. We have long been inspired by Toast Ale’s efforts in this area and were therefore delighted to get involved. One third of the world’s food is never eaten, which means that the land and resources used, and greenhouse gases emitted in producing it were totally unnecessary. Governments, as well as businesses and groups with the power to influence the food system can come together and make changes.

We’re competitive businesses but we are uniting at this critical time because the climate and nature crisis is bigger than all of us. This idea inspired the name of our contribution to the series. Transferring the ocean’s ebb and flow to human affairs, a turning tide suggests a shift, with the arrival of reinforcements.

Toast Ale has produced a case containing all 26 beers, and for each one they sell, they will donate towards preserving and regenerating nature; protecting 1,300 trees in threatened tropical rainforests and supporting UK farmers to convert 590m2 to nature-friendly farming. Adnams and the other companions will also make supporting contributions from their own sale of beers in the series.

Two organisations will share the proceeds. Rainforest Trust UK (Registered UK charity No 1169111) has a mission is to save endangered wildlife and protect our planet by creating rainforest reserves. Donations will go to their Conservation Action Fund to permanently protect existing forests and the species that depend on them. Details of their work can be found here.

Soil Heroes supports farmers on a regenerative journey. Agricultural soils hold the key to healthy people and a healthy planet. Nutritious soils produce nutritious food whilst sequestering carbon, storing water, supporting biodiversity, and reducing the need for artificial inputs. Donations will go to UK farms to implement pioneering regenerative practices and to share learnings. More information on their projects can be found here.

Speaking about the project, Tristram Stuart - author, campaigner and co-founder of Toast Ale, said: “It’s exciting to be launching the Companion Series alongside 24 of our Companion breweries. Not only are we raising funds for two fantastic organisations doing important work within forest conservation and regenerative agriculture, we’re also sending a message to world leaders, fellow businesses and society at large that we are committed to collaborating in order to tackle a problem that is bigger than all of us.

“The latest IPCC report reminds us that we have a narrow window to reduce further warming of our planet, and it’s closing rapidly. Food systems are responsible for one-third of GHG emissions and 80% of deforestation. However, one-third of the world’s food is never eaten, an unnecessary use of the land and resources, and emissions of greenhouse gases, to produce it. As a business dedicated to positive social and environmental change, we’re dedicated to sharing our expertise and ethos with fellow breweries to make progress in reducing these numbers.

“But we also need governments to make the necessary policy commitments, which is why we’re challenging world leaders and COP negotiators with our open letter. We hope that those responsible for making policy decisions and setting international targets at COP will ‘use their loaves’ and work together to take meaningful action for the sake of our collective future.”

Our Head Brewer, Dan and the team had to get hands on with our brew: “As the COP26 summit is being held in Glasgow, we decided to brew a Scotch Ale. They tend to have strong, malty characteristics, which we thought would work well with the surplus bread. Bitterness levels of Scotch Ales vary, but hops aren’t usually their focal point. Their aromatics tend towards rich maltiness, which works perfectly for Turning Tide.

“Toast Ale have partnered with Charles Faram hops to create Toast Companion, their readily usable waste bread crumb. This can be added to a brewery’s malt system or directly to the mash tun and is made from 100% waste bread. We have a wet mill, so things would have got quite sticky, so we needed to add it directly into our mash tun.

“To switch things up, we then added raspberry juice to the fermenter, which provides a contrasting, fruity acidity. We wanted to use UK hops and selected Endeavour and Bramling Cross for their complementary notes of citrus and hedgerow fruit.”

Turning Tide is available in cask in pubs and a version that is suitable for vegetarians and vegans is available in 330ml cans and on draft in keg.

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