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What do you do with your bread when there’s only the two crusty end bits left? You chuck it in the bin, don’t you? Well, it seems some people don’t even get that far, as it’s estimated that Britain wastes 44 percent of the bread it buys.
Realising that this is a terrible, terrible thing, Hackney Brewery has just launched Toast – a beer brewed with bread. The sliced stuff comes from local bakeries and delis, and replaces a third of the malted barley that’s ‘mashed’ to produce the base of the beer. The idea for the beer, named ‘Toast’, came from food waste charity Feedback, to whom all of the beer's profits are donated.
But does Toast taste any good? Sort of. This is no hop-forward monster, so IPA fans may be left wanting by the absence of fruity, floral aroma. But it’s a beer brewed with bread, ferchrissakes, so the emphasis on malty, nutty flavours makes total sense. And besides, this is more than a beer, it’s an idea – and, with 24 million slices of bread going in UK bins every day – a loaf-ly one at that.
Toast Ale costs £3 a bottle and is available to buy here.
Into beer? Here are five reasons to go to Craft Beer Rising this month.