London's Crumbs Brewery reducing food waste by making beer from old bread

London drinks producer Crumbs Brewing has found an innovative way to help the environment with its products - by using unsold bread to craft its beers.

The brewery was founded in 2017 by husband-and-wife team Morgan and Elaine Arnell in their home borough of Reigate. It has a partnership with neighbouring artisan bakery Chilk Hills, which donates its leftover loaves to the brewery.

Morgan explains, "44 per cent of all bread made in the UK never gets eaten. That's such a waste. At Crumbs Brewing we are doing our bit to address this growing problem by making our beers from bread that would otherwise not be sold."

Each Crumbs beer uses a different type of bread as its base ingredient, with loaves chosen to marry stylistically with the beers they are used to brew. Morgan says, "From our light, zesty sourdough pale ale to our dark, mysterious rye ruby ale, the beers don't only do good but also taste great.

"In the summer months our sourdough pale is a real winner, light and refreshing with that zesty taste of sourdough in the brew. Our most recent beer, the rye coffee porter, is probably the one we're most proud of. As well as using unsold rye loaves, the recipe also uses leftover coffee grounds from the bakery shop coffee machine."

Crumbs Brewing has recently received a national listing with Waitrose, bringing its ethical brews to the UK mainstream. "They've been really supportive and we can't wait for more people to get their hands on our beers," Morgan says.

"We're never going to solve the challenge of food waste on our own, but we feel proud that we're doing our bit to help the problem and at the same time making some truly unique beers that reflect the love and skill that the Chalk Hills bakers put into their products."

23 October 2020 - Bethany Whymark