Local craft beer pioneers Brewerkz has unveiled its first beer made using a circular food production system, the Earthbrew Sourdough Pale Ale, collaborating with popular bakery and cafe chain Baker & Cook to do so.
While they have released sustainable brews before, this goes a step further by adopting a circular process, where surplus sourdough from Baker & Cook is used to brew a beer, and in turn, the spent gains from Brewerkz is then used to bake fresh sourdough.
The goal, according to the two brands, is to use each other’s excess produce and by-products to make new food and drinks, with the aim of joining hands to reduce food waste and thereby also combat climate change.
To make the EarthBrew Sourdough Pale Ale, surplus bread is first collected from supermarkets and online platforms that sell Baker & Cook sourdoughs. This is then sliced into cubes and toasted before being mixed with the grain bill at the start of the brewing process.
Approximately 180kg of bread is used for every 2,500L of beer, making up about 20% of the grain bill. The result is an amber hued pale ale that boasts of toasted breadiness, citrus crispness, and stone fruit aromas, as well as a rounded body that makes it highly drinkable.
The spent grains from making the beer (extracted before fermentation, so there is no alcohol) is then turned into a product called NEWGrain+. This protein- and fibre-rich mash is then used by Baker & Cook in creating the NEWGrain+ Sourdough.
Fresh spent grains are added during the start of the bread making process, with each loaf containing 64g of NEWGrain+ or around 30% of the flour recipe, creating a rustic sourdough that is fibrous, nutty, and chewy.
“Our NEWGrain+ Sourdough bread and Earthbrew Sourdough Pale Ale are not just delicious products, they represent our unwavering commitment to fighting food waste,” comments Anders Boye, CEO and co-founder of Baker & Cook.
“This collaboration is a celebration of baking and culinary artistry, sustainability and the remarkable possibilities that emerge when like-minded artisans join forces.”
The Earthbrew Sourdough Pale Ale and NEWGrain+ Sourdough are exclusively available at all Brewerkz and Baker & Cook outlets only, as well as on their respective e-stores.
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