Battersea-based brewery, Sambrook’s, is launching a competition to find London’s most creative honey dish to mark the launch of their new seasonal ale, Lavender Hill, the first in a series of limited edition ales the brewery will be releasing over the coming months.
Sambrook’s Lavender Hill is a Pale Ale that uses the addition of blossom honey to give it a delicate honeyed taste and is brewed with a new hop variety from the Alsace region in France. A cross between Strisselspalt and Challenger, the hop has a delightful orange blossom aroma to perfectly match the sweetness of the honey. The ale will be available on limited release, with just five batches available from 3rd June.
At 4.5% ABV, Lavender Hill – named after the street close to the brewery that used to be home to fields of Lavender – will be brewed with the same care and craftsmanship as Sambrook’s award-winning range of quality ales by Head Brewer Sean Knight.
To celebrate the launch, Sambrook’s will be encouraging chefs across London to cook with honey by submitting recipes and images online at www.sambrooksbrewery.co.uk. Sambrook’s will shortlist five finalists who will be invited to participate in a cook off at The Engineer in Primrose Hill in August, where Duncan Sambrook, founder of Sambrook’s Brewery, will announce the winner.
The winning pub will be invited to take over the Sambrook’s Boadicea Brewery Bar for one night, with friends and colleagues, to enjoy local food and Sambrook’s beer.
As well as the honey cook off, Sambrook’s will be organising a consumer event to raise money for Save the Bees – a campaign working to protect Britain’s bees from extinction.* Beer Sommelier Jo Miller will be hosting a honey banquet at the brewery bar, the Boadicea Bar, and working with The Engineer’s Head Chef Benn Hodges, a trained bee-keeper, to create a fundraising dinner.
Duncan Sambrook, founder of Sambrook’s, comments:
“We’re delighted to be releasing a series of limited release ales, beginning with Lavender Hill, which we’re launching with a competition to celebrate honey to encourage chefs to cook with this undervalued ingredient.
“There has been a plethora of publicity recently about the extinction of bees in Britain and the knock-on effect this will have on our diet in the future, so we’re keen to support London beekeepers and honey producers where we can.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
*Save the Bees
Save the Bees is a campaign working to protect Britain’s bees and pollinators. Over the past 100 years, 20 species of British bees have become extinct, with 35 further species at risk. It is estimated that at least one third of the human diet may be at risk if there are any further declines in bee numbers and species.
Honeybees tend to thrive in cities rather than rural areas, as there are more flowers per square mile within city area compared to the countryside. The average rural beehive can gather approximately 50 jars of honey per year, compared to an urban beehive, which can collect 70-100 jars.
One way of supporting London’s bees is to plant bee friendly plants and flowers in gardens and window boxes in the city, to increase quantities of pollen and nectar. Creating ‘bee-friendly’ habitats within gardens and public spaces is crucial to their day-to-day survival.
Sambrook’s
Sambrook’s was founded in Battersea in 2008 by Duncan Sambrook and has grown quickly to become an established UK brewer with a reputation for quality.
Jo Miller, Head of Sales and Marketing at the Sambrook’s Brewery in Battersea, is the first female employee at a London brewery to receive the Beer Sommelier accreditation from the Beer Academy, demonstrating the brewery’s commitment to staff training. Becoming the seventh female in the world to receive the accreditation, Jo has proved her beer credentials by successfully passing a series of exams that have included learning how to judge a beer by category, blind beer tastings, beer and food matching, and technical knowledge.
For further information, please contact anna@storypr.co.uk, 0207 268 6824 To contact the brewery, please call 0207 228 0598.
Sambrook’s launched in November 2008 after Duncan Sambrook quit his job as a city accountant to pursue his dream of becoming a brewer. Used to drinking locally brewed beers in his hometown of Salisbury, he thought provenance-conscious Londoners could do with a local brewery. His co-founder, David Welsh, echoed this belief and together they transformed a warehouse in Battersea into a 20-barrel brewery. David is the previous managing director of the Ringwood Brewery and has been brewing for over 30 years.
To keep up with demand for their products, Sambrook’s expanded its production in 2012 by 25% allowing the team to brew 50,000 pints a week. The brewery has also expanded to add a new bar and shop to the existing site, opening up access for members to enjoy a pint at the newly opened Boadicea Bar.
The home of award-winning beers, Sambrook’s Wandle won World’s Best Bitter under 5% ABV at the World Beer Awards in October 2012, and Best Ale at the Quality Drink Awards in November 2012. In October 2012 Sambrook’s also released their first craft keg product, Pale Ale which has proved so successful that a new conditioning tank has been purchased just to keep pace with demand from their current partner pubs.
Sambrook’s offer open evening tours which includes tutored tastings every third Wednesday of the month from 7pm or private tours can be arranged for any other time in the week subject to availability.