In August 2015, the Gloucestershire press held a competition to find their readers’ favourite pubs, championed by Stroud MP Neil Carmichael and the Cotswold MP Geoffrey CliftonBrown. The winners were The Royal Oak in Tetbury and the Falcon in WottonUnderEdge.
As well as receiving trophies, part of the prize was to have a barrel of beer to represent them at the Strangers Bar of the House of Commons, Westminster. The Royal Oak requested a beer from Stroud Brewery. The beer chosen was Stroud Breweries O.P.A (Organic Pale Ale), a light, hoppy and locally very popular beer.
“We believe this is the first time an organic beer has been served at Strangers Bar”, says Greg Pilley, MD of Stroud Brewery. “It is made with organic barley malt grown in the Cotswolds. This reflects our ethos and that of the two pub winners who are also committed to sourcing locally for their bars and restaurants”
Why organic? At Stroud Brewery we strive to produce great tasting beers using the highest quality local ingredients and know that we do this in a way that is fair, at the lowest environmental cost, and of a truly Cotswolds provenance. “I love living in the Cotswolds, it is a unique landscape, and where the land is well managed it supports a fantastic number of birds, insects and flowers.
It’s great to know that by drinking Stroud Brewery beer, I am supporting local farmers who are taking the best care of it – and the beer is also delicious!” says Jade Bashford, a Stroud Brewery beer drinker. Organic standards restrict the use of artificial fertilisers or pesticides, and no harmful additives and preservatives are added to products. This is better for the environment as overall organic farming supports more farmland wildlife than nonorganic farming.
Additionally, it causes lower pollution and produces less carbon dioxide the main global warming gas. It is GM free; genetically modified (GM) crops and ingredients are not allowed under organic standards. Organic standards are not just about production, they also promote good practice in packaging, staff welfare, transport, and the information given to consumers.
“When putting our principles of sustainability into practice it is not just the process of brewing beer – minimising our resource use, using local and organic ingredients but also the way we do business”, says Greg Pilley.
“We believe an important element of developing long term sustainable communities is to strengthen independent and diverse local economies to bring money into them and then keep it circulating there.
“We try to use local suppliers and services and we raised much of our start up finance through interestpaying loans from local people”. This is one of the reasons why Stroud Brewery does not sell beer through the supermarkets, but chooses to only sell through independent outlets. Greg emphatically states:
“The supermarkets’ primary interest is to ensure they make profits for their remote shareholders, which they do at the expense of environmental and social ‘capital’. As well as the Strangers Bar, Stroud O.P.A can be found at the ‘Duke of Cambridge Organic Pub’, 30 St Peter’s Street, Islington, London N18JT ENDS
Notes for Editors: Stroud Brewery
We are a craft brewery recognised for our ethos: We use local ingredients to brew distinctive beers with the best of care for our environment, our suppliers, and our community. The brewery is committed to using Cotswold grown and organic malting barley. We sell our cask ales across the Cotswolds, and our range of organic bottled beers is distributed nationally. We are committed to community development and host regular community events.
T: 01453 887122 http://www.stroudbrewery.co.uk/
The Stroud Brewery initiative Your Pint, Your Place, aims to develop the relationship between Stroud Brewery, its community and the Cotswold farms that grow their malting barley. It received support from the Cotswolds AONB Sustainable Development Fund who recognised the project’s potential to raise public awareness and foster a sense of identity, recognition and pride with the custodians of the local AONB landscape.
The plateaux of the Cotswolds are a prime barleygrowing area, providing important income to local farms. In turn these farms manage marginal aspects of their enterprise: woodland slopes, conservation grazing etc. Our project – through case studies on our website and pub displays will give these farms an alternative local ‘face’, and opportunity to be recognized for the value they bring to the local landscape and the quality of life it brings to the Cotswolds.
“Brewing a local beer is one thing, but brewing it using locally grown barley really sets it apart. Cotswolds farmers produce amongst the highest quality malting barleys in the UK and our brewery together with Warminster are the links in the chain that connect local drinkers with their local farms and the characteristic landscape they create.” Greg Pilley, MD Stroud Brewery
Because of its commitment to using locallygrown barley, Stroud Brewery qualified for EU support in 2010 to expand through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Cotswolds Taste Stroud Brewery is a member of Cotswold Taste. Cotswold Taste is concerned to help explain how the Cotswolds’ unique environment is affected by the food chain, and the role we can and do play in it. It’s also about thinking about how our activities as producers, processors, suppliers, retailers of food and drink, and as hospitality outlets, contribute to maintaining and enhancing that environment. For more information about the recently setup Cotswold Taste: Nick Waloff, Chair, Cotswold Taste (nick.waloff@hotmail.com) The Cotswolds AONB Sustainable Development Fund is a regional grants scheme, available to individuals, groups or businesses that have ideas or projects that will improve the Cotswolds both now and in the future. See: http://www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/?page=sdf
Warminster Maltings:Malt is the backbone, and the heart and soul of beer. The depth of colour, the underlying flavour and the alcohol content of beer are all derived from the malt. Even the volume brewed and consigned to cask is totally dependent on the malt.
And noone respects this more than the maltsters at Warminster! http://www.warminstermalt.co.uk/ http://www.warminstermalt.co.uk/pdfs/2013Brochure.pdf Beer Map: Find the pubs that have Stroud Brewery beers, and the farms that grow our malting barley http://www.stroudbrewery.co.uk/beermap/ Stroud Brewery artwork: http://www.stroudbrewery.co.uk/stroudbreweryartwork/