As we continue to celebrate B Corp Month at the Small Beer Brewery, we've rounded up a list of our favourite B Corp brands that we think Small Beer drinkers will enjoy.
As we continue to celebrate B Corp Month at the Small Beer Brewery, we've rounded up a list of our favourite B Corp brands that we think Small Beer drinkers will enjoy.
Did you know that the environmental impact of food waste is thought to be 248 times that of plastic? Every year, as much as 40% of food produced globally is wasted, contributing to an estimated 10% of all emissions.
Our friends at Oddbox are fighting food waste, one curvy cucumber at a time. They work with growers to rescue the "too odd" and "too many" – farm-fresh fruit and veg at risk of going to waste. Then they deliver overnight to keep emissions low, just like the milkman.
Exclusive discount: Join the rescue mission with 50% off your first box by using the code SMALLBEER.
This code will give new Oddbox customers 50% off their first box. Offer excludes SX fruit and veg boxes, fruit booster box and add-ons. Offer expires 31/7/24.
Volcano Coffee Works is an independent roastery in South London, freshly roasting the very best ethical speciality coffee from around the world. Volcano Coffee Works was the first the put speciality coffee into a coffee pod and one of the first coffee companies to become B Corp certified. If there’s a way to make speciality coffee better for the people who grow, brew and drink it, or for the planet, they’ll be working on it.
Exclusive discount: Use the code VCWSB25 to save 25% on your first three subscription orders.
St. Eval nestled on a farm in the heart of North Cornwall, sustainably craft high-quality candles and home fragrances with people and the planet at their heart. For nearly three decades, their passion for craftsmanship has fuelled their journey in perfecting the delicate art of candle-making, all while nurturing our deep-rooted connection to the Earth.
As a proud certified B Corp, they have ingrained their dedication to purpose over profit into every aspect of their operations. This accolade, alongside their 2021 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, both recognises and celebrates their commitment to using business as a force for good.
Exclusive discount: Use the code SB15 to save 15% when you place an order before the end of March.
They are making chocolate history. Again. Founded by James Cadbury, the great-great-great grandson of John Cadbury, Love Cocoa creates exceptional chocolate in an exceptional way. They drive positive change, craft ethically and only use the world's finest cacao. That means ethically sourcing the finest ingredients and forging respectful relationships with family-run businesses to create delicious chocolate, whilst adhering to modern standards of sustainability and ethics.
The mainstream chocolate industry is far from delicious: it's rife with unfair farming, corporate takeovers, shrinking rainforests and compromised ingredients. Love Cocoa wants to break the pattern. This is a new era of chocolate from one of the oldest names in the game, which is why they call themselves the Modern Chocolatier.
Exclusive discount: Use the code SMALLBEER20 to save 20% when you place an order before the end of March 2024.
The Love Cocoa team started H!P Chocolate in early 2021 with the aim of creating the next generation of chocolate by replacing dairy with plant-based creamy oat m!lk. Mainstream chocolate has been milking it for years with low-quality ingredients, and unsustainable practices. They want to make delicious chocolate accessible for everyone and anyone whilst disrupting the mainstream market by pioneering producing chocolate in a more sustainable way. It's milk chocolate without the milking it - using oat m!lk reduces their carbon footprint, land use and water use, meaning their chocolate is perfect for conscious consumers.
Exclusive discount: Use the code SMALLBEER20 to save 20% when you place an order before the end of March 2024.
As pioneers in English winemaking, The Uncommon are known for their unbelievably good English wine in cans. Made using grapes grown and handpicked in their Kent vineyard, their wines regularly win awards alongside some of the world’s best bottles.
In 2021, they became the UK’s first Certified B Corp winemaker. With a score of 107.6 putting them in the top percentile of businesses pursuing purpose as well as profit. They tread lightly and consider their environmental impact at every stage of production. From field, to format, to flute. Working in partnership with Kent Wildlife Trust, they support pioneering rewilding projects in areas surrounding our vineyards.
Exclusive discount: Use the code BCORPBUBBLY to save 30% on all orders in March 2024.
Olly's are a team of innovative snack creators on a mission to feed the planet's feel-good. Founded by snack fanatic, Olly Hiscocks, his amazing range of snacks ticks all your boxes by having health at the heart and delivering flavour to the full!
Olly's snacks are available all over the UK, including Waitrose, Asda, Sainsbury's, Ocado and Amazon. Olly's also works alongside the amazing charity One Feeds Two, now contributing over 30,000 school meals to children in need. It's time to feed your feel good!
Exclusive discount: Claim your free pack of Pretzel things in Waitrose or Asda here.
Being a certified B Corp, Pieminister’s products don’t just taste fantastic, they come from an independent family business that meets high standards of social and environmental impact.
In fact, Pieminister set out its own Pies, Planet, People goals in 2020, to drive its ambition to become a truly sustainable food business.
From deforestation-free ingredients to 100% recyclable, plastic free packaging to converting unavoidable food waste into clean energy, fuel and sustainable fertiliser, to donating pies to good causes…and last but not least, being net zero by 2040, Pieminister’s plans are ambitious. But for them, anything less just isn’t an option.
We'd also like to remind you that Small Beer is London's first and only B Corp brewery. You can read more about our sustainability at Small Beer here.
A B Corp - or B Corporation - is a business that has been officially certified by B Lab as using their business as a force for good, which means that they contribute positively to the wider community and the environment.
As today marks the beginning of B Corp Month in 2024, we want to explore what it means to be a B Corp and how more businesses can make a positive impact.
There are over 2,500 Certified B Corporations® from more than 130 industries and 60 countries with 1 unifying goal: to redefine success in business. B Corps™ are leaders of a global movement of people using business as a force for good™.
Small Beer became London's first B Corp brewery in 2019 and it is with equal measures of pride and disappointment, that we are still London's only B Corp brewery five years later, considering there are over 100 breweries in London.
A major factor that contributes towards our B Corp score is our commitment to water reduction. Whereas other breweries may use up to 10 pints of water for every pint of beer, we've reduced the amount of water that we use to around 1.5 pints. That's a saving of up to 80% for every pint of Small Beer crafted.
No doubt you've seen B Corps, like Small Beer, proudly display the logo - a capital 'B' in a circle - on their websites and packaging, but not everyone will know how powerful this letter can be or how difficult it is to achieve.
B Corps must undergo a certification process, determined by a point system, to verify that they meet specific criteria related to social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
It took Small Beer nine months to achieve B Corp certification. It's a tough process that requires a lot of time, effort and dedication for a small business.
Businesses are assigned a certification officer. They must demonstrate they meet a specific set of criteria to score at least 80 points out of a possible 200 points... which is no mean feat!
But that's not it. Re-certification happens every three years and this process can even more challenging than the initial certification.
The evolving nature of the impact assessment demands continuous improvement for a B Corp to better their score and retain their B Corp status.
Becoming a B Corp for the first time is an incredibly rewarding experience. It is an official seal that you are using your business as a force for good and it creates a culture of constant improvement due to B Lab's requirements for re-certification.
Anecdotally, we have found that the benefits of becoming a B Corp are invaluable. It has helped us to recruit and retain staff, as well as enhancing how people perceive our brand and better understand the emphasis that we put on running a sustainable brewery.
Since becoming a B Corp, we have furthered our impact by becoming a 1% for the Planet business, contributing 1% of total revenue to our neighbours at the Horniman Museum & Gardens. Working below the magnificent museum is an incredible aquarium team. They run an initiative called Project Coral, which we are funding to further their primary research into coral life cycles.
We are also committed to achieving net-zero status and we are working with Net Zero Now to reduce our carbon emissions. We look forward to sharing more information on this soon.
Beer was brewed in the same way with the same four ingredients for centuries. Over the last few decades, the brewing industry has reinvented itself, driven by a demand for more automation and lower costs.
At the same time, the rise of alcohol-free beers has added a whole new dimension to brewing, which we will now delve into.
Your favourite beers are likely brewed with the same four ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast.
The magic starts when the malted barley is steeped in hot water (known as mashing) to extract fermentable sugars. This sugary liquid - known as wort - is then boiled with hops, which add bitterness as well as aroma. After boiling, the wort is cooled, at which point the yeast is added to enable fermentation, which is how alcohol is made.
Crafting low alcohol beer is a little different, as it can be difficult to achieve the desired flavour and mouthfeel without the presence of alcohol.
READ MORE: Why malt is the backbone of any beer
Brewing low alcohol beer below 1% ABV is different to brewing stronger beer, as it is difficult to achieve the desired flavour and mouthfeel without the presence of alcohol.
Here are some of the techniques that a brewer may use to produce beers that contain little or no alcohol:
While the basic ingredients remain the same, some brewers that produce low alcohol beers below 1% ABV may use additives to build body and mouthfeel.
Look at almost any recipe online for brewing a low alcohol beer online and you’ll find mention of additives like corn syrup, maltodextrin powder and lactose, which means the beer is not suitable for vegans.
Our mission at Small Beer is to brew great-tasting beer at a mid-strength - up to 2.8% ABV - with the best ingredients we can find and absolutely no funny business. All of our beers are suitable for vegans and they don’t contain anything that isn’t labelled on the packaging.
Typically, most brewers will brew to strength, which means that the amount of alcohol that is produced during fermentation - measured by ABV - is the same amount that ends up in the finished product.
However, it’s not uncommon for breweries to brew to a higher ABV and then water down their beers or strip out the alcohol to get to the mid-strength sweet spot.
This practice is becoming more common due and newspapers in the UK are now using the term ‘drinkflation’ to describe the trend towards lower ABV beer styles, as breweries seek to reduce their tax bills. The reality that many beer drinkers do not know is that many macro brewers have been doing this for years as a way to improve efficiency.
Small Beer is naturally brewed and fermented at a mid-strength because it’s designed to meet the demands of modern life.
We never remove any of the alcohol or dillute our brews. The recipes that we follow - and continue to improve - contain the precise amount of ingredients needed to produce big-tasting beer at a sociable mid-strength that won't leave you spinning.
We’re able to achieve our vision, thanks to the bespoke brew kit that was designed by our co-founder Felix to maximise flavour over alcohol production.
Sure, we could find an easier shortcut, but we choose to brew to strength and use a bespoke kit, because we strongly believe that doing it any other way would compromise the flavour and body that you can only get through natural fermentation.
We firmly believe that our commitment to sourcing high-quality ingredients and brewing with integrity is at the heart of what makes Small Beer the better beer choice for modern drinkers.
Stout is dark beer that is characterised by its inky black colour and roasted flavour. A good pint of stout looks - and may even smell - like a long black coffee with a creamy off-white head that makes the beer so visually appealing.
Stout has been enjoyed since the 18th century and the beer was born amidst the fog and bustling streets of London. It evolved from porter, a dark and malty beer that was cheap to brew and was happily glugged from pewter tankards by the market porters who worked along the River Thames.
As the popularity of porter grew, breweries started to produce variations like single stout porter, double stout porter and even extra stout porter, which varied by alcohol content and flavour intensity. Over time, people shortened these names and began to describe stout as its own distinct style of beer.
Stout is now brewed and exported all over the world. While many beer drinkers may first think of Irish Stout, the renowned beer historian and writer Pete Brown is keen to remind people that it's a beer style that is rooted in London history.
Watch the video below to learn more about stout's rich history in London:
Stout and porter are both dark, rich and flavourful styles of beer that originated in England. While they share many similarities and have evolved over time, there are some key differences between them.
Although stout first emerged as a stronger version of London porter, modern stouts are now typically brewed between 4-5% ABV.
Small Beer Stout fills a much needed gap in the market by delivering the rich allure of a traditional stout at a lower ABV. Crafted at 2.5% ABV, there are roasted barley notes, balanced with a coffee aroma and a subtle milk chocolate sweetness.
While stout is often wrongly described as heavy and indulgent, our Stout Beer Stout is a gentle and mellow beer that contains just 79 calories per can.
To celebrate stout's London heritage, we are also donating 5% of every sale to In The Drink, an amazing organisation that works tirelessly protect and clean up the River Thames by ridding it entirely of single-use plastics.
In The Drink unites urban conservationists, intrepid paddle boarders and passionate pub owners, who are bound by a commitment to make London's waterways cleaner, greener and plastic-free.
Paul Hyman is one of three co-founders behind In The Drink, as well as the main man behind Active360, London's biggest stand-up paddle boarding provider.
As someone who leads groups of paddleboarders up and down the Thames every day, Hyman began to notice more and more litter washed up on the riverbanks and felt compelled to take action.
Initially becoming involved in a range of conservation efforts, Hyman and his two co-founders realised they could have a much greater impact on London's marine environments if they focused their efforts on removing a single type of rubbish. It was through keen observation that In The Drink identified a critical issue: plastic pint cups, a significant contributor to the plastic debris in the Thames and its shores.
Surveys from Thames21 unveiled a startling truth: 65% of the rubbish cleaned up from the Thames is food and drink packaging and amongst this rubbish, plastic pint cups are far more prevalent than meets the eye.
During river clean-ups, plastic pint cups are often undercounted because they break down faster than plastic bottles or shopping bags. This is very different to natural materials that biodegrade: instead, single-use cups fragment into tiny 'microplastics' that are ingested by fish, birdlife, and ultimately, humans.
Plastic pint cups are mostly made from clear polystyrene that is rarely recycled in the UK. As they are so light, an empty cup can be easily blown into the river from a nearby bench or wall.
Learning more about the widespread problems that single-use plastics create for marine environments, Hyman and his co-founders united behind a mission to rid the River Thames entirely of plastic cups.
In The Drink has partnered with a long list of bar owners and managers, guiding them toward a sustainable path, with the added promise of cost savings.
The organisation is helping its partners to swap single-use plastic cups for glass or where this is not feasible - for safety reasons - they can provide free guidance on the benefits of stainless steel or hard plastic cups, which are both durable and reusable.
The waterside and floating bars that line the Thames are cherished gems, drawing locals and visitors to bask in their breathtaking vistas, especially during the height of summer.
As a brewery with close ties to some of London's best river pubs, we felt a responsibility to help the hospitality industry to find more sustainable solutions, while doing our bit to restore the River Thames.
Our first step is to launch our incredible Small Beer Stout and donate 5% of every sale towards In The Drink, so they can continue to carry out their exemplary work in London.
Throughout October, we're also staging a range of events and river clean-ups in London, where we're giving In The Drink a platform to form new partnerships, while the Small Beer team gets their hands dirty by removing as much plastic pollution as we can.
Oysters and stout is a beer pairing steeped in history and flavour harmony. Once a source of sustenance for dock workers, this delightful duo has become a delicacy. While a chilled glass of white wine or champagne still reigns in high-end restaurants, many foodies prefer to pair their oysters with the rich and robust flavours of a dark beer.
The tradition of pairing oysters with stout stretches back to the 18th and 19th centuries in Ireland and the UK. Packed full of essential nutrients, oysters were a cheap source of nourishment for the hard-working and hard-up people who lived near ports and harbours. At the same time, dark and malty beers, like stouts and porters, were gaining popularity in the same coastal areas.
The natural brininess and subtle sweetness of oysters proved to be a tasty complement to the rich and roasted flavours of stout. The pairing became a beloved culinary tradition, with oyster houses and taverns serving up platters of fresh oysters alongside pints of stout.
If you visit the Guinness Storehouse Experience in Dublin, one of the best attractions is the floor dedicated to the brand's most historic advertising campaigns, which are awash with proud-looking toucans, hapless zookeepers and a smattering of oysters.
In the 1950s, the advertising guru David Ogilvy dreamed up the idea for the 'Guiness Guide to Oysters,' which depicted nine different oyster varieties and concluded that "all oysters taste their best when washed down with drafts of Guinness."
There is no doubt that the impact of Guinness' advertising deepened the historical connection between oysters and stout. Over time, this once peculiar pairing has been elevated further and engrained into modern foodie culture. In fact, long before the arrival of social media, people in Britain could watch the chef Keith Floyd glug a glass of Guinness while simmering beef with oysters and stout on television.
Aside from their shared history, the synergy between oysters and stout can be attributed to several factors:
Oyster stouts typically incorporate oysters into the brewing process, either by adding whole oysters, oyster shells, or oyster meat into the boiling wort before fermentation.
An article from Food Republic claims that "late in the 1800s, brewers discovered that oyster shells, rich in calcium carbonate, served as an effective clarifying agent for finished beer," much like how many brewers (but not Small Beer) still use isinglass - or in cruder terms, fish bladders - to produce crystal clear ales and bitters.
MORE BEER TALK: What Is Hazy IPA?
Modern oyster stouts tend to be jet black and opaque. Oysters are added to the brew to create a savoury flavour and give the beer a richer depth. However, some oyster stouts don't actually contain any oysters at all, like The Black Pearl Oyster Stout brewed by Gadds' in Kent.
As you may have figured, oysters - or any beers that have been brewed with oysters - are not vegetarian or vegan-friendly.
This gets a little murky as some vegans argue that it's morally sound to eat oysters for a couple of reasons:
This position has even been defended by Peter Singer, author of the book 'Animal Liberation,' who said "there is no good reason for avoiding eating sustainably produced oysters."
Either way, eating oysters - and other molluscs - is a contentious topic within the vegan community and not one we wish to get in trouble over. But we can assure you that, like all the Small Beer that we brew, our Small Beer Stout is suitable for vegans and you are very welcome to enjoy it with oysters if you wish to do so.
Small Beer is working with In The Drink to collectively clean up the River Thames and reduce plastic pollution.
As London’s first B Corp brewery, with sustainability at our very core, we're thrilled to launch our Big Thames Clean-Up campaign.
We’re teaming up with In The Drink, an organisation that is dedicated to reducing single-use plastic in London waterways. As part of this campaign, we’ve crafted an incredible Small Beer Stout and we're donating 5% of all revenue from this tasty brew towards In The Drink.
We're also inviting Small Beer drinkers to join us for a riverside clean-up of the River Thames on Saturday 21st October. Make sure you sign up to our newsletter below for more information on how you can help out.
BE PART OF SMALL BEER'S BIG THAMES CLEAN-UP
Subscribe to our newsletter for more information and get your hands on our Stout before anybody else.
According to research from Thames21, over 65% of the rubbish cleaned up from the Thames is food and drink packaging. Not only does pollution in the Thames affect water quality, it also poses a grave threat to the numerous marine species that rely on the river to thrive.
To help our industry clean up its act, we are making a sizable donation to In The Drink. We thought it was only fair that we also muck in and help remove as much litter as we can. That's why we're organising our Big Thames Clean-Up, taking place on Saturday 21st October at Bermondsey Beach.
Launching on Monday 2nd October, Small Beer Stout is our first new dark beer in four years and it's truly a big-tasting brew that is brimming with big ideas.
Stout is steeped in London history, which is why it made perfect sense to launch it for our Big Thames Clean-Up. Brewed in London for over 300 years, Stout evolved from Porter, a dark and malty beer that was drunk by the market porters, who spent long days unloading heavy cargo from boats anchored in the River Thames.
Small Beer Stout is the latest edition in our Small Batch range. It's a seasonal treat, crafted at 2.5% ABV with subtle roasted barley notes and a hint of dark chocolate. If you liked our Small Beer Dark Lager, you're going to love our Stout.
We've got an exciting line-up of events throughout the Autumn, where you can try our Stout and do your bit to clean the Thames.
27th September: Be the first to taste our brand new Stout on draught at the Small Beer taproom.
2nd October: It's time to stock up on Stout, as our shiny new cans are exclusively launched through the Small Beer website.
12th October: Get yourself down to Bedford Street Wines in Covent Garden for a special night of stout and oyster pairing with The Oystermen.
21st October: Put on some wellies and join us at Small Beer's Big River Clean Up on Bermondsey beach.
At Small Beer, we are committed to effecting positive changes for our planet through our brewery. We proudly hold the distinction of being London's first B Corp brewery, and we operate the world's first dry-floor brewery. This means that we use just 1.5 pints of water to brew a pint of beer, a stark contrast to the industry-standard of 8-10 pints of water per pint brewed.
To date, our efforts have resulted in the conservation of over 6.5 million litres of water, sourced from the River Thames. With the launch of our brand new Stout and the Small Beer Big Thames Clean-Up, we are excited to extend our commitment to sustainable business practices even further.
To boost your Bank Holiday weekend, our taproom manager Oscar has curated a sun-kissed cocktail recipe that uses our light and refreshing Radler to lift the citrusy flavours in a Paloma, which is typically made with grapefruit juice.
Blended with ripe mango and fresh zingy limes, the Small Beer Radler is the second edition in our Small Batch series, which is all about pushing the limits of what's possible at our signature Small Beer strength.
Watch the video below to learn how to make our Small Beer Paloma cocktail:
Ingredients for a Small Beer Paloma:
Radler is a historic Germany beer, with a backstory that captivated the cyclists in the Small Beer team.
If you paid attention in your German GCSE classes, you may remember learning that "Radler" is the German word for "cyclist."
The story goes that Radler was first made by a particularly inventive innkeeper to quench the thirst of a large group of cyclists who rode in on a sunny afternoon, when he was running low on lager.
As a brewery that champions classic beer styles, our Small Beer spin on this iconic tipple is a tantalising twist of tropical goodness that embodies the spirit of summer.
As this is a Small Batch beer, it's unlikely to stick around much longer than the summer, so pick it up now while you can exclusively from the Small Beer website.
Jamie Ferments is the king of London's fizzing fermentation scene. Most mornings, you'll find him whipping up a storm in the kitchen of Arlo & Moe, a coffee and brunch institution, with two cosy cafes in south east London.
The chef first made kimchi for himself after becoming fascinated by the link between fermented foods and wellbeing. But after receiving rave reviews from cafe regulars, his jars of pickles, kimchi and sauerkraut started sweeping the shops and delis of South London.
To celebrate the launch of the brand new Small Beer x Jamie Ferments bundle, the Small Beer team visited Jamie on a busy Friday morning at Arlo & Moe cafe in Hither Green to talk about the rise of naturally fermented foods and their many health benefits.
We captured our visit on camera and you can watch the video below:
The story of Small Beer and Jamie Ferments starts at the Horniman Market in South East London.
Every Sunday morning, our co-founder Felix parks up the beloved Small Beer mini - which we've named Lulu - in the gardens of the Horniman Museum to sell ice cold beers to South Londoners.
Most weekends, we're flanked by Jamie Ferments, purveyors of some of the finest naturally fermented foods and what Felix swears is the best kimchi in the world.
Over time, we've began to refer to our little corner of the Horniman Market as the 'Fermentation Station' and an idea started to bubble... and at long last, we are proud to present the Small Beer x Jamie Ferments bundle.
We've paired two of our most refreshing beer styles with Jamie's fiery vegan kimchi and crunchy pickles that you can put in burgers or sandwiches or eat straight out of the jar. We've also thrown in a Small Beer tote bag, so you can carry everything to your next BBQ.
The Small Beer x Jamie Ferments bundle is exclusively available to buy now from the Small Beer website for £37.50 and it includes the following:
As beer, pickles and kimchi are all fermented foods, it makes perfect sense to us that they should be enjoyed together. As part of this collaboration, we also wanted to recognise the South London community that has supported Small Beer in our first six years of brewing.
Since the very start of our Small Beer journey, we have sought to use our business as a force for good. Every year, we donate 1% of our revenue to the Horniman Museum to help them make a positive environmental impact and reduce water usage in their aquarium.
This money also helps the amazing team working in the museum's aquarium to promote Project Coral, which aims to regenerate reefs and support sustainable livelihoods threatened by climate change.
Witbier is known by craft beer lovers as the world's most refreshing beer style. It’s a historic beer with a distinct taste that gets its name from the Dutch translation for "white beer," which references its pale appearance.
You can tell a witbier by a few characteristics:
The delicate balance of spicy coriander and orange peel gives witbier a flavour profile that is more complex than most lagers, but due to its lively fizz and gentle sweetness, a good witbier should always be highly drinkable, with a clean and crisp finish.
Witbier can be considered as a type of wheat beer, as it brewed with a substantial amount of wheat, alongside more common brewing grains like malted barley. A Belgian-style white beer is a very different drink to German wheat beer - known as hefeweizen - which tends to have notes of banana and clove flavour.
Like many great European beer styles, witbier was first brewed by monks during the Middle Ages, but its popularity declined over time, as lager became the dominant beer style across Europe.
This all changed in the 1960s in Belgium, when the art of brewing witbier was rediscovered in the village of Hoegaarden, which has been honoured by arguably the most famous witbier ever brewed.
Nowadays, witbier is a staple in the modern craft beer scene. Although lesser known than lager or pale ale, it is drunk worldwide and is especially popular in Belgium and on the east coast of the USA, thanks to its distinct taste, historical significance and thirst-quenching powers.
The pale and hazy appearance of a witbier looks a little like cloudy lemonade. It owes its cloudy appearance to the high proportion of wheat used in the brewing process, which typically makes up at least half of the grain bill. The use of wheat also creates a light, smooth mouthfeel and a distinctive creaminess that sets it apart from lagers.
Witbier tends to have very little bitterness, compared to other beer styles, and there is a subtle spiciness and fruity tang, with some peppery notes on the palate.
Although witbier is top-fermented like lagers, as opposed to a bottom-fermented ales, the grains are mashed at much higher temperature to encourage the release of proteins, which contribute to the beer's haziness. After fermentation, the nature haze is retained, as the beer is left typically unfiltered.
In June 2023, we brewed a limited edition Small Beer Witbier, crafted at 2.5% ABV, which marks the first edition in our Small Batch series.
True to style, our Small Beer Witbier is brewed with wheat, coriander seeds and bitter orange peel. The coriander provides a subtle citrus and spicey notes, while the orange adds a refreshing zest, balancing out the sweetness of the wheat.
As with all the Small Beer that we brew, we seek out the best ingredients that suit the chosen style. For our Witbier, we’ve used the very finest Hertfordshire wheat as the backbone of the beer. We chose tangy, sun-kissed orange peels from Seville for a dreamy citrus aroma and we paired the orange with locally-sourced coriander seeds grown in Sussex.
We also used three hop varieties that each add a unique character to our Witbier. Admiral hops, which are native to Britain, are added first to create a refreshing bitterness. Later, we add two more hop varieties to the whirlpool: Tettnang, a noble hop from Germany, and Lubelski from Poland, which is similar to the noble Saaz hops we use in our pilsner style Small Beer Lager. This fragrant hop combination creates a herbal spicy flavour profile and really heightens the exotic aroma of our Witbier.
We think our Small Beer Witbier is a perfect beer to sip on when you’re enjoying a warm summer evening or as a compliment to delicate dishes, whether it’s a salad to share or some grilled vegetables or seafood from the BBQ.
For an exquisitely refreshing experience, we recommend pouring our Witbier into a slender glass and placing a half-moon of freshly sliced orange on the rim.
It’s been brewed by ancient monks, drunk by medieval children and enjoyed in virtually every country around the world, but as ubiquitous as beer may be, it poses a significant health risk for hundreds of thousands of people in the UK alone.
In this article, we will explore how much gluten is contained in most beers and the exciting options that now exist for people who love beer but can’t tolerate gluten.
Unfortunately, most beers contain gluten, as you may have figured by now. Pretty much all beers are brewed with grains, which are as essential to the composition of beer as water, hops and yeast.
READ MORE: Why malt is the backbone of beer
Grains, like barley, wheat and rye, naturally contain gluten. To get a little scientific, gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain grains. Although gluten is perfectly natural, it can cause digestive problems and more severe health issues for people who have an intolerance to gluten or coeliac disease, which affects 1 in 100 people in the UK.
In recent years, there's been a big uplift in the number of beers that are brewed to contain little to no gluten, which is making it much easier for people who are intolerant to gluten to enjoy great tasting beer, without any unpleasant side effects.
Beer is traditionally brewed with the same four ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast. However, some beer recipes call for wheat to be added to build body and flavour. Often, these 'wheat beers,' such as Belgian-style Witbier, tend to have a lighter, crispier character and a subtle wheat flavor.
Out of the core Small Beer range, our Session Pale and our Hazy IPA both contain wheat, where as our Lager and our Organic IPA - as well as our Stout - are wheat-free.
If you are allergic or intolerant to wheat, it's essential to check the label before drinking a beer. Although most beers don't contain wheat, this doesn't mean they are gluten-free, as they will likely still contain malted barley in the recipe.
The amount of gluten in beer can vary depending on the type of beer and the brewing process. In the UK, a beer - or any food product - can only be labelled as 'gluten free' if it contains less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten. This differs to 'low gluten' beers, which can contain up to 100ppm of gluten.
Most beers contain much higher levels of gluten than 20ppm or even 100pm and are, therefore, not suitable for people who wish to avoid gluten in their diet.
Darker beers and ales, which are fuller in flavour and body, tend to contain higher levels of gluten than lagers, while wheat beers, which tend to be pale and hazy, often contain more gluten than other beer styles, as may be obvious from the name.
Food authorities in the UK as well as the US and Canada recognise 20 ppm as a safe threshold to protect people living with coeliac disease, but other countries have much tougher labelling laws around gluten, like Australia and New Zealand, which have a zero tolerance approach to foods that are labelled as gluten free.
We mention this, because it’s important to note that people who are particularly sensitive to gluten should take necessary caution with beers that are labelled as gluten free, given that they may still contain low levels of gluten.
No longer must you stick to soft drinks or overly sweet ciders. The good news for people who love beer but hate gluten is that gluten free beers are now much more common than they used to be.
When browsing the aisles of your local supermarket, look for cans or bottles that are specifically labelled as "gluten-free." If you’re ordering at the bar, it can be a little trickier. Pump clips and font badges do not always declare when a beer is gluten free, so if you’re looking for a gluten free draught beer, play it safe and ask the bartender if they can recommend something for you. Often, pubs will stock at least one gluten free beer in a bottle or can if there are no draught options.
First brewed in 2021, our beloved Small Beer IPA is a gluten free beer that is punchy, bitter and bright. We use floral English hops to deliver a crisp biscuit bite that is met with rich marmalade bitterness. It’s also 100% organic, suitable for vegans and naturally low in calories. We could go on...
Gluten free beers are now much more common than they used to be and brewers primarily use one of two methods to produce gluten free beers.
Small Beer IPA is an exception, as it is a naturally gluten free beer that is brewed with organic barley. In fact, the beer is brewed entirely with organic ingredients that have been grown by British farmers.
Lab analysis has revealed that the beer inside our cans of Small Beer Organic IPA actually contains less than 10 parts per million of gluten, which is why our cans can be safely labelled as gluten free.
Small Beer IPA is one of many options that now exist for people who want to enjoy a cold beer, without paying for the consequences. If you are intolerant to gluten, or would simply rather avoid it, it’s now much easier to find a beer that suits your taste and dietary need with a little research and experimentation.
Did you know that 1% of every Small Beer order helps save coral reefs?
Since the very start of our Small Beer journey, we have sought to use our business as a force for good, which is why we donate a portion of our annual revenue to environmental causes.
As part of our 1% For The Planet membership, we've partnered up with our neighbours at the Horniman Museum and Gardens in South London. This means that every year, we donate 1% of our revenue to help the museum make a positive environmental impact and reduce water usage in their aquarium.
Our donation also helps the amazing team at the aquarium to promote Project Coral, a pioneering research programme, which aims to regenerate reefs and support sustainable livelihoods threatened by climate change.
"Over 30% of the world’s reefs are considered seriously damaged and 60% may die within the next 20 years."
Horniman Museum & Gardens
PROJECT CORAL
Co-founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, the maverick leader of Patagonia, 1% for the Planet is a global nonprofit organisation that encourages businesses to donate 1% of their annual sales to environmental organisations and charities.
Members who pledge to donate 1% - like Small Beer - can choose from an approved list of nonprofit organisations and charities to back. A key part of 1% for the Planet is about providing support and resources to help its members become more environmentally sustainable in their operations and business practices.
Although 1% For The Planet is very much a global organisation, we were keen to ensure our donation benefited our local community in South London. The Horniman Museum is less than four miles from our brewery in South Bermondsey, which felt like a natural fit.
The aquarium at the Horniman is one of our favourite places to visit in South London. There are 15 exhibits, which showcase aquatic environments from around the globe, from the majesty of Fijian coral reefs to the humble British pond.
As a sustainable brewery, we’re naturally placed to lend our expertise to help the Horniman’s amazon aquarium team to reduce the amount of water used in their display tanks and research systems.
Since opening the doors of our brewery, we have pioneered an innovative approach to reducing water usage within the brewing process. Our unique brewing kit that allows us to require just 1.5 pints of water for every pint of Small Beer, where as most brewers will typically use 8-10 pints of water.
We are hugely inspired by Project Coral and the team behind it.
Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on the planet. They provide habitat and food for countless marine species, protect coastlines from storms and erosion, and support many industries.
The sad reality is that 60% of the world’s coral reefs may die within the next 20 years due to a combination of overfishing, pollution and climate change.
Protecting coral reefs requires a colossal global effort, which is why we are so proud that Project Coral, a world-leading scientific programme has its roots in South London.
We are grateful that we are in a position to help the Horniman team to promote Project Coral and make further scientific breakthroughs.
Project Coral depends on the support of many partners and dedicated individuals. If you would like to make your own donation, or learn more about this vital project, you can do so below.
Starting from April 2023, we will move all of the Small Beer that we deliver to your doorstep into cans.
It's still the same outstanding Small Beer, whether you're drinking cans or bottles. But we’re doubling down on cans for the simple reason that it is much better for the environment to ship cans to your home compared to glass bottles.
You can still order bottles from the Small Beer website until the end of March, so now is the time to stock up before we sell through the last of our bottles boxes.
Only half as much cardboard is needed for shipping our cans compared to bottles.
A case of cans is over a third lighter, which significantly reduces delivery emissions.
Cans are much sturdier, which means there is less breakage and less wastage.
We know you love our beautiful bottles and the good news is that you can still buy them from retailers such as Ocado, Majestic and Waitrose, and continue to enjoy our bottles in restaurants, pubs and bars up and down the country.
The difference is that we deliver bottles to our trade customers on large industrial pallets, which require much less cardboard compared to home deliveries. Better still, our uniquely shaped 350ml bottles are actually 20% lighter than typical 330ml bottles and their shorter necks allow for 40% more beer to fit on a pallet, which reduces the carbon footprint of each trade delivery.
Last year, we explained the environmental impact of packaging beers into different formats. Following on from the conclusions of our research, we decided that our glass bottles are best suited to palletised deliveries whereas our cans are a much more suitable option for home delivery.
As London’s first B Corp Certified brewery, we’re forever grateful for your support as we navigate our way through what it means to do better business for you, for us and for the planet.
If you already benefit from our option to subscribe and save, we kindly ask that you swap over any bottled beers to cans before the end of March. This is easy to do from your subscription portal, which you can access here.
For the time being, we do not plan to put our Steam or Dark Lager beers into cans. You can continue to enjoy Steam in mini kegs and it will really take centre stage on cask. Dark Lager will become exclusive to Ocado and a limited number of retailers. But fear not... we plan to release an exciting new dark beer on our website later in the year!
Our cans are priced lower than our bottles, which reflects the fact that our cans contain 330ml of beer compared to our bottles, which contain 350ml of beer. This means that if you're already a Small Beer subscriber, your payment will now be lower.
The days of Mad Men might be gone, but office beers remain a popular - if somewhat controversial - work perk across many industries.
There's no doubt that enjoying some downtime with your team is a great way to bond and celebrate success. But as trends in the workplace shift towards wellness and work-life balance, some employers at questioning whether rewarding their staff with a cold one is really such a smart idea.
While most employees can enjoy the occasional beer at work without it affecting their performance, it's right that employers question whether office beers are aligned with the culture they wish to promote.
For employers considering office beers as a work perk or a reward, there are a couple of things that we shouldn't gloss over:
For both of these reasons, it's vital to ensure your office beers are part of a varied and inclusive perks offering that champions your company's values above everything else.
In any workplace where alcohol is present, moderation is key. To help your employees live a balanced lifestyle, you may want to consider an office beer that doesn't pack in as much alcohol.
Small Beer is crafted with around half the amount of alcohol as most craft beers and lagers, which is why it's enjoyed in offices around the UK, from law firms to media start-ups. Our full-flavour session beers go with moments like a lunch with clients, an afternoon meeting and a chance to unwind with colleagues in the office.
The body’s natural diuretic limit is around 3%, which means that Small Beer - which is always under 2.8% ABV - doesn't have the same dehydrating effect as other alcoholic drinks. In fact, it actually hydrates you. So if you drink Small Beer after finishing work, you're a lot less likely to feel hungover in the morning.
Aside from it’s hydrating properties and great taste, the beauty of Small Beer is the fact that it still contains alcohol, which induces a gentle buzz and pleasant looseness, without making you do or say something you'll regret the next day.
So rather than banishing your office beer to the last thing on a Friday, why not offer your team something that caters to all those occasions, both big and small?
Setting up a Small Beer subscription for your workplace is the easiest and most economic way to keep your office beer fridge full of Small Beer cans, so you can celebrate your workplace wins.
Subscribers who receive an office beer delivery benefit from free shipping and a 5% discount on every case of beer. You can add as many beers to your subscription as you like, so it doesn't matter whether you're picking up a monthly 12-pack or if you're quenching the thirst of a much bigger team.
You can also choose how often you want your beers to arrive, by selecting a delivery schedule between 21 and 90 days. If your office is closed over Christmas, it's easy to pause or change your schedule from our subscription portal.
Our gift sets are the perfect gesture to mark a milestone at work or reward your staff for a recent achievement. Priced at £18, the Small Beer Gift Pack includes four bottles of Small Beer and two stylish beer glasses, beautifully packaged with recycled cardboard that tells the Small Beer story. You can also add a free gift note at checkout to congratulate your team or communicate a personalised message.
If you're looking for something extra, we'd love to help you create a bespoke experience for your team. On our brewery tours page, you can purchase tour vouchers, which make for the perfect experience gift in South London.
You can also get in touch to arrange a private tour for your whole team, which combines the art of crafting beer at a session strength with the science of sustainable brewing. After your tour, you can even hire our brewery as a venue for your work party. The brewery is easy to reach from London Bridge and there's space to comfortably host 40 - 100 people.
"Our company held an online tasting event with Small Beer last week. It was a great success and thoroughly enjoyable. James acted the perfect host giving an informative yet relaxed introduction to the brewery’s four brews, mixing some beer-making history and just the right level of technical know-how to keep us all entertained.
"The beers are fantastic and we all came away as new or reaffirmed fans with something for everyone. So much flavour and so little guilt on a Thursday night – what’s not to like!"
Chris, Standage
Table beer may be rooted in history, but it continues to find new audiences, with craft breweries reviving the style in recent years. As a close cousin to small beer, we wanted to dive a little more into the story of European table beer and understand how it fits into the global craft beer spectrum today.
To put it simply, table beer is a type of beer that is brewed with less alcohol than other beer styles.
Flavour profiles can vary, but a table beer is typically designed to deliver a pleasant flavour and body that can be enjoyed by most palates.
In a historical context, table beer can be viewed as a continental cousin to the medieval small beer that was brewed and consumed in Britain. Throughout the middle ages, table beer - or bière de table - was often brewed in farmhouses in France and Belgium to deliver hydration, nutrition and of course, enjoyment. Similarly, the very best small beer was brewed in English country houses well into the 19th century and was vastly superior to the weak and sour small beer that was derided by Shakespeare.
Modern beer drinkers seeking premium flavour at a lower ABV can find the artisanal spirit of country house brewing continued at the Small Beer brewery in South Bermondsey, where all of our beers - brewed below 2.8% ABV - are big in taste and refreshingly lower in alcohol.
A short walk up the Bermondsey Beer Mile, the Kernel Brewery - often cited as London's first craft brewery - has found popularity with its Table Beer, which tends to fluctuate around 3% ABV and is brewed with different hop varieties from batch to batch.
Although fostered by the craft beer boom, modern table beers and artisanal small beers have emerged in response - or at least as an alternative - to the ubiquity of much stronger American-style IPAs, as was noted in an article published by Wired magazine in 2020 charting "the big rise in small beer."
"The first generation of craft beer drinkers have grown up: they want all the taste and none of the hangover."
Nicole Kobie, Wired Magazine
Referring to table beer or any beverage as a 'lower alcohol' drink can be misleading, as the spectrum of alcohol strengths - and indeed, the way we talk about them - is an ever-changing landscape.
Precise definitions of alcohol levels are difficult to pin down beyond a drink's alcohol by volume. Beyond ABV, you simply have a cultural barometer of what is considered to be lower or higher in alcohol when compared to the perceived average. That said, there is some structure to the notion of lower ABV that gives us all an idea of where everyone stands.
Different types of beer that contain less alcohol:
This is only a rough lay of the beer-strength land and it's not impossible to find a drink labelled as a modern 'table beer' that contains 4% or even 5% ABV.
Gaining momentum most notably in medieval France and Belgium, table beer served as a universal beverage for communal gatherings, designed as a casual beer to be enjoyed around meal times by everyone (quite literally) around the table. It was usually lighter in body and flavour to appeal to the masses and was often served in a larger vessel for sharing.
Small beer served a similar function in medieval England. Some historians say that people drank small beer because they deemed it safer than water, but this is widely debated. In busy areas of London like Southwark - where Shakespeare lived for years - the water conditions were often dire, but this wasn't the case everywhere. What's true is that drinking small beer was an inexpensive source of calories and it's likely that it simply tasted better than the water available to many people.
The poor also relied on small beer and table beer as a source of nutrition when food was scarce. The fact that you can essentially boil the idea of beer down to ‘bread water’ meant that the two basic needs of human survival could be answered in one tankard.
Luckily, lower alcohol beers are now more about expanding how you choose to enjoy life, rather than preserving it. There’s a delicious conviviality around lower alcohol, with a focus on sociable settings that stems from historical roots to the present day.
In modern drinking culture, the concept of ‘session beers’ has gained popularity as a catch-all term for beers that can be easily quaffed over longer sessions without the drinker feeling too worse for wear.
Session beers have another health benefit. As the majority of calories in beer come from the alcohol itself, it is usually the case that the lower the alcohol volume, the lower the calories.
The trouble with the term 'session beer' is that it is used so liberally, its meaning has become incredibly loose. Some breweries will use "session" as a marketing term purely to indicate that the style and body are more appealing or accessible than other beers in their range. So if you’re on the lookout for the perfect pint to sip without losing your house keys, our advice would be to look at the numbers (ABV) and not just the wording.
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At Small Beer, we consider ourselves the home of 'the true session beer.' You could say that we’re biased, but we believe that crafting modern session beer is a continuation of a proud tradition that is centuries old.
We are the world’s first brewery dedicated to the sole production of sessions beers below 2.8% ABV. As specialists in this category, we designed our bespoke brewing kit specifically to brew beers at a lower ABV. We want to pay homage to the history of small beer and reinvent it as a tasty staple of modern living.
The Original Small Beer range is designed to showcase a variety of classic flavours and brewing styles across the global beer spectrum so that everyone can enjoy their ideal Small Beer session. Let us introduce you to three of our core beer styles below:
The brand new Hazy IPA from Small Beer is our first new beer release in two years.
Small Beer Hazy IPA is a juicy session ale, crafted at 2.6% ABV, that packs in ripe apricot and tropical mango flavours.
Exclusively available from the Small Beer website, we have only produced a limited amount of cans, so that you can enjoy this hoppy beer as fresh as possible.
You can also drink Hazy IPA on draught if you stop by our taproom in Bermondsey, as well as a number of pubs and bars, starting with The Porterhouse in Covent Garden from 8 February. Keep an eye on social media channels and our stockists page to see who else is pouring Hazy IPA.
For the last few months, our brew team have been beavering away in South Bermondsey to find the perfect combination of New World hops and British malts that deliver a tropical taste and full-bodied flavour.
Unlike anything we’ve brewed before, the style of this beer has its roots in New England, a beautifully rugged and historic region on the East Coast of the USA that is known for its hoppy, hazy and delicously moreish craft ales.
We achieved the beer's juicy character of our Hazy IPA by ‘dry hopping’ the beer with a trio of punchy New World hop varieties: Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado.
The malts remain an all-British affair, but we used a double dose of organic oats - alongside Maris Otter barley - which gives the beer its natural haze that makes the sunshine yellow hue all the more alluring.
Read more: What are hazy IPAs and NEIPAs?
Hazy IPA is our second IPA to date. Of course, our gluten free Organic IPA remains part of our core beer range, but this is a whole different proposition to our Hazy IPA, as it was crafted entirely from organic ingredients grown by British farmers and is more reminiscent of traditional English IPA.
Regardless of the style or whether we’re brewing with British or American hops, Small Beer is always about packing in as much flavour and character as possible. This is why we truly believe that we make the best session beers in the world.
Have you ever sent back a beer for looking cloudy? If you were expecting the crystal clear clarity of a cask ale or a lager, a cloudy appearance may indicate that the beer is past its prime, but this is not always the case.
In brewpubs and bottle shops and across the country, a newer style of craft beer has made its way across the Atlantic... the Hazy IPA. Originating from New England, you can identify a Hazy IPA by its hazy or opaque appearance and its tropical aroma.
Hazy IPA is an offshoot of the modern American-style IPA and according to the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), a Hazy IPA is “an American IPA with intense fruit flavors and aromas, a soft body, smooth mouthfeel, and often opaque with substantial haze.”
These beers tend to be heavily hopped with New World varieties like Citra, Mosaic or Sabro, which are often added later in the brewing process at lower temperatures. The hops can be added during a stage known as 'whirlpooling,' or after fermentation has occurred, which is known as 'dry hopping.'
To understand how Hazy IPAs have developed, it's useful to understand more about IPAs and their role in the history of brewing.
IPA is an acronym for India Pale Ale, a term that refers to the heavily-hopped pale ales of the 1800s that were brewed in England, using native hops like Goldings and Fuggles, and shipped to India. In the decades since, global influences have evolved the IPA's character and increased its popularity. While our gluten free Organic IPA continues the tradition of using British ingredients to create a floral hop aroma and rich marmalade bitterness, many modern IPAs - and their hazier cousins - are instead reliant on American and New World hops to create intense fruit flavours and high bitterness.
Hazy beers are often brewed with grains that have a higher protein content, like oats and wheat. In a typical Hazy IPA recipe, it’s not uncommon for more than half of the beer’s total composition to be made up of oats and wheat.
It's primarily the higher protein levels that come from the grain which creates a natural haze when brewing beer.
Haze in beer can be developed furthered by adding hops at a time when fermentation is at its peak - known by brewers as high kräusen - to start a process of biotransformation, which provides even more haze and unlocks aromatic compounds from the hops.
New England IPA - often shortened to NEIPA - is a type of American-influenced IPA, which is believed to have originated in the New England region of the US in the 2010s. Somewhat confusingly, the BJCP’s description of a New England IPA is exactly the same as its description of a Hazy IPA, but with the addition that brewing a NEIPA tends to put an “emphasis on late hopping, especially dry hopping, with hops with tropical fruit qualities lends the specific ‘juicy’ character for which this style is known.”
In his latest book on tasting beer, British writer Mark Dredge agrees that there’s not much of a distinction between the styles, but says that Hazy IPA tends to be lighter-bodied, whereas a NEIPA is “thicker in mouthfeel and texture, cloudier in appearance, and often more aromatic.”
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There's perhaps something novel about breaking brewing conventions, but what makes Hazy IPAs and NEIPAs so popular is their low bitterness and fruity flavours: think of a sparkling tropical fruit juice crossed with the refreshing bitterness of an American pale ale.
The higher protein levels that come from the grain softens the mouthfeel to the point where a Hazy IPA can be described as silky. But what really sets it apart from more traditional IPAs is its ‘juicy’ character.
As lovers of great-tasting beer, we want all hops to have their chance to shine and we believe there is a beer for every occasion. We remain immensely proud of Small Beer IPA, not only for its delicious richness and drinkability, but because we passionately believe in the character and flavour of British hops.
We brewed our New England-inspired Hazy IPA for the occasions where we crave a more tropical taste at a session-strength. Whereas many American-influenced IPAs tip the ABV scales, Small Beer Hazy IPA is a quaffable craft beer that delivers full-bodied flavour, without any of the slowdown. It’s also naturally low in calories - with only 96 calories per can - which means you can enjoy world-class beer while striking the perfect balance.
We're excited to announce that our cans of Small Beer Organic IPA are now gluten free.
First launched in the summer of 2021, our Organic IPA is a refreshingly hoppy session ale, which is brewed entirely with organic ingredients that have been grown by British farmers.
Small Beer Organic IPA is naturally gluten free due to the quality of the ingredients and the careful way it is crafted. The beer is brewed with an organic barley that we source from Warminster. Following fermentation, it is then cold-conditioned in our Bermondsey brewery for a minimum of six weeks, which is much longer than the industry standard of 4-6 days.
Brewed at just 2.3% ABV, our Organic IPA is packed with premium ingredients that deliver exceptional flavour with half as much alcohol as most IPAs and craft beers.
The organic hops, sourced from Worcestershire, pack a punch with a wonderful floral hop aroma on the nose. This is followed by a hint of orange and crisp biscuit on the palate and finished with a rich marmalade bitterness.
Like all of the session beers in the Small Beer range, our Organic IPA delivers truly guilt-free enjoyment. A can of Small Beer IPA contains 0.8 UK units of alcohol and only 82.5 calories. It's always been vegan friendly, but now that it's officially gluten free, it can be enjoyed by even more beer drinkers and big thinkers.
"By law, manufacturers can only label their beer gluten free if it contains 20 ppm or less of gluten."
Coeliac UK
For a beer to be classified as gluten free in the UK, it must contain less than 20 ppm (parts per million) gluten.
Gluten free beers can still contain ingredients like barley, oats or wheat, but to know whether a beer is gluten free, it should be clearly labelled on the packaging.
Lab analysis has revealed that the beer inside our cans of Small Beer Organic IPA actually contains less than 10 parts per million of gluten, which is why our cans are now labelled as gluten free.
You can see evidence of an analysis report below which shows that Small Beer Organic IPA contains less than 10 ppm gluten:
For now, only our cans of IPA - which are available to buy as 6-packs or 24-packs - are labelled as gluten free. The gluten free label is not inclusive of the cans in our Session Can Mix or our bottles of IPA.
We're hosting a Christmas market at the Small Beer brewery on Saturday 10 December, running all day in South Bermondsey from 12:00 until 19:00.
We've invited a host of independent creators, producers and brands (listed below) to set up shop in our Bermondsey brewery. We'll have mulled wine, mince pies and fresh beer pouring in our taproom. It's free to enter and families and welcome, so swing by for a beer or two and support some of our favourite small businesses.
As usual, our taproom will stay open until 10pm, so we'd love for you to stick around to watch the England vs France game as part of our World Cup screenings.
Small Beer Christmas Market
Saturday 10 December
12:00pm to 7pm
Free entry - Famlies welcome
Fresh beer - mulled wine - music
70-72 Verney Rd, London, SE16 3DH
All time estimations are based on walking on foot
Looking for somewhere to watch the World Cup in South London? There's still limited table space at the Small Beer Brewery Taproom in Bermondsey to watch the tournament's biggest games on our large projector screen, kicking off with England vs Iran on 21 November.
If you want to book a table or a space to watch the World Cup, send an email to events@smallbeer.co and we’ll get you locked in.
On every match day, we’ll open early to give you time to settle in and enjoy the brewery-fresh beers we have on tap, including our new Small Beer Steam on cask. If you're not a beer drinker, our bar is well-stocked with wines, spirits and non-alcoholic options.
Our taproom is a large and atmospheric space in the heart of a working brewery, which is located close to the Bermondsey beer mile, with plenty of public transport links nearby.
You can see the full list of the fixtures we are screening below.
21 November: England vs Iran (1pm)
23 November: Spain vs Costa Rica (4pm)
23 November: Belgium vs Canda (7pm)
24 November: Portugal vs Ghana (4pm)
24 November: Brazil vs Serbia (7pm)
27 November: Belgium vs Morocco (1pm)
29 November: England vs Wales (7pm)
4 December: Round of 16 (3pm)
4 December: Round of 16 (7pm)
10 December: Quarter-Final 3 (3pm)
10 December: Quarter-Final 4 (7pm)
13 December: Semi-Final 1 (7pm)
14 December: Semi-Final 2 (7pm)
17 December: Third Place Play-Off (3pm)
18 December: World Cup Final (3pm)
Christmas is a time for giving, and that means gifting a loved one something they will enjoy. For many beer lovers, there is no better gift than delicious craft beer. At Small Beer, we have a thoughtfully curated range of craft beer gifts, so that you can enjoy the magic of a Christmas without a hangover in sight!
So, without further ado, let us take you through 12 beer gifts of Christmas, the Small Beer way…
Our Small Beer Starter Pack offers everything you need to stock up the fridge this Christmas. This mixed case includes include all five styles of Small Beer, paired with branded half pint glasses to sip your beer in style. Now in available in two sizes, it's an elegant gift that is guaranteed to please any discerning beer lover.
Our beautiful gift pack takes you on a journey through the malt spectrum, encased in bespoke packaging that shares some of our story. The Small Beer Gift Pack includes four classic beer styles: Lager, Session Pale, Steam and Dark Lager. It's a thoughtful gift idea for someone looking to discover something new.
Our Session Can Mix was only launched this autumn, but it's another excellent gift idea to introduce our core range of craft beers, all of which deliver exceptional quality without as much alcohol as full-strength beers. Our cans are compact and light, which makes this mixed case the perfect fridge-filler when you need to stock up.
If you're throwing a festive party, our mini keg bundle is exactly what you need. Our fun range of mini beer kegs let you enjoy the unbeatable taste of draught beer at home. With this brand new bundle, you can combine the juicy, tropical of our Session Pale ale, alongside our a keg of our entirely British-sourced IPA.
Are you looking for the ultimate box of beer for someone special? You can't beat the Small Beer Classic Mix. This bumper box includes all five styles of Small Beer, taking you on a complete journey of flavour, that includes two styles of lager to enjoy, alongside three flavoursome craft ales.
Our super-soft sweatshirt is made from a blend of organic cotton and recycled polyester. The colour is a stylish heather grey that channels classic sportswear and looks great on everyone, with five unisex sizes to choose from. It's a perfect Boxing Day sweatshirt.
If you're shopping for an avid cyclist, you can halt the brakes on your search. For a discounted price, this brand new bundle for bike-lovers includes the stunning cycling jersey we designed with our friends at Paria and a six-pack of craft beer cans for good measure.
Our Dark Lager is now on sale until the end of 2022 so you can save 25% while stocks last. As it's often said that Christmas is a marathon rather than a sprint, this deliciously refreshing beer is perfect for the festive season. Brewed at just 1% ABV, it's extra low in calories and carbs, which means you are giving the gift of guilt-free enjoyment.
If you've tried it on cask, you already love our Steam beer. Bursting with flavours of dried fruits and spices, this amber ale-lager hybrid could not be better suited to the festive season. Sharing this 5L mini keg with friends and family lets you enjoy the draught beer experience from the comfort of your home.
For less than a fiver, our Small Beer tote bag is the perfect stocking filler for Christmas. It's bigger than your average tote, which makes it perfect for adventuring, and it includes the all-important interior pocket, which keeps your favourite bottle of Small Beer snug.
You can't go wrong with our classic Small Beer Lager as a Christmas gift for a lager lover. This is pilsner-style lager, brewed without as much alcohol, is bursting with citrus aromas and a clean and crisp finish. Available to order in packs of 6 or 24, you can give the gift of a lager without a hangover this year.
And on the 12th and final day of Christmas, perhaps the best gift of all is the gift of choice. Simply top up our Small Beer Gift Card so that your loved one can discover their favourite styles themselves. Perfect for those you may not be able to celebrate with in person, our Small Beer Gift Card can include a personalised message to add that small and thoughtful touch
For more gifting inspiration this year, visit the Christmas collection in our online store.
You can now try Garden Harvest, a limited edition golden ale that was lovingly crafted with hops picked from a garden in Peckham.
The Small Beer team is proud to present Garden Harvest, a seasonal - and very limited edition - pale ale that was brewed at the end of the summer, with hops harvested from our co-founder James’ garden.
This experimental new brew is only available at the Small Beer taproom from Wednesday 19th October. As it’s a small batch of just 60 litres, we are giving away half pints, just one per person. So please enjoy this outstanding autumnal ale while you can!
It typically takes three years for hop plants to yield brew-worthy buds. In that time, James Grundy, Co-Founder of Small Beer, has patiently waited to harvest the hops he planted in his back garden in Peckham in South London.
In August 2022, the plant finally yielded around 6 big buckets of green cones, which our brew team believe to be Fuggle hops, one of England’s two predominant hop varieties, alongside Goldings.
Once James picked the hops, our brewers were excited to use them in a seasonal small batch brew that visitors to our taproom can enjoy on draught.
Now it’s finally been racked to cask for Small Beer drinkers to enjoy. Like all of our brews, it’s crafted below 2.8% ABV, but this beer has a story that really sets it apart.
More news: Launching Small Beer Steam into Cask
We used Maris Otter, which originates from Norfolk, as the base malt, which gives the beer a biscuity, bready backbone.
Two hops were then used for bittering: Galena, which is used in most of our beers, and HBC 522, a unique experimental hop, which imparts floral and citrus notes.
Finally, we added the Fuggles from James’ garden to the whirlpool to further develop the aroma and flavour of the beer.
The result is a moorish pale ale with a light haze. The unique medley of hops means that you pick up apricot and stone fruit on the nose, which leads to a grassy bitterness and a dry but pleasant finish.
Brew talk: Why Malt is the Backbone of Any Beer
According to an article on the History of English Fuggle Hops, the seedling was first identified in 1861. Fuggle hops have been a mainstay in British brewing ever since and brewers note them for their "delicate bouquet of mint, grassy earth, light wood, and floral notes."
Like Goldings, the Fuggle originates from Kent, the so-called Garden of England. It is often described as a classic British ‘aroma hop,’ as it’s packed with essential oils that creates a prominent perfume.
It’s for this reason that brewers tend to add Fuggle hops at the final stages of the brewing process at a lower heat. This helps to retain the essential oils that are locked inside the hops to give the beer an aromatic and flavourful finish.
At Small Beer, we like to champion British ingredients as much as possible - not only for sustainability reasons, but because we firstly believe that British hops don’t always get the credit they deserve.
To experience how we used the wonderful Fuggle hop to finish our new Garden Harvest ale, get down to our taproom in Bermondsey from 19th October to claim your free half pint.
As part of our Perfect Pint series, we visit the Bird in Hand in Buckinghamshire, a true community pub with three types of Small Beer on tap.
The Bird in Hand is a “friendly local pub” in a residential area of Princes Risborough, a market town in Buckinghamshire that is known as the ‘Gateway to the Chilterns.’
Katie Baldock took over the running of the pub in November 2021 and has brought a fresh new vision to the pub, which has helped to diversify its drinkers and make it more inviting for her regulars.
“My aim was to create a community pub: not a pub where everyone stares at you when you walk in,” she says.
Katie has changed up the bar menu to champion craft ale, British craft beer and offer over 30 gins, with a strong focus on local providers. The pub even makes their own gin.
To create a sense of community, there’s now a regular quiz night, art workshops on a Monday and street food festivals throughout the summer.
The pub makes up for its lack of kitchen, with a revolving line up of street food vendors from the local area. Thursday is their resident pizza night, but on Fridays and Saturdays, they like to mix things up. Katie is particularly excited about Tacito (“an incredible Mexican street food van”), which will next return to the pub on October 22nd.
“We get all ages in here: groups of 18-year-olds, the old boys up at the bar and couples who have recently moved to the area from London. We also get a lot of ladies in now. There’s a nice mix of generations.”
More pubs: Small Beer at the Hackney Tap
"Pubs are community spaces, where people feel safe and comfortable."
Katie Baldock, Manager at the Bird in Hand
Reflecting on what her pub provides for the local community, Katie mentions an article she read recently, which argues that in the wake of COVID-19, the hospitality industry has earned the right to ask for more credit for the vital role it plays in British society.
“When you’re at school, it’s not seen as aspirational to want to work in the hospitality industry,” she says. “But people’s lives revolve around pubs: they’re community spaces, where people feel safe and comfortable.”
When we spoke to Katie, she had just returned from the The Low2NoBev Show at Olympia London and was inspired by the range of new brands exhibiting at the show alongside Small Beer.
With two of the Bird in Hand’s taps dedicated to craft beer and four real ales on cask, Small Beer feels like a natural fit for this friendly pub on the commuter belt.
Katie and her team are currently pouring Small Beer Lager and Small Beer Session Pale from their craft taps and excitingly, have added our newly-casked Small Beer Steam to their lines.
Although very much a community pub, you don’t have to live in Buckinghamshire to enjoy a pint of Small Beer at the Bird in Hand.
A train from London Marylebone to Princes Risborough takes less than 45 minutes, so it works as a perfect pit stop to refresh yourself during a day of exploring the nearby Chilterns.
To learn more about Katie's pub or to make a booking, please visit the Bird in Hand website.
There's nothing like enjoying a beer after running, whether it’s cracking open a cold can at home or rewarding yourself with a post-run pint in your local.
Knowing that beer tastes much better when you're enjoying the company of others, many distance runners are now seeking out the companionship of other runners, bringing about the bonding that comes from team sports while enjoying a beer or two.
In this article, we meet a community running club in South London and try to better understand the impact of alcohol on the body and whether or not it undoes the benefits of exercise.
Andrew Finnerty, 53, is the founder of London Beer Runners based in South London. As the name may imply, the collective consists of amateur runners that enjoy finishing their guided running sessions with a few beers at a local brewery.
Whereas Andrew initially picked breweries that were staffed by runners, the philosophy has changed and it’s now more about finding breweries that share his community spirit.
"We want to introduce people to new venues and new parts of London," says Andrew, after visiting the Small Beer taproom in South Bermondsey on an unseasonably hot and sunny Saturday afternoon in August 2022. "The rise of small breweries over the last 15 years has put a big shift on community, locality and provenance. When you visit a brewery now, you get talk to the people who make the products."
The London Beer Runners are not alone in their appreciation of balancing beer with running. In many ways, the London Beer Runners is an evolution of the Hash House Harriers, a group of socially inclined runners around the world that enjoy "adventurous non-competitive group running." In fact, the roots of the organisation pre-date World War II and according to Wikipedia, the original purpose of the group was to "to promote physical fitness [and] get rid of weekend hangovers."
The online presence of the historic group is a little sparse to say the least, but there is a website dedicated to the London Hash House Harriers. Each weekend, the group organises around 30 runners to embark on an adventurous run or "hash" through London and then enjoy "plenty of drinking and socialising."
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Mental health professionals enthuse about the benefits of regular exercise: it can reduce stress, alleviate symptoms of mental illness, and trigger what is known as a ‘runner’s high.’ When you combine this with the benefits that come from social bonding, Andrew believes "the mental health benefits are off the scale." In this sense, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re drinking beer or something different: it’s simply the conduit for socialising with others.
Andrew is involved in several other social running initiatives in South London, including organising sessions for Runhead AC and Gipsy Hill Run Club and volunteering as a running director at his local parkrun in Peckham Rye.
"It’s now easier to find running clubs that are less traditional and that embrace the community and social side," says Andrew. “When I was growing up it was quite serious.”
The London Beer Runners range from beginners to advanced distance runners. As a veteran runner himself, Andrew is only too happy to introduce people to track running or train them for marathons, but his impetus is more about embracing the social and community side of running.
Social cycling: Read our interview with beer-loving cycling crew Trash Mile
"It’s now easier to find running clubs that are less traditional and that embrace the community and social side."
Andrew Finnerty, London Beer Runners
If you’re watching your weight or training to achieve a personal milestone, you might have wondered whether drinking beer may prevent you from achieving your fitness goals. After all, beer is high in calories and, as it is a diuretic, it makes you dehydrated, which isn't great for your recovery.
It might seem counterintuitive, but if you’ve already burnt between 300 and 400 calories on a 5K run, Andrew believes you’ve earned yourself the right to be a little indulgent without feeling guilty about it. "After a run, I like to sit down to decompress, have a beer and some crisps," he says.
To ensure you stay healthy and hydrated, it's important to understand what your body needs after running. Endurance exercise makes you sweat, lose electrolytes and use up carbohydrates fast. To recover, you need to provide your body with the following:
The good news is that as beer contains water, carbs, sodium and protein, it can be enjoyed as part of your post-run recovery in combination with food and water. Although we do need to stress the importance of moderation.
To get a little more scientific, a study published in 2015 found that "moderate beer intake has no deleterious effects on markers of hydration in active individuals." To arrive at this conclusion, half of the people participating in the study were given 660ml of 4.5% beer and water after exercising, while the other half drank only water. After testing, both groups were just as well hydrated as each other.
Need to know: Is it OK to Drink Alcohol After Exercise?
While drinking moderate amounts of alcohol after running has a minimal effect on your body’s recovery, if you’re training for a bigger race - such as a marathon - you should consider how alcohol consumption may affect your training plan.
As alcohol is high in calories, it can lead to weight gain, which is not ideal for marathon training. Having a hangover is also pretty likely to put off those long morning training runs, which could seriously derail your race preparation plan.
But like most things in life, the effects of beer on running training are relative. In the excellently titled BEER-HIIT Study, a team of Spanish researchers asked people to do a 10-week high intensity interval training programme. Some of the participants drank a can or two of beer every day, while others stuck to water. After 10 weeks, all participants had improved their strength and endurance. Crucially, there was no fitness difference between the water drinkers and the beer drinkers. The point being that moderate drinking is unlikely to seriously affect your training.
Need to know: How Many Calories are in Beer?
The best beer for runners is one that contains lower levels of alcohol. The obvious reason here is that you are consuming less alcohol, which is precisely what makes you feel sluggish. But sticking to session beers is also better for rehydration. Where as alcohol is a diuretic, studies have found that beers below 3% ABV are more hydrating than they are dehydrating. In fact, another study from 2016 found that drinking a 2% beer after a workout can help with rehydration just as well as water.
There's a reason why the London Beer Runners were keen to visit the Small Beer taproom. "People can have three of four beers and no hangover," says Andrew. "That’s a great post-run beer!"
With five beers in our range, all of them contain naturally occurring electrolytes, which are found in isotonic drinks, and as they are all brewed below 2.8% ABV, they help with rehydration as well.
Renovating a home is no small task.
So when we heard that travel writer and purveyor of stunning interiors Alice Tate and her husband were in the midst of a full house renovation in South London, we had to get in touch.
Often times when embarking on large-scale projects, it's essential to be able to step back and see the bigger picture. What better way to savour those moments than with a well-deserved, refreshing beer.
Thank you Alice for sparing us a moment to share your top tips and an insight into your lovely home.
South London has been home for us for a good few years now, we love it. To me, it always seems a bit more chilled out than east, and when it comes to houses, you do tend to get a bit more for your money. We’re in Forest Hill, which has a couple of nice cafes, pubs and delis, but is also in walking distance of our favourite green spaces — Beckenham Park and Crystal Palace are firm favourites. There are loads of great neighbourhoods around here. We used to be in Nunhead which we loved, with Peckham and Brockley on our doorstep which both have great restaurants!
Overall, I would say we love the renovation process wholeheartedly — it’s so satisfying working together on something and collectively investing all your time, energy and headspace, but that’s not to say there are rollercoaster moments when you feel totally overwhelmed and over it.
I love and hate the ideas process. There are so many things I want to do and incorporate — so many saved posts on Instagram and Pinterest which serve as great sources of inspiration but also don’t help with decision making. Decision fatigue is very, very real! I guess what I love most is being able to have an idea and make it happen — it all feels very adult, and we’re very hands-on so do tend to tackle most projects ourselves. My husband is an electrician so it makes a huge difference having someone in the trade. He’s the doer really, but I think we make a good team. I started the house Instagram account so we can document the process and look back on how far we’ve come. It already makes me so nostalgic looking at pics from the first few days we moved in. I love documenting the journey.
So we’re 11 months in now, into a project that’s needed fully gutting, and it’s pretty much been DIY and odd jobs every weekend and spare day since we moved in. So if you’re planning on taking it on, and tackling jobs yourself, prepare to be very consumed — from a social and mental perspective! I’d also say take time to step back and look at the bigger picture - something we’re not great at doing since it’s easy to get so caught up in the details, but looking at how far you’ve come is hugely important.
Pretty much every weekend for the past 10 months has been consumed by DIY so it feels like all we know at the moment. We’re early risers so we’ll be up and itching to go from about 7am but can’t really start until 10ish at the weekends (constantly trying to keep on the neighbours’ good side!) so we’ll have coffee and a leisurely breakfast together before getting going. More coffee and snacks power us through, often, there’ll be a tip run or something from a DIY shop we need so we’ll pop out to pick up, which breaks up the day, and the summer has been nice for having lunch in the garden. We’ll go for as long as we can - often 6 or 7pm then we’re too tired to do too much in the evening so we’ll just cook and watch TV. Luckily, our lounge was the first room we tackled so it does feel like a bit of a haven at the end of the day (compared to the rest of the house at least!).
I’d say restoring the original floors has been our biggest labour of love. We pulled up the patterned carpets the day after we moved in to reveal, ta-da, beautiful wooden floorboards that were in great condition throughout the house. Regardless, it took a lot of work to get them clean, paler, and gap-free. We spent days crawling around on all fours hammering and glueing in wood slivers into every gap, hammering down nails and filling gaps, before hiring the world’s loudest floor sander, and oiling them ourselves. Honestly, a slog of a job but they look great now.
So my nemesis at the moment is painting and doing it neatly! A good straight line versus a sh*t line makes all the difference in the overall impact, and it’s taken us numerous attempts in some rooms to get it right. Finally, I’ve found my best friend for the job – Tesa low-tack painting tape — so it’s all going a little smoother now, thankfully. But I would say thorough prep (the boring part) and good tools really do make all the difference — and that’s coming from someone who’s very impatient and learnt the hard way on one too many occasions!
It’s always like 4pm on a Saturday or Sunday when you’re starting to lag and you’ve got a few more bits to try and get done before starting the dreaded clean up operation (the worst part of a live-in renovation is always having to clean up after every job). At that point, you know you’re on the home stretch for the day — just a couple more hours and you can chill on the sofa!
When you’re chained to the house doing jobs every weekend, often starting early to make the most of the day, it’s easy to get on the beers early - especially in summer when there’s nothing better than a well deserved beer in the sun at lunch, then a couple more to power through the last of the day’s jobs. Small Beer is a perfect alternative, because you get the same beer ‘hit’ and refreshment, without mindlessly knocking back a few units.
We’re both big fans of the Session Pale Ale - can knock it back so easily meaning you can have a couple without having to worry about a sore head in the morning!
Follow along their renovation journey on Instagram @asouthlondonhome and visit Flash Anthology to read Alice's incredibly curated travel recommendations.
Dark lager - or black lager - is a term used to describe beers that are dark in colour, but brewed with lager yeasts.
Originating from Europe, dark lagers can vary quite a bit in strength and profile. In Germany, they go by a few different guises, like dunkel, bock or schwarzbier. In Spain and Mexico, they are known as negras and tend to be produced by large breweries as an alternative to their flagship lager beers.
One thing that all dark lagers share in common is that they are deceptively drinkable. They tend of be a little lower in alcohol and unlike other dark beers, the use of lager yeast creates a bright and vibrant finish, which delivers instant refreshment when served icy cold.
The story of dark lager is as rich as its appearance might suggest. The colour can be transfixing: take a quick glance and you could easily mistake it for porter or stout, but this much-loved beer style is brewed using a lager yeast and dark malt, creating a roasted toasty aroma and a bright lager finish.
Brewing explained: Why Malt is the Backbone of Any Beer
Munich, in southern Germany hails as the home of the dark lager beer style, where it lives under the guise of schwarzbier (‘black beer’) or schwarzpils (‘black pils’).
A golden rule in the brewing process is never to forget how big a part water plays in influencing the outcome of the beer. It is this principle that has seen places like Burton upon Trent and Plzen become brewing metropolises, owing to the way the soft water sources nearby enhance light pale ales in Burton’s case and Pilsner style lagers in Plzen’s.
At the other end of the scale, Munich (much like London) is known for its local water being naturally high in calcium carbonate, steering brewers toward darker beer styles, with the hard water helping to accentuate the malt background.
As Germany is a country that loves lagers and Bavaria is a region that favours dark beer styles, the inevitable outcome was to combine the two, brewing with lager yeasts and highly kilned dark malt to make a dark lager. The clue really is all in the name.
Crafted at a logic defying 1% ABV, Small Beer Dark Lager is a truly unique beer. With its own cult following, it's the dark horse in our range of lower alcohol beers. Not only is it our only dark beer, it contains the lowest alcohol concentration and the fewest calories.
Small Beer Dark Lager is a seasonal beer that is not currently available to buy from our website, but you can bag yourself a few bottles from Ocado while stocks last.
Despite the beer's low ABV, Small Beer Dark Lager more than delivers on flavour and intrigue. When you pour a bottle of our dark lager into a glass, you will first notice its striking black colour, which comes from the dark roasted barley. Next, you will be enticed by its heady aroma, which hits you in a swirl of dark chocolate and roasted coffee.
But the taste is what wins you over. There's still the richness that you would expect from a dark beer. It's roasted and the toasty, but the body is featherlight and the finish is crisp.
Whether you’re looking for a beer to enjoy earlier in the day, or you’re hankering for the occasion of a porter in the height of summer, our Small Beer Dark Lager has got you covered. Unlike many dark beers, it's also vegan-friendly and extremely low in calories, containing only 60 calories per bottle.
As specialists in brewing classic beer styles below 2.8%, we're no strangers to subverting people's perceptions about beer. It was only natural that we wanted to take on a style that already challenges perceptions of what a dark beer can be.
Small Beer Dark Lager was the first recipe our co-founder Felix developed alongside our pilsner style Small Beer Lager. We sourced the barley from Warminster Maltings, traditional malters who haven't changed their floor malting techiques since 1885. We then kilned this barley until black, giving the beer its striking colour and aroma.
What really sets our dark lager apart from other styles of dark beer is that we use lager yeast to lift and lighten the finish. If you drink a pint of our dark lager in the Small Beer Taproom it's even more refreshing served cold from a keg.
Imagine a roasted coffee aroma, with chocolate and a wisp of smoke, but cut with a refreshingly vibrant lager finish.
Small Beer Dark Lager
If you've ever tried a Chocolate and Guiness cake, you'll know that dark beers make an excellent baking ingredient. If you want to get creative in kitchen, we devised a simple recipe for a Dark Lager Chocolate Cake, which is delightfully decadent, yet moreishly light.
We've also had great success using dark lager to make sourdough bread. If you're a keen baker, we recommend following Bake with Jack's winning sourdough loaf recipe, but subbing the water for a bottle of Small Beer Dark Lager and increasing the amount of flour and salt proportionately.
All this just goes to show how versatile dark lager is.
As part of Cask Ale Week, we are celebrating the launch of Small Beer Steam into cask and exploring what makes cask beer so special.
This month we launched Small Beer Steam into cask for the first time ever, marking our commitment to reviving the declining cask beer category, so that a new generation of craft beer lovers can continue to enjoy Britain’s national drink.
Up until now, the five classic styles in The Original Small Beer range have only been available to pubs and bars in modern kegs, but launching Small Beer Steam as a cask ale adds a whole new dimension to this unique beer style.
Small Beer Steam beautifully bridges the gap between a lager and an ale, with a rich and robust body, but a surprisingly bright and vibrant finish. It's brewed with British rye malt that is roasted to give the beer its deep amber hue and a subtle hint of spice. Time Out said: "It tastes incredibly complex for just 2.7 percent, full of dried fruit flavours and delicious maltiness."
Regulars at the Small Beer Taproom were first to enjoy this outstanding amber beer on cask, but it’s now rolling out to pubs across the country, starting with two of London’s most historic watering holes: The King’s Arms on Roupell Street and The Roebuck on Dover Street.
Cask beer - or real ale - is a living, breathing product, which develops its rich body and creamy mouthfeel by allowing in oxygen to the vessel in which it is stored and undergoing a secondary fermentation period, which typically happens in the cellar of a pub.
The beer in a cask is neither filtered nor pasteurised. It's served at cellar temperature, without the injection of any gas, which gives it a gentle sparkle that is conjured by the natural carbonation that occurs in the cask.
The term ‘cask beer’ was not recognised until the emergence of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in the 1970s, but beer has been conditioned in casks for thousands of years. Historically, brewers used wooden barrels known as firkins to hold nine gallons or 72 pints of beer. The size (and the name) of the cask has remained the same, but modern brewers now use stainless steel firkins to condition their beer.
Keg beers - like lagers and modern craft ales - have become very popular in recent years, largely because they have a much longer shelf life, but also because they are less intensive than cask beer and don't require the same amount of care or expertise to serve.
A modern beer keg holds 30 litres or 52 pints. A mini beer keg is smaller still and tends to produced for home consumption. The beer inside a keg tends to be much fizzier than cask beers, due to the injection of gas, and they are served chilled rather than at cellar temperature.
Brewing explained: Why Malt is the Backbone of Any Beer
Before cask beer can be pulled from a hand pump and finally enjoyed by the customer, it has to be vented, tapped and conditioned in a pub's cellar. During this stage, the live yeast in the beer ferments for a second time, giving the beer its unique character.
John Palmer is the manager at Hackney Tap, a craft beer pub in Hackney Central, which offers five casks on tap as part of its extensive beer and cider offering.
"I would do half the work if we were keg only," he admits. But this is simply not an option for John. He’s a self-proclaimed lover of cask beers, having grown up in East Yorkshire, drinking cask in the local rugby and football clubs. "Cask beer is my baby," he says.
"You need three things to keep cask beer well: clean lines, a cold cellar and lots of venting."
John Palmer, Manager at Hackney Tap
Different beer styles may require different levels of care, which is why the expertise of a seasoned landlord is so crucial in the cask beer cycle. As John explains: "Some beers need venting over three days whereas for others, you can do it overnight. It really depends on the beer: I always think being hard and fast with your rules is a mistake when it comes to cask."
The same variance is also true of a beer’s lifespan. "The shelf life of cask beer isn’t very long, but dark beers with a higher alcohol percentage can last much longer."
Cask beer has its roots in the civilisations of Ancient Europe, but it has become synonymous with Britain and the steadfast beer styles that are supped in quaint pubs - particularly up north - if only because Britain is "the only country that continues this idiosyncratic process" of conditioning beer in casks, as is explained by Beer Connoisseur.
In the last two centuries, most of the firkins used to condition beer by British brewers contained a style of ale known as Mild. Writing in the Guardian, Tony Naylor describes a Mild as a "a low-strength (around 3%), very-lightly hopped beer, that became a staple thirst-quencher for miners, factory workers and anyone keen to sink eight pints and still get up for their shift the next morning." Typically sweeter and maltier than other beer styles at the time, patrons could opt for a Pale Mild or a Dark Mild to please their palate.
Mild became all-but-extinct as keg beers and imported styles gained popularity. CAMRA responded by launching an annual initiative known as Mild Month, where CAMRA branches across the UK "encourage local pubs to have at least one Mild on the handpumps during the month of May."
More history: The Dove in Hammersmith & London's Most Historic Pubs
The lockdown of the hospitality industry in 2020 meant that pubs were forced to throw away gallons of cask beer, while breweries focused on canning their beers for home consumption instead.
Data from SIBA suggests that, despite the reopening of the hospitality industry, cask beer has sadly not recovered. Before the pandemic, cask ale accounted for 67% of the beer produced by breweries that belong to SIBA but this number fell to 46% in 2021. At the same time, can production increased from just 3% to 13% over the same period.
SIBA brewers expect to produce 26% more gallons of beer throughout 2022, but sadly, they don’t believe that cask beer will increase from the depleted levels of last year. Instead, brewers say they expect to produce more keg beers and package more of their products into cans, which are easier and safer to transport than bottles.
Before the pandemic, cask ale accounted for 67% of the beer produced by SIBA breweries, but this number fell to 46% in 2021.
#StandUpForCask
Cask Ale Week in 2022 runs from 22 September to 2 October. Visit their website to find participating pubs and breweries near you and get involved on social media using the hashtags #CaskAleWeek and #StandUpForCask.
To taste Small Beer Steam on cask, you can visit the Small Beer Taproom from Wednesday to Sunday. You can also sign up to our newsletter below or keep an eye on our social media channels where we will share pubs that are pouring our beer from cask.
As part of our Perfect Pint series, we visit Hackney Tap for a pint of Small Beer Session Pale and gyoza with bar manager John Palmer.
In the heart of Hackney Central, there’s a stately looking building that has welcomed East Londoners for over two hundreds years: first as the original Hackney Town Hall, then as a bank, before it was converted into a betting shop in the last decade.
Refreshed and reopened in April 2021, it’s now home to one of London’s finest craft beer pubs, with 22 beers on tap. John Palmer, a Yorkshireman who has lived in Hackney for the last six years, started working behind the bar and quickly took over the running of the pub, which he says happened "by osmosis."
John learned on the job, curating an extensive beer list, and shaping the space not only as a great beer pub, but somewhere you can attend intriguing events, watch the Six Nations or the World Cup, or grab a bite to eat.
More pubs: The Dove in Hammersmith & London's Most Historic Pubs
On the afternoon of our visit, John is pouring a half-pint of Small Beer Session Pale from behind an ornate bar that was used as a banking console throughout the 20th century.
On one of the walls there’s a golden plaque to commemorate the fact that "Sir John Cohen, founder of Tesco, opened the company’s first bank account at this branch on 27th November 1920."
The interior feels a little like a German beer hall, with wooden panelling, high ceilings and arched windows that let in plenty of light. It’s a nod to the pub’s allegiance to the Bavarian breweries who produce world-leading lagers and wheat beers, and a theme that's shared by its sister pubs, including the Euston Tap in North London and Piccadilly Tap in Manchester.
Like many pubs, Hackney Tap will celebrate Oktoberfest this year, but they are also want to host a German techno night, which John hopes will lead people to realise that there’s a lot more to German culture than lederhosen and oompah bands.
Earlier in the summer, John and his team hosted their very own Lager Festival. Before that, there was a celebration for Japan Week, with several Japanese lagers on tap, gyoza served hot and a band of drummers positioned in the large adjoining beer garden, where wooden benches line the pavement, and parasols provide shade from the afternoon sun that hangs overhead.
Gyoza are a fixed staple at the pub, with a menu that includes four tasty varieties, including vegetarian and gluten-free options. "It’s good beer food," says John.
The choice at the bar is almost overwhelming: there are four hand pumps and a revolving selection of lagers, pale ales, sour beers and ciders. John ensures there is at least one lower ABV option at all times to meet the growing demand from his patrons.
"People used to think about lower ABV beers as something that you serve in January and during the quieter months, but that’s changing as pubs are realising that they sell," he says. "As an area, Hackney is very independent brewery-centric and I think the people we get here are generally a bit more open-minded. They don’t have trepidation about trying something new."
Further reading: What is Lower Alcohol & Low ABV Beer?
Visitors to Hackney Tap like to sample different styles and will switch between high ABV beers and lower ABV beers. To reflect this curiosity, John wants to start selling flights of beer, where patrons can sample smaller quantities of different styles and strengths.
Outside the rather grand windows, a heavy rain shower makes its way through Hackney, punctuating the end of summer, which for John and publicans across the country, means a change in focus: the upcoming festive season, the first ever winter World Cup and a shift towards different beer styles. As a lover of cask beer, the transition is something that John welcomes. "The cask beer here is my baby," he says.
"This summer was unusually hot, so it was very lager-heavy," says John. "As the temperature drops, people turn towards cask and pales, because the flavours are fuller. But we always have cask on tap, whatever the weather. Even during the height of summer, I’d still drink Best Bitter," he chuckles.
To learn more about the pub or to make a booking, please visit the Hackney Tap website. If you want to make a day of it, London Fields and Victoria park are both nearby and so is Hackney Empire, a similarly historic building where you can see top comedians.
The craft beer boom made mind-bogglingly strong beers more popular, but many beer drinkers are now seeking out lighter brews that deliver great taste without any of the slowdown. Not only does drinking lower alcohol beer help you avoid hangovers, its long-term benefts are even more profound, as it can help you stay fitter and promote your mental health.
But let's be honest: most beer drinkers like to feel the buzz of an alcoholic beverage or two, not to mention the flavour that comes from it. So can you get drunk from drinking lower alcohol beers or does it simply trigger a placebo effect?
There is a huge range of factors which will influence how much alcohol you need to consume to get drunk, so it's not possible to give an exact answer here. That said, there are some general rules that can help you figure out how much beer it'll take you to start feeling tipsy.
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Before finding out if you can get drunk from drinking low alcohol beer, it's first helpful to think about exactly what we mean by being ‘drunk’. Anyone who's ever had one too many will know the sensation well, yet there are lots of different levels of drunkenness - and a huge range of factors that affect it.
Alcohol tolerance and effects can vary widely from person to person and occasion to occasion. Factors which affect inebriation include:
Defining exactly what quantity of alcohol will get you drunk is difficult and it can vary significantly from one person to another.
Stepping away from the science for a second, Felix James, Co-Founder of Small Beer, regales a story from a night out with the Small Beer team.
"We once took the team on a memorable pub crawl that involved visiting 10 London pubs that were serving Small Beer on draught. It was fantastic to visit some of the city's best pubs, have lots of fun with the team, and then wake up with a clear head the next morning, remembering what a great evening it had been.
"Now that it's been over five years since we brewed our first Small Beer Lager, it can be far too easy to take for granted how liberating it is to wake up early the next morning without feeling sluggish or like you missed out on any of the fun."
To find out if you can get drunk on low alcohol beer, it's useful to have a scientific measure of what drunkenness means. Blood Alcohol Content or BAC is the most commonly used metric used to gauge a person’s level of squiffiness. In scientific terms, BAC measures the amount of alcohol present in your bloodstream. If a breathalyser test reveals that a person has a BAC of 0.04%, this means there is 40mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
According to the University of Notre Dame, when your BAC reaches 0.04%, you are likely to feel more relaxed, your inhibitions will be lower and may experience a sensation of warmth and happiness. On the flipside, your judgement and memory may also be slightly impaired.
However, you can still legally drive a car in most parts of the UK, so long as your BAC is below 0.08% or 80mg/100ml. Most other countries in Europe (including Scotland) are stricter when it comes to driving after drinking alcohol, as the legal alcohol limit is set at 0.05% or 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
Scientists may disagree on how to accurately estimate BAC, but one factor in any equation is the volume of alcohol that a person consumes. Alcohol by volume or ABV is the metric used to calculate the volume of alcohol contained in a drink. If you drink a pint of beer that is 4% alcohol by volume, you are consuming 23ml of pure alcohol - as 23 is 4% of 568ml.
To put it simply, a drink with a higher ABV is more likely to raise your BAC and leave you feeling worse for wear. Search online for a ‘BAC chart’ and you will find many estimations of how alcohol consumption is likely to affect your BAC based on your weight or sex. We must stress that estimating your BAC in such an unscientific way can be extremely dangerous, particularly if you are weighing up whether or not to drive.
A beer can still be marketed as "alcohol free" if it contains up to 0.5% ABV, but it's practically impossible for an adult to become intoxicated from drinking an alcohol free beer.
We know this to be true as in 2012 scientists at a German university had the great idea to stage a ‘drinking experiment,’ which involved letting a few dozen students loose on a few non-alcoholic beers with a 0.4% ABV. Despite guzzling 1.5 litres in under an hour - which is just over 2.5 pints - the student closest to intoxication had a BAC of less than 0.01%.
As this experiment proves, the amount of alcohol contained in a non-alcoholic drink is so low that it’s simply not possible to consume enough liquid to the point where you feel intoxicated or that your BAC is affected.
What’s the difference? Low-alcohol vs no-alcohol beers
Lower strength beer styles with an ABV of around 2.5% - like small beer and table beer - contain around half the amount of alcohol than most ‘full strength’ beer styles, but they can still raise the alcohol concentration in your blood to the point where you notice it.
A lower strength beer will certainly induce a feeling of relaxation. You'll notice the feeling of having enjoyed a pint or two, but the lower level of alcohol means that it’s difficult to reach a point where you suffer from the consequences of being inebriated. In addition, the lower alcohol level also means you’re process the alcohol and hydrating as you drink, so the chance of a hangover is low to non-existent.
At Small Beer, we don't think you need to live life at the extremes - or be forced to choose between complete sobriety and having to drink more than you need. We brew all of our low alcohol beers below 2.8% ABV, which means that you can still get a light buzz without regretting it the next day.
Small Beer drinkers of London, take note: you can now enjoy brewery-fresh draught beer in our beautiful Bermondsey taproom.
Our brand new taproom is open from Wednesday through to Sunday, so you can really embody the Small Beer ethos of 'Living for the Week,' while seeing where the magic happens. You can find the full opening hours and more information on our Small Beer Taproom page.
To celebrate the opening of the taproom, we are throwing a launch party on Thursday 28 July 2022, where we will welcome big thinkers, beer lovers and members of our local community alike with a complimentary Small Beer on arrival.
To get the party started, there will be live music and wood fired pizza, freshly made to order by Pizza Squad.
Taproom Launch Party
Thursday 28 July - 4:30pm to 10 pm
Free entry and one complimentary beer per person
Visitors to our taproom can enjoy all five of our lower alcohol session beers on tap. For the first time ever, we've also put our oustanding Small Beer Steam session ale into cask to really bring out its rounded hop finish. Time Out said: "It tastes incredibly complex for just 2.7 percent, full of dried fuit flavours and delicious maltiness." It tastes even better on cask!
Located on Verney Road in South Bermondsey, our taproom is the perfect place to enjoy a post-work pint in a relaxed setting. Or if you're attempting the Bermondsey beer mile on a Saturday, we're here to help you keep it session.
Watch our Instagram reel below to see inside the brewery and get a glimpse at the taproom.