helping to reduce food waste is certainly something we can drink to, and the team behind toast pale ale are helping us to do the two simulataneously. bread plays a large role in the 40% of edible food that goes to waste. whilst even charities feeding hungry people struggle to use the surplus buns, rolls and baguettes, tristram stuart—the founded behind toast—has set out to use the crumbs that would otherwise be wasted to brew up a delicious beverage.

toast pale ale tackles food waste by turning surplus bread into beer
toast pale ale turns bread that would otherwise be thrown out into beer
all images courtesy of toast

 

 

since 44% of all bread produced ends up being wasted, the team at toast source surplus loaves from bakeries that would otherwise be thrown out due to quality regulations. the heel ends of loaves not suitable for sandwiches can all be used in the brewing of toast pale ale, which sets out to reduce bread waste by becoming the beer of choice for conscious drinkers. the team even open-source the recipe, in the name of making it easy for individual households to re-purpose old, stale bread into a friday night drink.

toast pale ale tackles food waste by turning surplus bread into beer
toast sets out to become the beverage of choice for conscious drinkers

 

 

the process involves drying and crushing the leftover bread, before steeping the crumbs in water. the soaked crumbs are then sparged, with the leftover wart added to german hallertau tradition hops which give the brew a bitter taste. cascade, centennial and bramling cross hops are also added, before the brew is cooled and fermented for around two weeks.

toast pale ale tackles food waste by turning surplus bread into beer
until global bread waste can be minimized, toast sets out to repurpose the leftover buns, baps, and rolls

 

 

the profits made from toast beer all go to feedback, stuart’s own environmental organization that campaigns to end food waste at every level of the food system. stuart explains fittingly that ‘we hope to put ourselves out of business. the day there’s no waste bread is the day toast pale ale can no longer exist.’

toast pale ale tackles food waste by turning surplus bread into beer
the brew is made by initially steeping the stale bread crumbs in water

toast pale ale tackles food waste by turning surplus bread into beer
tristam stuart aims to put his company out of business by reducing bread waste

toast pale ale tackles food waste by turning surplus bread into beer
all profits from toast go to feedback—a charity that tackles the global food waste crisis