If we told you we were drinking an ice cold beer at 3pm yesterday in 28 degree heat, you’d be forgiven for thinking that we were slacking.
But we were finally meeting the neighbours, Small Beer, who have a brewery a stone’s throw from the Pact HQ in Bermondsey.
Thankfully, as Small Beer specialise in beers below 2.8%, we managed to get some work done after returning to the desk.
Interestingly, this lower-alcohol small beer (not to be confused with the name of the brewery – Small Beer Brew Co. is the world’s first small beer brewery) was the drink of choice in the times of Shakespeare.
Back then, ‘drinking’ water was unsafe to consume – and small beer was celebrated for its hydrating and nutritional purposes, drunk in workplaces and schools (kids drinking beer – weird, right?).
When clean drinking water became widely available in the 19th century, small beer fell off the map. But Small Beer are here to reinvigorate a forgotten classic.
They’re also pretty considerate neighbours – firstly, they give us beer, but they also built their brewery to run on entirely renewable sources, are London’s first B Corp™ certified brewery and save an awful lot of water.
In fact, they’re the world’s first brewery (bit of a common theme going on…) to run a dry floor policy. There’s no brewers wading around in wellies here – and this has saved more than 6.5 million litres of water to date.
At Pact, we like to celebrate companies that share our ethical interests (and act as good neighbours, too) – and that’s why we’re giving Small Beer our wholehearted endorsement.
If you’ve tried 0% or 0.5% beers before, you might have found them lacking in the ‘body’ that alcohol brings. In our opinion, Small Beer, at between 1% and 2.8%, brings all of the satisfaction that you can expect from your favourite pint.
Their lager was like a gift sent from the gods in the middle of this current heatwave. If you like your beer with a bit of a bite, we’d recommend their spiky, hoppy IPA. And their steam beer brings an awful lot of unique flavour with just 84 calories.
Head to Small Beer’s website to find the full range.
