Welsh brewery, bakery and distillery collaborate on gin made from bread

Swansea-based Lewis Pie and Pasty Co. has teamed up with Coles Brewery and Distillery in Llanddarog to produce a gin made from leftover bread.

The Welsh businesses have joined a growing number of other drinks producers concocting sustainable ways in which to use up food waste.

The aptly-named bakery gin is produced at Coles Distillery in Llanddarog, Carmarthen using day-old bread from Lewis Pie and Pasty Co. The bread is turned into beer which is then distilled to make the neutral base spirit, before re-distilling and adding botanicals to make gin.

The Lewis bakery website notes: “When our bakery makes bread in the middle of the night we often have to use a best guess on quantity and slightly overproduce to make sure we don’t short supply our customers. This can generate waste. Any waste that can’t be sold is often thrown away and that makes us upset! Thats where Coles family Brewery come in! They told us they could make gin from bread.”

Described as “light, clean and fresh” the gin is flavoured with juniper and citrus and bottled at 37.5% ABV.

It is estimated that the UK wastes 900,000 tonnes of bread each year, equating to 44% of the total that is produced.

In 2016, Toast Ale began making beer from leftover bread from London’s bakeries and delis. The brewer has since expanded and is now sold across the UK, most recently achieving listings at Co-op stores.

Meanwhile in April last year, Suffolk brewer Adnams turned its hand to brewing with bread, producing three beers for UK retailer Marks & Spencer using surplus crusts leftover from the store’s sandwich production.

Cereal giant Kellogg’s and Salford-based brewery Seven Bro7hers also recently teamed up to create a beer made with cornflakes that were either too big, too small or overcooked to make it through quality control.