Does small beer have a big future?
Popular YouTube channel Sorted Food has recently collaborated with Small Beer Brew Co to launch a 2.5% ABV blanche. Louis Thomas finds out why the “middle ground” of beer might appeal to the modern drinker.
With more than 2.8 million subscribers, and more than a decade’s-worth of video content, it is fair to say that Sorted Food has secured its place as one of the most important voices in the YouTube food and drink scene.
While cooking is at the core of what Sorted Food does, especially with its Sidekick recipe app, its community-focused approach also extends to the drinks sector. In 2022, the channel partnered with Yorkshire’s Sloemotion Distillery on the launch of a gin liqueur made using leftover Wimbledon strawberries.
However, the 21% ABV liqueur was not Sorted’s first foray into the world of alcoholic beverages.
Ben Ebbrell, co-founder of the channel and one of its resident chefs, revealed that Sorted dabbled in beer very early on in its existence: “When we began, before we had even branded ourselves as ‘Sorted Food’ we were ‘Sorted Students’, we were all at university and created a cookbook to help other students. One way we reached out to students was going to freshers fairs – there was no way we could attract students over to get a cookbook, but we could with a free beer. So we brewed a whole bunch of beer just as a mechanism to talk to people about the importance of cooking, how useful it was for health, budget control, and socialising – at the time it was just a hook.”
However, 15 years later, the channel has come “full circle” with the launch of the Small Beer Blanche, made in collaboration with London’s Small Beer Brew Co. Whereas the students who snapped up the original Sorted beer likely did not have moderation in mind, the Small Beer Blanche’s alcohol content clocks in at just 2.5%.
“So often, things have to be black and white for people – they’re either one thing or another,” said Ebbrell. “The middle ground isn’t particularly sexy, it never grabs headlines, the extremes do, and therefore the middle ground usually gets left behind, but it is probably the best place in terms of balance and responsibility.”
The opportunity for Sorted to collaborate with a brewery which has carved out a niche in that middle ground came about due to its online reach.
“What we have with Sorted Food is a phenomenal army of ants out in the world doing amazing things. Small Beer Brew Co had been watching us for a while,” Ebbrell revealed. “A member of its team told the founders to reach out to us, and when we started speaking with James [Grundy] and Felix [James], we knew we had to do something – their energy, passion, their gumption to do something different and forge out the mid-strength beer category.”
According to Ebbrell, the promotion of such lower-ABV brews play a crucial role in “more balanced, conscious consumption”.
Partner Content
As for why Sorted Food and Small Beer Brew Co settled on a blanche style, Ebbrell revealed that it was primarily a result of timings: “We were speaking with Small Beer Brew Co towards the backend of last year about doing something to launch ready for Easter and spring, and we thought that blanche, which looks like golden hour in a glass, had a really nice vibe.”
Mid-strength beer is not some new-fangled drinks category though, it was a staple of the British diet for centuries, even for children.
“Small beer was historically popular because it was a combination of safe to drink and nutritionally complete – its calories meant it was part of the diet, which kept everyone working,” explained Ebbrell.
As the risk of disease from drinking water decreased and the sober attitudes of the modern day crept in, the small beer category got squeezed out of daily consumption.
Food pairings
While it is unlikely that small beer will return as an everyday fixture on the British table anytime soon, brewers such as Small Beer Brew Co might be able to capitalise on its gastronomic potential.
“We wanted something a little bit foodie. I would put blanche in the same bracket as an orange wine. It’s not for everyone, but it pairs so beautifully with food because it has a little bit more complexity, it just has something else to it,” said Ebbrell.
The brew was made using Hertfordshire wheat, Spanish orange peel and Sussex-grown coriander seeds.
“We had a bunch of our community down to the studio and we explored some food pairings,” Ebbrell shared. “Because of the orange peel and coriander seed in the brew, there are some dishes which already use those flavours, so think of a nice summer salad with burrata and an orange and coriander seed dressing. But those ingredients work really beautifully in marinades, or indeed adding a splash of the beer to it. We even pair it with dessert, like a pear or plum frangipane. The blanche beer nestles in next to that.”
“One suggestion which came from our community was jerk seasoning – that all spice note works really well with the orange and coriander seed,” he added.
As for how Sorted Food plans to continue its partnership with Small Beer Brew Co, Ebbrell revealed that there will be no announcement of another beer yet, but shared that there are still big plans for the blanche: “We certainly want to carry on working out what we can do with this beer first – the next batch is almost brewed. It’s going to go into keg and go to a lot of independent pubs across the country.”
Related news
Can wine compete with beer and baijiu in China?
Wine and whisky measures fall short in undercover investigation
