Toast Hazy Pale Ale

Toast ale: It really is made from leftover bread

The Raise a Glass feature is published in several UK regional newspapers … I discover Toast ale made from leftover bread  and a couple of other eco friendly releases


Crumbs, this missive flies a sustainable flag.

I’m kicking off with a hazy pale ale made from leftover bread; swiftly followed by a couple of sips packaged in paper.

The aptly named Toast Hazy Pale Ale (£7, for a pack of four 330ml cans) is available exclusively at the Co-op.

The Co-op has collaborated with craft brewery Toast Ale to launch the Hazy Pale Ale, which is brewed with surplus bread from Co-op’s bakery suppliers.

The bread used was Farmhouse White, Farmhouse Wholemeal and White Toastie.

Toast Hazy Pale Ale
Toast Hazy Pale Ale

I’m told the brewers use fresh sandwich bread.

They do that because “there is so much readily available and the sugars are easily accessible for fermentation”.

Toast has partnered with a number of bakeries in the past (including Warburtons). 

Stuart Robson, Head Brewer at Toast Ale, said: ​​“In brewing this new beer, we were able to rescue over half a tonne of surplus bread, using it to replace malted barley.”

The beer is very refreshing, with notes of passionfruit, peach, mango, orange and lychee. 


Moving on, online wine merchant Laithwaites has launched its first wine packaged in a paper bottle, Redbrook Estate Bacchus 2021 (£18.99, or £14.99 in a mix of over 12 bottles).

The packaging is made from 94% recycled paper and there’s a recyclable plastic pouch inside. 

The bottle has a carbon footprint six times lower than glass.

If you enjoy sauvignon blanc, you’ll enjoy the bacchus grape. 

It has the same refreshing zing.

The grapes for this wine grow in Purleigh, Essex, in some of the oldest vineyards in East Anglia.

You’ll find flavours of zesty lime, vibrant grapefruit and elderflower.


Hot off the press, Greenall’s is soon to launch a gin in paper packaging.

Greenall’s Original London Dry Gin (RRP £15.50, 70cl) will be in paper bottle format, initially in Sainsbury’s, from October.

Which leads me on nicely to a summertime flurry of flavours with Greenall’s Tropical Fruit Flavoured Gin (£19.50 for a litre, which has launched exclusively in Tesco).

And here’s a suggestion on how to serve it, perhaps with friends, in the garden.

For a Greenall’s Tropical Fruit Punch, pour 350ml Greenall’s Tropical Fruits Gin in a pitcher, followed by 100ml lime juice and 150ml honey water (mix honey and hot water in equal parts). Then  take a good bunch of  mint leaves and slap the herbs to “wake them up”.

Next, add the mint to the pitcher, fill with lots of ice and top with soda.   


First published in UK regional newspapers:  See “About ” me


If you’d like to discover more about wine, you can study with Jane Clare of One Foot in the Grapes. Follow this link to find out more.

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