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Bristol success at BBC Food & Farming Awards 2017
The BBC Food & Farming Awards 2017 took place at Bristol City Hall on Wednesday evening and there was local success among the national celebrations.
The best drinks producer in the UK was won by Wild Beer (pictured above) who according to category judge Jane Peyton are “the most elegant and visionary beer brewer in the world”.
Wild Beer was founded in 2012 by Andrew Cooper and Brett Ellis, who met while working at Bristol Beer Factory.
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Their brewery in Somerset now produces 50,000 litres per week with a new brewery being built on the Bath & West Showground which will have a shop as well as a bar and restaurant attached.
Bristol beer fans already know all about Wild Beer thanks to their bar in Wapping Wharf, with the outside space swiftly becoming one of the most sought-after spots in the city this summer.
If you’re unacquainted with Wild Beer, a good starting point is the 4% pale ale Pogo, with flavours of orange, passion fruit and guava; 6% pineapple sour beer Tepache with a recipe taking its inspiration from Mexico and made from spontaneously fermented pineapple as well as star anise, masa canina, cinnamon and demerara; and the 8.5% raspberry imperial stout Jambo.
Wild Beer have also recently branched out into making gins in collaboration with St Michael’s Hill micro-distillery Psychopomp. Sleeping Lemons was directly inspired by their sleeping Lemons beer and the flavour of the preserved lemons that are added to it.
Also winning on Wednesday when she was named the BBC West food hero was Kalpna Woolf, the founder of 91 Ways.
91 Ways events “use the uniting power of food, to bridge the gaps between Bristol’s 91 language communities, in order to build a more united and sustainable city”.
Those attending have been able to share their stories, personal food journeys, recipes, and passions to build understanding between communities across the city.
For more than 20 years, Kalpna worked in television production for the BBC, rising to head of production. As well as organising 91 Ways, she is chair of trustees for Frank Water, a visiting professor at UWE and a trustee for Knowle West Media Centre. In November, she will be one of the speakers at TEDx Bristol.
Kalpna Woolf – the founder of 91 Ways
And Totterdown-based Sustainable Food Trust chief executive Patrick Holden was presented with the Derek Cooper Outstanding Achievement Award.
“I don’t feel as though any of the work is personal,” Patrick said. “It’s a calling to transform the food system.”
The Sustainable Food Trust was founded by Patrick in 2011 in response to the worsening human and environmental crises that are associated with the vast majority of today’s food and farming systems.
Read more: Starter For 10: Kalpna Woolf
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