A pie-oneering pale ale that’s a crust above the rest

Pieminister and Tapestry Brewery are collaborating with Bristol Going for Gold sponsor GENeco to create a carbon neutral beer using pie pastry off-cuts. Pie-oneer will be available at Pieminister’s Stokes Croft and Broad Quay restaurants in Bristol from Friday 7 January. We hear from Jon Simon, Founder and Managing Director at Pieminster, about this exciting collaboration.

A limited edition Pale Ale called Pie-oneer has been created by the team at Tapestry Brewery in South Bristol using pie crust trimmings from our Pieminister pies. The idea to brew using unavoidable waste came from GENeco who have been turning Bristol’s waste products into everyday resources for over a decade. By pushing the boundaries in terms of the end product, in this case beer, GENeco hopes to redefine what people class as waste. For Pieminister and Tapestry, getting involved with this experiment was a natural step as both our Bristol businesses continually explore new ways to raise the bar in terms of sustainability. 

GENeco have helped to remove the carbon associated with beer production by using renewable energy produced by recycling inedible food waste at their Bristol Bioresources and Energy Park. The beer was transported to Pieminister’s Bristol restaurants via their zero emission fleet.

Pie-oneer will be available at Pieminister’s Stokes Croft and Broad Quay restaurants from Friday 7 January. 10p from every can sold will go to Bristol-based charity Props, which supports adults with learning difficulties to achieve their full potential. 

Brewed using British hops and Pieminister’s signature plant-based pastry using water-efficient methods (Tapestry recycles and reuses water within the brewery) Pie-oneer is 100% vegan and unfiltered and unfined, with a naturally hazy appearance. A light and refreshing beer with subtle undertones of golden, crisp pastry, and I think, the perfect pairing for a Pieminister pie.

GENeco’s Bio-Bee has been collecting unavoidable food waste from Pieminister’s Bristol Kitchens for more than five years for their anaerobic digestion plant nearby. Here it’s used to produce renewable energy, sustainable transport fuel and other useful resources. As Richard McCluskey, Head of Waste & Resources at GENeco says, “Pie-oneer is all about showcasing waste as a resource in a fun and innovative way whilst raising awareness of food waste. More than anything, it represents the collaboration we believe is required between businesses and organisations with shared sustainability values to reduce their impact on the environment and help achieve net zero climate goals”.

This collaboration is one of many small steps Pieminister is taking to be a truly sustainable food business – find out more about the waste-based targets we have set ourselves to hit by 2025, as laid out in our Pies, Planet, People goals.

By setting the wheels in motion now, together we can transform the future of food in our city, building in resilience over the next decade. So, what change do you want to see happen that will transform food in Bristol by 2030? Do you already have an idea for how Bristol can make this happen? Join the conversation now.