Seven Bro7hers Brewing Co, originated and still brewing out of Salford Quays in Greater Manchester, teamed up with their neighbours down the road - cereal giant Kelloggs - to form a symbiotic relationship benefiting people that are fond of both craft beer and environmental sustainability. Starting in 2018, this partnership allowed for Kelloggs to dispose of all their discarded grains not fit enough to make it into the cereal box and lightening the load of the waste the cereal tycoon was producing, which in turn allowed for Seven Bro7hers to utilise these unused but otherwise unaffected grains in the brewing of three different beers for the brewery owned and operated by - as you might guess - seven actual brothers (fun fact, they also have 4 sisters who own a gin distillery called - have a guess - Sis4ers).
The beers created are a pale ale using Rice Krispies called Cast Off Pale Ale, an IPA made with Corn Flakes called Throw Away IPA, and a classic stout called Sling It Out Stout made with Coco Pops. According to their website, the cereal being used in the IPA is to replace some of the wheat grain that goes into the beer mix during the mashing stage while the cereal used in both the stout and the pale ale are to replace the malted barley. I managed to get my hands on all 3 of these (with great appreciation to Josh - one of the lovely people in the beer forum I frequent - who helped me out with the stout) and thought I would do a side-by-side-by-side of the lot to see how they each tasted overall and how well - if at all - they captured the cereal taste you might be expecting…
I went in order of ABV so poured myself a glass of the IPA first - weighing in at 5% ABV in a 440ml can. The issue I had for this beer, being the first of the bunch and with me already knowing what has been used for ingredients, I am not sure if I am being subconsciously led into what I can smell and taste, but it did have the sweet smell you would get when pouring a bowl of Corn Flakes. It also shares that same golden colour with a clear appearance that allows you to see straight through the glass. While I would describe it as exceptionally easy to drink, I am not sure if I would label it as an exceptionally unique beer - though it’s nice to have a beer that isn’t as complex and doesn’t require too much thought so that it makes for easy session drinking. It has the same mild, toasted sweetness towards the back of the sip that you would get lingering in a spoonful of the cereal. It’s thinner in mouthfeel and very light with maltiness that comes through. Throw Away IPA was hardly what I would brand an offensive tasting beer, it was more that its simplicity makes it perhaps more forgettable when compared to even some of Seven Bro7hers other beers. There was no detectable bitterness or juiciness and there were certainly no frills...but I don’t actually think that would be right for this beer. For me, this beer really represents the subtly sweet but simple breakfast many of us grew up enjoying. At the price point, if these were more easily accessible outside of ordering off their website directly, I think they would make a brilliant fridge filler because the flavour profile isn’t so specific, you can easily pair it with most foods nor would it cause you issue to drink for a longer period of time. In my opinion, it actually does quite well to represent what I imagine a corn flake beer should and could achieve.
Next up, with only .5% ABV difference for the same 440ml can, was the Pale. I actually half expected the IPA to be higher ABV, but they weren’t worlds apart in that regard. Though it was just as clear and golden in colour as the IPA, Cast Off Pale had more hoppy and floral notes in the aroma than the IPA. Even with only that 5% ABV difference mentioned, it smelled like double the depth of flavours. When actually taking a sip, it had more of a sharp quality to it with more bitterness coming through than expected from the scent. There was a bit more thickness to the mouthfeel compared with the IPA, but I definitely didn’t get any hint of Rice Krispies at all - just a fuller malt and barley taste (so it’s clearly done a great job of doing what I mentioned its purpose was at the beginning). Drinking this beer had the same filling heaviness you’d get from eating a bowl of cereal, but that is where the similarity ended. As with the IPA, there was nothing really unique or standout about this outside of how it was made in a sustainable way, but again I will say that I don’t think that is a bad thing as that is what also makes it the perfect fridge filler for effortless drinking. About halfway through, I noticed a bit of nuttiness had started to come through and I’m guessing that would be from the grains. While pleasant, it just wasn’t something I was expecting to appear halfway through (or perhaps it was there the whole time and I only noticed at that point). I don’t think it was as well-balanced as the IPA in terms of balancing the matly, sweet, and bitter tastes, but - again - it was hardly unbearable.
I ended, as I probably would’ve done regardless of ABV, on the stout (as stout feels like it should be a closer). As with the pale, it was also 5.5% ABV in the standard 440ml can. Looking like a normal, dark coloured stout, it did pour to look similarly like a flat diet coke that had lost some carbonation. This wasn’t too concerning though, as there are a lot of excellent stouts that pour this way. Sling It Out ended up being thinner in the mouthfeel than expected and I didn’t really detect and heavy chocolate taste nor any suggestion that cereal was used (which might also indicate that the cereal was used so effectively as a substitute that you wouldn’t notice the difference). There was a nice roastiness to it, but I would by lying if I didn’t say I was a bit disappointed to not be hit with more chocolate notes. To give it the benefit of doubt, I will add that perhaps trying it third in line was not beneficial to me getting the full flavour as intended and therefore, I am beyond willing to give it another chance, or perhaps it was one that my taste buds simply did not pick up. The weird thing about taste buds is that mine might be missing it entirely, but another person may get the chocolate very clearly and heavily (what I am saying is don’t let my opinion of it stop you from trying and finding out for yourself). While I won’t describe the 4th beer I had in too much detail - it was a Seven Bro7hers x Brewgooder collab for Brewgooder’s Global Gathering Campaign (another sustainable brew on the shelf for S.B.) - I did save a bit of the stout and a bit of the collab pale ale and did a bit of mixing. The results were surprisingly good and added a fair helping of complexity to the flavour. Never be afraid to at least try mixing a small sample of 2 beers together as you might end up with a tasty concoction.
If they sold these in a supermarket (dirty word I know) as that is where I get my last minute fridge fillers or beers for actual drinking sessions with friends, these would probably be in my regular rotation because of how crushable and fairly priced they each are. They are also ones that I would add as a tack-on order for fridge fillers if I was ordering from Seven Bro7hers directly as I have done a few times. I was initially under the impression before I actually tried them that they would be using the cereal and attempting to replicate that cereal experience through their beers, which was why I made a point at the time ot tasting to note how similar or different to the cereal each were, with missed expectations leading to slight disappointment in areas. But, upon doing my research for our Sustainability episode of A Woman’s Brew (podcast available on all big platforms and here on Youtube), I’ve realised that this actually isn’t the purpose. As highlighted at the beginning of this piece, it was more about utilising the cereal to replace grains in the process with the packaging being more of a fun gimmick than a representation of what the consumer should be expecting to get. For this, it certainly hit its mark and it’s impressive to see how seamless these substitutions are while looking at the bigger picture of how eco-friendly other breweries could be should they choose to follow this low waste model (some of which already do, which you can hear about on said podcast episode).
With all this in mind and based on my personal taste buds, I would have to rank from best to worst in the same order that I drank them - Throw Away IPA being first, followed by Cast Off Pale, and finishing with Sling It Out Stout (which I know has many fans itself that would disagree with my rankings). I strongly urge you to get all three and try them for yourself as they are readily available here on the Seven Bro7hers website under either their web shop or under their About Me section (click on Sustainability). Not only are you getting “gud4thepryce drops” or whatever you want to call them, you are also giving money to a family owned and operated business who are doing their part to help reduce food waste while making tasty beer in the process.**
**I want to make it clear that I was not approached nor provided beer for this at all. I had to seek them out myself and they were featured on our podcast strictly because we really enjoyed their sustainability initiative.