Organic BBQ on Saturday

Once again Birmingham Friends of the Earth will support the Anchor Inn’s annual Organic Beer Festival (23-27 July), which is now in its tenth year, by running an organic barbeque at the pub on Saturday 25^th July.

The Anchor, on Rea Street, Digbeth, made history ten years ago when it held the first organic beer festival in the UK and now the annual event is firmly established on the Midlands beer festival calendar.

The Birmingham Friends of the Earth’s annual barbecue has also become a tradition at the pub.

Organic meat and vegetarian burgers and sausages will be on offer in the pub’s beer garden at credit-crunch-busting prices supplied by Paul’s Soy Foods in Melton Mowbray and Rossiter’s Family Butchers in Selly Oak.

The issue of organic meat is more relevant than ever this year for Birmingham Friends of the Earth, who are putting pressure on local MPs to create planet-friendly farming through their “Fix the Food Chain” campaign. The campaign exposes the hidden chain stretching from intensive meat and dairy production in the UK to the forests of South America.

Organic beer?

If you look at the average pint of beer served up in the UK, it’s not so perfect. The hops used in the fermentation of beer are estimated to be sprayed up to 14 times each year with around 15 different pesticide products. In addition to this, countless additives are added to create the ‘perfect pint’, ensuring that it has a nice colour and flavour, a decent head and a profitable shelf life.

A big problem with this is that according to European legislation these additives, along with the other ingredients, do not need to be declared on the label unless the drink contains less 1.2% alcohol. Basically your pint has been chemically altered and you don’t know what you’re drinking. (1)

In contrast, organic beer is made in small batches from only organically grown barley, malt, wheat, hops, yeast and spring water. There are neither additives nor genetically-modified ingredients; everything grows as nature intended, giving a purer, more wholesome taste.

So please come and support us on the 25^th July for an organic barbeque and the beer festival will run from 23rd-27^th July http://www.anchorinndigbeth.co.uk/

(1) http://www.beerexpert.co.uk/organic-beer.html