A Devon husband and wife team has started Britain’s first carbon negative brewery and distillery – making beer and rum which is vegan and as good for the planet as it is on your taste buds.
Gemma and Russ Wakeham launched Two Drifters Brewery and Distillery in Exeter at Easter 2019. From their base near Exeter Airport they produce drinks which allow consumers to make a difference to climate change.
“To the best of our knowledge, we are the world’s first carbon negative brewery and distillery,” said Gemma, head brewer.
“By this we mean we offset more than all the associated CO2 emissions we calculate to make our products, and not just from what we do here in our warehouse but all the way from the growing and shipping of the ingredients right through to the packaging and delivery.”
Until 2018 Russ was an organic chemist working on carbon capture. The couple, who had lived in Vancouver, Canada, decided to follow their dream and move back to Devon and make beer and rum.
“We have a firm idea to show the world what a small business can do to reduce its carbon emissions and to go further,” said
“We want to set an example to show everyone that its possible for any small business to make a difference, and do more.
“We have essentially created a carbon tax upon ourselves that is not passed on to consumers. In order to reduce our carbon ‘bill’ we run all our electric equipment on Zero Emissions energy and deliver locally using our electric van. We have an environmental policy published on our website.
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“This is why our products are vegan as well. We would have to remove a lot more CO2 if we used animal products in our drinks.”
But Gemma added: “We are not organic, though, as this is a cost we are, as yet, unable to pay for and not add onto the cost of our products.
“We hope to be one day though. However, we have factored in the pesticides and fertilisers though into our calculations and so we do offset the CO2 used to make them.
The couple describe their beers as having a “West Coast feel” gleaned from their time living in North America.
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“We also ferment and distil 100% molasses to make our super-smooth rums,” said Gemma.
Two Drifters is just one of seven, mostly new, micro breweries exhibiting at Plymouth’s first We Try Events Beer Festival on Saturday, September 21, at Devonport Guildhall, in Plymouth.
Only the famous Dartmoor Brewery, known for its Jail Ale and Dartmoor IPA is well established.
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Plymouth’s Anchor House Brewery is so new it doesn’t even have a home yet. The “gypsy” brewer makes beers in other brewing units’ space, allowing them to collaborate and take influence from others, while producing a style of their own.
Driftwood Spars Brewery, based in Cornwall, was set up in 2000 but has recently expanded with all beers being gluten free.
The award-winning brewery was a finalist in the Champion Beer of Britain tournament. The brewery only uses English hops.
Hunter’s Brewery, in Ipplepen, Devon, started in 2008, bottle conditioning its real ales to trap in the flavour.
Ridge and Furrow is a cider maker form Cullompton, in Devon, with its own “wildlife-friendly” orchard, thought to date from the 1890s. It has more than 30 West Country cider apple varieties which it uses to make its cider using “arrested fermentation”, which means no added sugar or water.
It was named supreme champion at the 2019 Devon County Show and landed the people’s choice honour at the 2018 British Cider Championships.
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Crediton’s Utopian Brewing is new and makes craft beer and lager in a plant powered by sustainable resources.
We Try Events Ltd is a new company too, set up by Plymouth-based business partners Allan Keeler and Pete Murphy.
The two ale-lovers said they set up the business because they were frustrated at a lack of events and that produce was not being showcased sufficiently.
“We decided to review beer on a blog, called We Try Beer, mainly to keep track of which ones we’d tried before,” said Pete. “From there, we realised that Devon and Cornwall are home to some amazing companies, and we thought we could help those companies by hosting events where they can promote themselves. Our aim is to run events with local partners, and really showcase how great the South West can be.
“We believe we are offering an alternative to what's already out there. We are trying to promote quality, and people who put love and support into their work.
“We wanted to start with an event that we thought we knew something about. We knew there were excellent local breweries about and felt confident we could showcase what they do.
“We have big plans to progress to other types of events, while maintaining our focus on the South West.”
The beer festival will also feature gin from Plymouth’s Barbican Botanics Gin Room and The Brewery Bible will be giving away some of the South West edition of its books.
Tickets available facilitated by Plymouth’s Helm Tickets, but also available on the door.
The £10 ticket price includes a half pint reusable plastic glass, event programme and first drink. Further drinks will be purchased using a token system, £2 per token, one token for a half pint and two for a spirit and mixer.