The week in pictures

We revealed the shortlist for our Drink Business Awards 2020 this week.

And for the first time this year, we’re dedicating a special prize to those who went above and beyond to support the hospitality industry during months of lockdown, as well as industry leaders who’ve done their part to help frontline workers in the fight against coronavirus.

The winner of our Hospitality Hero award will be announced at The Drinks Business Awards 2020 next month, which we will bring you details of soon. Below are profiles of the 10 hospitality heroes on our shortlist.

In celebrity drinks, former Eternal band member Louise Rednapp has teamed up with Diageo to launch a competition based around its quintessentially British beverage, Pimms.

With social distancing measures in place around the UK, posh drinkers aren’t able to enjoy a glass of Pimms at the polo this summer, but consumers are being given a chance to win a pop-up experience for their own back garden.

The experience aims to provide everything you would expect from your trip to the Pimms bar at the Henley Regatta/Chestertons Polo in the Park/Wimbledon semi-finals (delete as appropriate), including the iconic Pimms truck, red and white deck chairs, and everything you need to make drinks for family and friends all afternoon.

Hopeful winners need to take a picture of their ideal “Pimms moment”, and post it to Instagram to be in with a chance. Entrants must follow @Pimmsgb on Instagram, tag @Pimmsgb and use #TheOriginalTasteOfSummer when posting their photograph, to win the brand new 2020 Pimm’s O’Clock pop up.

Cornwall-based Salcombe Gin has teamed up with two-Michelin starred chef and winner of The Great British Menu, Niall Keating to create what it claims is the world’s first gin distilled with kombucha.

Called Restless, the gin has been developed using Niall’s own blood orange kombucha made at his culinary residence, Whatley Manor.

It is the fifth limited-edition release in the award-winning Voyager Series, and features botanicals including Asian pears, Japanese salted plums, Chinese black dates, perilla leaves and Sencha Sakura tea.

Lin Liu MW, the first female Chinese MW, has released the first-ever en primeur report created especially for Chinese drinkers and collectors.

Liu created the first Chinese en primeur report for a few private buyers in Mainland China, who requested it since they were unable to attend this year’s en primeur tastings due to Covid-19.

A total of 20,000 copies have been printed via Wine Magazine (China) and the overall views through WeChat reportedly reached 12,000 over the first 24 hours. A full report with detailed tasting notes will be ready to purchase via WeChat soon.

In alliteration, AB InBev’s beer brand Busch has brewed a pork bone broth for pups.

Busch Dog Brew, which is certified as safe for dogs by The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), is available to buy on the brand’s website with an RRP of $9.99 per pack of four.

Earlier this year, Busch launched a “Foster a Dog” program during lockdown to help homeless dogs find new owners. The brand has said it will donate $1 from every case of Dog Brew sold to animal charity Best Friends Animal Society.

Whisky distillery The GlenDronach as launched a new expression to mark the release of The Kings Man this year.

The GlenDronach Kingsman Edition 1989 was crafted by master blender Dr Rachel Barrie, who worked with Kingsman franchise director Matthew Vaughn to select the best blend from six Olorosso and Pedro Ximenez casks, filled in 1989.

The bottle, which was released on 24 August, has an RRP of £775.

This is the second release in the Brown-Forman-owned distillery’s collaboration with MARV films and Disney, following the successful release of The GlenDronach Kingsman Edition 1991 Vintage in 2017, to mark Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

(Photo: WaterAid/Signus/Edson Artur)

Heineken’s charity arm The Heineken Africa Foundation. is donating more than £1 million (€1.2 million) to WaterAid to support Covid-19 emergency response initiatives in Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, and Mozambique.

The work will provide handwashing facilities in busy public spaces as well as water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in isolation centres, schools, and healthcare centres.

The National Trust for Scotland and Speyside distiller The Glenlivet have teamed up on an archaeological and research project to uncover more about the history of illicit distilling.

The distillery and the conservation organisation are aiming to shed light on Scotland’s historic illegal whisky trade, an important part of the country’s culture, which they say affected the nature of trade, immigration and even family dynamics.

The project, called Pioneering Spirit, will start with a series of archaeological digs on The Glenlivet site as well as at a number of National Trust for Scotland locations.

The aim is to uncover illicit stills and bothies that were used to smuggle Scotch around the country in the early 1800s.

The National Trust for Scotland estimates that there are 30 stills at its sites, from Torridon and Kintal in the northern Highlands to Grey Mare’s Tail near Moffat in the south of the country.

London brewer Beavertown has officially launched its new upscaled brewery called Beaverworld, which will allow it to increase production tenfold.

The brewer has officially opened its new 129,000sqft facility in Enfield, covering an area of six acres on the site of a former Ediswan factory.

The brewer said the move will create up to 150 new jobs in the area and allow it to produce 90 million pints every year, 10 times more than its previous capacity.

ICYMI:
1) @AldiUK made a fake @BrewDog PUNK IPA🤘
2) BrewDog joked we would make a fake ALDI beer 🍻
3) People loved it 😍
4) ALDI got in touch to list the fake ALDI beer 🤝
5) BrewDog & ALDI agreed for every case sold they would each plant one extra tree in the BrewDog Forest 🌳 pic.twitter.com/hQaN42sN4d

— James Watt (@BrewDogJames) August 27, 2020

And in more beer news, Brewdog and Aldi’s design teams have been seemingly ripping off each others’ branding this week.

Brewdog founder James Watt has released details of a new “Ald IPA” after someone pointed out the supermarket had created a beer of its own bearing a striking resemblance to the brewer’s flagship Punk IPA.

Called “Anti-Establishment IPA”, Aldi’s beer caught the attention of the craft brewery boss when a shopper Tweeted about it, claiming the beer’s blue can was “legendary”.

Quick off the mark, Watt came back hours later with a mock-up for a “Yaldi IPA” beer can.

He later dropped the “Y”, after someone pointed out a smaller independent brewer already makes a beer called Yaldi.

To make things even more Meta, Aldi’s buying team now want to stock Brewdog’s Aldi IPA.