no. 033 | Simple Things Fermentation

batch no. 033 sees a long overdue return to Scotland as we introduce Simple Things Fermentation, founded by Philip Sisson in the city of Glasgow.

“We sold our first beers in December 2019”, Simple Things Fermentation founder Philip Sisson explains as he brings us up to speed on their journey to-date. “I came to beer through home brewing in London, but when I moved up to Glasgow I started taking it more seriously and was accepted onto the Brewing & Distilling Masters at Heriot Watt. It was around the same time that I won a Thornbridge home brew competition that saw my beer listed in Waitrose stores nationwide. This wasn’t necessarily an a-ha moment, as I’d already set my sights on brewing full time, but it did feel like fate telling me I was on the right path!”.

And it’s one that Philip has continued to travel on ever since. Much like their name suggests, STF like to keep things simple, reflected not just in their approach to brewing but in the structure of their business. Initially covering every facet of the brewery on his own, there came a point around 12 months in when Sisson realised he couldn’t straddle both brewing and running its day-to-day operations single handedly. That led to team mate Ewan joining him, and to this day the duo split the load between them.

Together they focus on creating beer that allows the core ingredients to shine. “I know it sounds like a lazy marketing trope”, caveats Philip, “but I’m a big believer in using the very best ingredients available. The difference in cost is marginal really and it makes a huge impact on the flavour”. Another big factor on flavour is the quality of Scottish water they have available to them — literally on tap. “Honestly, it’s nothing more than a happy accident, but the water here in Glasgow is very low in minerals and super-soft”, he explains. Fewer dissolved solids effectively mean the water is able to extract more from each beer’s ingredients during the brewing process, making for more vivid and intense flavours. Another element in the brewing process that is important to Philip and Ewan is natural carbonation, which comes about from natural re-fermentation. “I strongly believe it’s the best way to produce beer and it’s central to our signature flavour”.

Despite feeling like a recent memory, the reality is that 2019 was half a decade ago, and Philip is focused on continuing to increase STF’s impact on the craft beer scene across the UK. “We’re looking to get into more pubs and bars. Because we came up through lockdown we’ve always been very much small pack focussed - first bottles and then cans, with kegs and casks an afterthought really. Now we’re seeing strong demand from the on-trade, so we need to scale up and make that a bigger part of the business”.

While exploring beer styles and ingredients that are under-represented in the craft world, STF also brew what Philip calls “more mainstream stuff” too. We do hazy, hoppy beers now but we deliberately avoided them for quite a while. It was three years before we brewed with Citra!”. Even these are executed in their own unique style, keeping on the slightly dryer and more bitter side. We hope you enjoy this month’s selections, and we’ll try not to leave it so long until our next Scottish showcase.