A tasting party for a new beer brewed with hops produced by Bristol care home residents was held yesterday at the Wiper and True brewery.
Around 150 residents of St Monica Trust care homes across Bristol, many living with dementia, helped grow and harvest hops used in the project, according to Sean Davey, the charitable foundation’s head of innovation.
The Hoppiness Brews initiative was started to “combine gardening, brewing and shared memories to enrich lives, especially for people living with dementia,” said project founder Guy Manchester.
“The project empowers residents to take part in the full brewing journey, while fostering creativity, inclusion and promoting healthy ageing activities,” he said.
“For me,” said Caroline Drewell, a care home resident that took part in the project, “it was the joy of looking across the table and seeing residents from our villages and care homes busily picking hops together.
“It didn’t matter how many you picked or how fast, everyone was contributing and helping each other, with plenty of laughter and chatting.”
Though many of the residents recall growing and harvesting hops in their youths, Mr Davey says, they had “people in their 90s who have never done anything like this – and to hear them excited and giggly is a really emotional experience.”
This batch, branded Hundred Not Out is a best bitter style beer.
“A few people thought we’d lost our marbles and didn’t think we had a chance of actually creating a beer,” said Mr Manchester, who is also a horticultural therapist and activity leader at the Alive Activities charity. “But it’s been really popular… it’s really gone down well with everyone who’s tried it.”
When they harvested about 24 plants at the care homes, “we all sat around a table, had a little drink, have a sing-song, have a chat,” Mr Manchester said.
🍺Unveiling our resident-brewed centenary beer, Hundred Not Out! 🍺 In collaboration with @aliveactivities.bsky.social and Wiper and True, this beer marks 100 years of St Monica Trust and was brewed from hops grown and harvested by our residents. 👇 Read more: www.stmonicatrust.org.uk/our-expertis…
— St Monica Trust (@stmonicatrust.bsky.social) 20 October 2025 at 12:29
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Since this year saw dry conditions and hops “are a thirsty crop”, enthusiasts of the plant from around Bristol chipped in with their own personal yield to help the Hundred Not Out batch come to bear, said Mr Manchester.
The hops were immediately frozen so they could be extra fresh for brewing.
“It was a little bit new for us, we don’t usually make wet hop beers here, where you pick your hops fresh and use them really quickly,” said Wiper and True brewer James Russell, but they were very pleased with the results.
Afterwards the fermented hops were spread as fertiliser next year’s crop.
This is the second time Hoppiness Brews has run this initiative.
“We’d like to get to a stage where we’ve got enough hops to do more than one beer a year, so maybe we could have a range,” Mr Manchester added.
Ideally they’d like to produce a non-alcoholic beer because there are many residents who are on medications which do not allow them to drink. They hope to create a gluten-free beer as well.
Mr Manchester and Mr Davey both hope to eventually take the initiative to care homes across the nation.
