Our Roots

Bristol Hops Collective formally East Bristol Hops was formed in 2016 by four friends who had the idea to bring together a community of hop growers in Bristol who collectively would provide green hops to a local brewery for a uniquely Bristolian brew.
Within a few weeks of first talking about the idea and approaching a few breweries in the bristol area, the team managed to get (Dawkins Ales) on board and an enthusiastic community of growers soon followed. That September 7kg of fresh, green hops were harvested and were used to make the first edition of a beer dubbed Easton Promise, which we launched during Cask Ale Week.

old admins of east bristol hops
old party of east bristol hops

The association has gone from strength to strength since that first year as plants get more established, the number of contributors increases and the amount of harvested hops goes up. In our second year, the harvest was over 20 kilos - a significant milestone as it meant the 2017 beer contained only locally grown cones. Bringing together people with a passion for beer, small breweries and their community has been the chief goal of the association since its inception.

What was this first Beer?

The Beer was called Easton Promise – a name that was chosen in a competition held amongst our first wave of growers, who now number well over a hundred and are spread all over the Bristol area.

Easton Promise pump clips

The recipe is somewhat of a secret, as it changes year on year, but we Promise you it's good!

What we can tell you, at the time Dawkins Ales expertly crafted our hops into this fantastic beer, which is packed full of locally-grown wet Bullion, Fuggles, Primadonna (UK) hops, Cascade and the odd bit of Bramling Cross.
Its super-fresh, grassy, hoppy flavours are only possible because the hops are picked straight off the bine, capturing all the delicate volatile aromas from the natural hop oils.
What's the ABV?
The Average ABV was around 4.4%