How Tap Social Movement Is Changing Lives Through Beer

In this episode Martin speaks to Ben Addison, Head Brewer at Tap Social Movement in Oxford, about brewing beer with a purpose. Ben shares his journey into brewing, from starting at Purity Brewing and working on large automated brewery systems to joining Tap Social and developing his skills on a hands-on manual brew kit. He also explains how hop dipping works and how the technique can create smoother, more rounded hop aromas. The conversation explores what defines a Tap Social beer: high quality, experimental when appropriate, but ultimately welcoming and accessible to as many drinkers as possible. Ben discusses the brewery’s growth, supplying supermarkets such as Waitrose, increasing can production and the challenges of consistency, shelf life and cold storage. At the heart of the episode is Tap Social Movement’s social enterprise mission. Ben explains how the brewery provides paid employment, training and progression opportunities for people who have been through, or are currently going through, the prison system. He shares how people can build confidence, learn new skills and move into brewing, sales, hospitality or their own business ventures. Tap Social Links Website: https://www.tapsocialmovement.com/Insta: https://www.instagram.com/tapsocialmovement/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapsocialmovement CHAPTERS 00:00 - 02:42 Introduction: Meet Ben Addison, Head Brewer at Tap Social Movement02:43 - 04:37 How Ben first got into brewing04:38 - 07:38 Discovering hop dipping and how the process works07:39 - 09:49 Why Ben joined Tap Social Movement09:50 - 12:32 What defines a Tap Social beer?12:33 - 16:00 How brewing on a manual system changed Ben’s approach16:01 - 19:26 Supplying Waitrose and scaling up can production19:27 - 22:16 Supermarket beer: consistency, shelf life and cold storage22:17 - 26:09 How Tap Social Movement’s social enterprise mission works26:10 - 29:28 Building confidence and careers through employment29:29 - 33:47 How buying Tap Social beer supports people rebuilding their lives33:48 - 36:35 Why brewing is about more than making beer36:36 Why people should visit Tap Social Movement Check out all episodes https://www.beerrepchats.com/See more at beerrepchats.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.