Big Fruity Mixed Ferm Berlinner Weisse’s and Sour IPA’s from Cambridgeshire, UK.
Pastore (Pas-tor-ray) is a mixed-fermentation sour and wild brewery based in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. Pastore Brewing & Blending Pastore (pas-tor-ray) is ‘Shepherd’ in Italian.
As our original neighbours, we have known the lovely folk at Pastore for some time. And quite frankly what better neighbours to have than an adventurous mixed ferm brewery right on your doorstep.
They produce fresh and aged sour and wild craft beers. The Fresh Series looks at accessible, fun, modern takes on mix-ferm brewing, utilising Kveik and Lactobacillus co-fermentation in fruited Waterbeach Weisses, Sour IPAs and Pastry Sours. The Cellar Series is built around the house (mother) cultures and then blended with different bases to produce an exciting range of aged wild ales, some in stainless steel and some as part of an extensive barrel program and blendery.
The team Chris and Ben Shepherd (father and son) have been brewing together for years. Chris used to brew a popular cask Belgian Dubbel under the name Kilderkin Brewery in the mid 2000’s. Ben, grew up home-brewing with his father, building up a large mixed fermentation collection before heading to Heriot-Watt to complete a master’s in Brewing and writing a thesis on Brettanomyces fermentation.
Dan Wye joined the team in January 2021 as the new lead brewer, he brings with him a wealth of brewing experience and huge passion for all things mixed fermentation and foraging.
We have also worked with Pastore on craft beer collab projects, a great example of them working with the finest ingredients to produce spectacular beer. One such project was our Frederiksdal Stevnsbær Cherry project that saw several breweries work their magic on this desirable imported fruit.
Ben – Head Brewer & Owner of Pastore
‘We have made two different wild blends with the organic Stevnsbær cherries that Distant Lands brought over. One is a golden wild ale and the other is a dark wild ale. Both were aged for one year in Frederiksdal cherry wine barrels before resting on 250 g/l organic Stevnsbær cherries for one month ahead of bottle conditioning. The golden base is fermented with our mother culture of wild yeasts and microbes and gives a more delicate base beer, allowing for the cherries to shine through in their full-on punchy glory. The beer has taken on a deep vivid red hue and is an ode to the Stevnsbær cherry, rich & complex, with a backbone of acidity, dryness & funk. Overall working with these cherries has been a great experience, they provide an incredible flavour profile & colour to the beer when compared with other varieties we have used in the brewery and we hope to work with them again in the future.‘
Alongside Vault City they have led the way in modern sour beer in the last couple of years in the UK and with continued vigour have maintained a progressive yet approachable take on the category. Many of these beers are blended on fresh fruit in season with particular attention paid to locality and provenance.
Buy Pastore Beer from Distant Lands