Rise Up
Toast Ale

Anytime a brewer (or anyone) tries to change the discussion, there are a bevy of caveats about the line of experimentation. Here are a few with this beer.

1) I was tempted to add this as a Kvass, a style leftover from the 19th Century when we didn't have enough money and had to make beer from leftover bread. But UnTappd styled this as a Helles along with the nano. So out-voted, I went with the majority to keep the peace.

2) Toast Brewing is just figuring it out. They had four contract brewers listed in 2017 and no more listed on BA... although I'm sure there have been more. While that may have been done to facilitate launches in more countries and prompt a sustainable movement, it also gives the impression that Toast is still figuring it out.

3) Good Guy brewing -- of which using existing bread is one such sustainable method -- is not going to taste as good as what we aficionados are used to for the last three decades.

That said, I could get used to this Helles. It still has character, albeit on the thin side. So I give average ratings on Feel and slightly above average on the rest. As for the higher Overall Hugs, that's for trying to figure it out.

4/29/25. Six months later, I have this again (same source, The Good Hotel in London.) It seems much improved. This time on the sweet side and could use more hops. But still within the range of the softer, sweeter Helles style; despite the mixed bill that includes wheat and maybe even rye from the Toast's experiments in brewing from unused bread. All said, slight edits above and the only rating change is the Overall because Toast is figuring it out.