The couple are not shy about their mutual passion for beer, they even admit it sometimes borders on obsession. After taking a tour of the Liberation brewery, Ben, a building manager, taught himself how to brew and set up a mini-brewery in the couple’s kitchen. Ben’s love for beer soon rubbed off on Leah, a landscape architect, and she herself started brewing her own beers.
For the past decade, Ben and Leah have been perfecting their recipes, some of them quite surprisingly include Snickers and Bounty bars, tropical fruit and even oysters. “If it’s out there we will give it a go,” explains Leah. Ben adds: “There is not much you can’t put in beer, whether it’s lobsters, honey or seaweed. Even spices or chillies. It’s just flavours that you add in and that you balance out. You add them at different stages and they transform the beer.”
Pictured: Leah and Ben Bliss have been brewing at home for the past ten years.
After 10 years of home brewing, the couple are however ready for their hobby to become more professional. Leah says: “You make beer to share with people and we are ready to share it with more people.” The couple have partnered up with Marcus Calvani and Josh Band at JB’s to make their brewery dreams come true.
Bliss Brew Co. will aptly be based inside JB’s, Jersey’s first and only craft beer bar but before it can get up and running, Leah and Ben are appealing to islanders’ generosity. They have set up a crowdfunding page to raise £100,000 that will help them buy kegs, ingredients and even a labelling line making Bliss Brewing Co. the first ever crowdfunding company in the Channel Islands.
Pictured: Leah and Ben Bliss are aiming to raise £100,000.
“There’s a whole lot of equipment involved in making the perfect beer,” the couple wrote on their crowdfunding page. “We’ve invested what we can over the past 10 years, but, to get this baby off the ground we want to give crowdfunding a shot to make our supporters integral to the journey. We’ve compiled a list of rewards tailored to both the individual consumer and also the corporate market. For those that can help, expect a whole lot of love in return.”
In exchange for their donations, the “utter plegends” will receive tee-shirts, snapbacks, credit to spend on Bliss beer and merchandise or the opportunity to create their own beer. They will also be able to decide which beer will first be brewed. It is all between, Mrs Bliss, a double IPA which Leah describes as “an alcoholic fruit juice,” and Mr Bliss, a brew of German Malts and British and American hops that will go well with food and cheese.
If you are still not convinced to donate, Leah and Ben have one more argument: once Bliss Brew Co. is up and running, customers will be able to suggest new brews. Leah says: “We are really keen to make it driven by the public. We want them to be steering what we do. Which is also why we turned to a crowdfunding campaign, we want people to have a sense of ownership and to choose which way we go.”
The couple hope that by doing so they will be able to convince people to “re-imagine beer.” They especially want to fight the “preconception” that beer always has to be a bitter ale or a lager. Ben says: “There is a beer for everyone. I actually like it when someone says that they don’t like it. It’s a massive challenge. I have converted some people already, including Marcus Calvani’s wife.”
Leah adds: “I would like to see more women enjoy beer as well. People usually think it is more of a male market. We want people to savour beer instead of downing 10 pints. We recently visited Belgium and saw people drink small amounts with family and children around. It is almost as if they drink beer instead of coffee. People in Europe drink to savour and they do not stagger home. We would like to elevate beer in that way and make people realise how much love goes into making it.”