AN alcohol-free beer has been created to mark the Bradford district's bid to become UK City of Culture in 2025.
Brewed to celebrate Bradford’s campaign to win the hotly-contested title, the mango and cardamon kulfi alcohol-free pale ale has been developed by Northern Monk in collaboration with Bradford-based chef Sonia Sandhu and graphic artist Ben Holden.
Russell Bisset, founder of Northern Monk said: “This beer is a love letter to the unique food culture of Bradford – the habits, rituals, creativity, and sensory experiences that we share as a district.
"Northern Monk was born in a basement in Bradford and the district will always be part of our story. We’re thrilled to be able to show our support by creating a beer which offers a real flavour of Bradford.”
🌆 BRADFORD CITY OF CULTURE 🌆
— Northern Monk Brewery (@NMBCo) March 16, 2022
To celebrate the @bradford2025 city of culture bid we’ve brought together a team of epic Bradfordians @bjthebear and @hungry_sonia to create this beery love letter to the creatives and culture of city: Something for Bradford and of Bradford. pic.twitter.com/U78vbJvyKQ
Chef and food entrepreneur Sonia Sandhu worked with the brewery and Bradford 2025 team to identify flavour profiles that would represent Bradford.
Flavours synonymous with the traditional Bengali Ras Malai, a popular sweet delicacy - cardamon, rose water, saffron or pistachio – were the starting point, but it was the taste of mango kulfi that won out.
Sonia Sandhu said “Noticing the vans parked up selling boxes of honey mangoes every June has become a signifier for summer in Bradford.
"It's a really popular fruit here, and it’s the national fruit and tree of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh so something that is familiar to many locals. The ale being alcohol-free is also incredibly important and makes it much more accessible to more people across the district.”
The beer is the most recent in Northern Monk’s popular Patrons Project series, an initiative set up to foster collaboration, creativity and community between artists, athletes and creatives across the North.
Each Patron project beer can features a design from a local artist, with the Bradford 2025 can by Saltaire-based artist, designer, printmaker and musician Ben Holden.
A decision is imminent on whether Bradford has made the list of shortlisted places through to the final stage of the UK City of Culture 2025 competition.
The winner will be announced in May 2022.
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