Celebrating Welsh food and drink

40 @specialityfood BEER Magic Dragon Brewing RICHARD LEVER There is a rich heritage of brewing beer in theWrexhamarea, and when Richard and Liz Lever took over an established brewery located in the Dee Valley in 2017 they were passionate about themagic of creating small-batch beer usingWelsh water. There are three beers in the range: Eyton Gold, an award-winning golden session ale; Obsidian, aWelsh stout; and Green One, a single hopped Citra IPA, offering beer lovers a taste of Wales through traditional techniques andmodern ingredients. This passion for creating great Welsh beer is shared with fellow beer lovers through brewery tours, where visitors learn about the brewing process and the business’s story, meet the brewer events at local pubs and at beer festivals. Richard and Liz are also keen to work as sustainably as possible; the waste grain from the brewing process is dug out by hand and goes to a local pig farmer to use as animal feed, their grain bags are recycled and they createminimal waste as everything is recycled, plus their electricity comes froma green supplier. magicdragonbrewing.com GreyTrees Brewing RAY KERSLAKE-DAVIES In 2013 Grey Trees was officially established as amicro brewery by husband and wife teamRay and Tracey, breathing new life into an old industrial unit in Aberdare. Ray has a huge passion for brewing and his creativity has produced many award-winning brews which combine traditional methods with amodern twist and utilise a local Welsh water source. The name, Grey Trees, comes from the English translation of the village where the first brewwas made in Llwydcoed in Aberdare, SouthWales. Although Grey Trees’ location has changed, everything involved inmaking the very best crafted ales stayed the same, even the local freshWelsh water source. Fromday one, Ray and Tracey have ensured each brew is given the dedicated time and passion it deserves, and their consistent and thorough approach allows them to continue producing high quality, award-winning beers. The business receives a lot of support from their caring community and continues to thrive each day. greytreesbrewery.com