The latter is crucial to Hannah, as the idea behind Hiver was largely inspired by the community feel she discovered with beekeeping. ‘They’re such a part of the local community and that was a real surprise to me when I first got into beekeeping… I think that’s something you lose sight of in London, you don’t know your neighbours, don’t know who lives across the road, it’s very anonymous, and there’s something about the local beekeeping scene that taps into the local community and brings people together’. This pride and passion is equally important in the resulting honey, ‘to have honey that’s from literally two streets down, and the bees have been feeding on the trees that are outside of your flat, that’s something quite incredible’.

This in turn creates a unique flavour profile in every honey, which Hannah uses to add ‘unique flavours and aromas’ to the beers. ‘The joy of good quality honey is that you know the floral sources that the bees have been feeding on so, in London perhaps, it’s lime trees and acacia trees – the Victorians lined all the streets with lime trees in the urban areas, so that’s a really big source of food for bees in the city.’ This locality is key; ‘Bees feed in a three mile radius to the beehive, so the local floral sources directly impact the taste and flavour of the honey that you’re drawing from that hive. You’ve got a natural sugar that’s got taste, flavour and aroma that’s very distinctive from one to the next.’ She says of London honey in particular, the flavour profile is ‘light, citrusy, elderflower and menthol notes on the nose’, and due to this unique flavour, has won awards all over the world and is highly regarded by chefs, bakers, mixologists and enthusiasts.

To preserve this, Hiver’s brewing uses only raw, unpasteurised honey as an ingredient in the fermentation process. ‘Trying raw honey for the first time is quite incredible, so much richer, so much more flavoursome’ Hannah claims. Pasteurisation is used to preserve the ingredient in a germ-free state for a long time, but honey naturally doesn’t ferment or go off so doesn’t benefit from pasteurisation, and the heat needed for this can kill off some of that distinct flavour and aroma. ‘Fermenting [the beer] with honey makes the yeast more active, and the fermentation is more consistent across the cereal base as the honey is eaten up by the yeasts and converted to alcohol with a depth of flavour and aroma that you wouldn’t have otherwise, it gives a very 3D flavour profile [to the beer]’. This seems to be proving popular, and the final beer is very dry without the bitter hoppy taste of some beers, and is therefore interesting to chefs and sommeliers as a match for foods. ‘The Blonde is great with sheeps’ cheeses, so manchego and pecorino – pecorino in particular, as it’s quite a salty cheese, and the honey notes accentuate the savoury of the cheese… also spicy bbq food, as the honey is quite good at quenching the heat’.

This versatile taste seems to appeal to a wide audience, which has helped grow the profile of Hiver, but Hannah says she’s still ‘surprised how interested people were, and how loyal they became to the brand’. A lot of this must return to the ethos behind Hiver, with support for both London beekeepers, such as Bee Urban London, London Honey Company in Bermondsey and the London Beekeepers Association, (there’s even a hive on the roof of the National Theatre on the South Bank), as well as rural projects with Yorkshire heather honey and Warwickshire blossom honey.

Hannah also thinks though, that ‘the public do have a real affection for bees as well, which is something we found in the early days when we were first trialling Hiver, if you talked about bees, people had quite a heartwarming story regarding bees, while they’re quite dismissive of wasps...’ It all boils down to the British love of the humble bumble bee (and of beer, of course).