The refurbishment begins in a haze of dust and noise.
It's been a while, that's for sure. Moving forward we hope to get better at regularly updating everyone - we'll see how that goes!
And while we may have been quiet but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy…
Like all new ventures, the last eighteen months have been an exceptionally steep learning curve – but luckily an enjoyable one! That said, we are feeling very, very happy about the beer and we hope you guys are too. Our goal at the start of all this was to produce clean, easy drinking, sessionable beers and we think we’ve hit the nail on the head. Of course that doesn't mean our beers can't get even better. But given the wonderful feedback we've been getting along the way, we’ve decided it’s time to double down on this and put some extra care and investment in to the brewery.
Our plans are big, for us at least! Having got familiar with the space since moving here in early 2021, we have a much clearer idea now of how it can work best for us, the beer and you guys when you come up to the taproom.
We've had a complete clear out and redesign, helping reduce bottle-necks in our equipment, processes and space. Believe it or not, a critical part of this is the floor. It might not be the sexiest bit of a brewery but it really is important. Drainage, flooring finish - it all plays a role in how efficient and sustainable the process can be.
Our new (self-installed!) drainage channel is pretty much finished and our flooring guy is about to put the finishing touches with a 'fall' and a re-skimmed floor finish to allow water, beer, chemicals and yeast to flow freely out of the brew area. This will drastically reduce cleaning time and most importantly water usage, helping us continue to reduce our consumption footprint - an ethos that really is at our core.
Once the floor is complete, it’s time to put the brewery back together again.
Here we have three new conical fermentation tanks, more than doubling our ‘cold-side’ capacity, meaning we can brew more and also control the fermentations of these beers a little better, improving beer and reducing wastage.
We are currently on schedule to re-start brewing over the Christmas period (Tristan said he’s not a fan of taking a break at Xmas anyway). Fresh beer will be going out to all our usual haunts, plus hopefully a few more in the new year. Following these first brews for our local following we'll be getting beer in cans to spread far and wide. One thing that will change is the size of our cans. Following feedback from you guys, we have decided that it’s time to make the shift up to 440ml cans – more beer for everyone!
Finally, come Spring we will be reopening our new and improved taproom on a Saturday afternoon, which will hopefully be a little more cosy and even more welcoming than before.
We will keep you updated with how things are going and in the spirit of a more regular update schedule who knows, you may even get another instalment this side of Christmas!