A Congleton brewery has reported a fourfold increase in output following the opening of its new taproom for the community.
Beartown Brewery, on Spindle Street, has welcomed visitors to The Den – where the brewing process is now showcased. The premises has been transformed and now has a larger brewhouse, which means three million pints can be produced a year, up from one million.
Mike Manning, who took over the brewery with his brother Joe in 2017, explained what it meant for the Beartown Brewery.
“We’ve never done anything like this before, so we’re really enjoying it – we get to experiment with our beers now because of the new equipment,” he said.
“Our head brewer has been itching for years to make these new trendy beers, but with the old system we weren’t able to.
“It just helps us keep up with the mainstream trend and our output has gone up fourfold, so we’re dead happy with it.”
He added: “We were shut for four to five months, but now that we’ve got everything in-house, we’re loving it – and brewing onsite means the beer is fresher.”
As part of a new project the brewhouse will release a time-limited new beer each month for the next year. They include quirky flavours with even quirkier back stories.
November’s beer, How Much Concrete, referenced the number of attempts it took for the base layer of the new premises to be laid, while last month’s Inception was so popular that it will be around for longer than originally planned.
The new-look brewery has given the company more freedom and the chance to expand into brewing Indian Pale Ales, which have become a top seller in the brewing industry.
Ollie Dodwell, the bar manager, said he was excited about the prospect of the community’s new “hub”.
He said: “We held a launch party earlier this month and it went really well, everyone enjoyed themselves.
“It’s been good getting started and it’s nice that everything is locally sourced, including the people we’ve worked with.
“It’s a hub for the community and we hope lots of people, and their dogs, will come in and use the space – we’ve already got a number of groups that are enquiring about hosting events.”
For more information visit beartownbrewery.co.uk.
