So in 2020 we had this madcap idea to start a microbrewery (I say ‘we’ but it was mostly my
husband).
Paul had been homebrewing on an increasingly fancy and expensive kit since we returned to the UK from California. He seemed pretty good at it, so why not give it a go? Truth be told we had no experience with the craft beer scene before 2010. I have always worked in healthcare and Paul was a video game programmer. It was Paul’s career that gave us the opportunity to move to California for 7 years.
I can blame California for our obsession with craft beer. We found ourselves living in a place called Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley. We soon discovered that our local pubs didn’t even sell the American macro beers known around the world. Every beer on tap would be from American and Mexican craft breweries. We experienced new lagers, pilsners, hoppy pales and IPA’s. It was so much more exciting to try different beers than the same standards at home.
Los Angeles was also home to lots of craft beer breweries with taprooms, usually in very cool spaces. It became our weekend event to visit new breweries. Once we returned to the UK it became our focus to search out breweries, bars and taprooms which were previously unknown to us. We were pleasantly surprised how much the scene had developed whilst we were away and we wanted to be part of it!
The search began for premises. The ideal was to find something in a pleasant setting close to our home in the beautiful seaside town of Lytham, Lancashire. It turned out that the ideal premises was planned to be built, it took a LOT longer than we hoped but we weren’t willing to compromise so we stuck it out.
The time waiting gave us a chance to hone our skills with lots of brewing, courses and research.
Then began the mad dash to get walls, floors, plumbing and electrics ready for the big install. Whilst all this was happening we also had to go through the multiple hurdles of planning and numerous licences (not a quick, easy or cheap process).
But here we are just a few months later. We are super happy with the beers we have made so far, and the feedback has been amazing. And some of those taprooms where we previously sat as customer and said ‘wouldn’t it be crazy to see our beers on tap here?!’ are now stocking our beer.
We have many more fantastic beers planned. We love classic pilsners, German Helles and Kolsch, modern pales, hoppy lagers and IPA’s. Our trips around the world have influenced our beers and we hope to bring some of that variety to our customers.
