2011 was a great year for The Backyard Brewhouse. Our production for 2011 against 2010 was up 35%.  A fantastic result against the current economic climate, and a trend we have maintained for the last 3 years. This increase can, we believe, be put down in no small part to the consistent high quality of our beers and, in equal measure, to the fact that we were joined by Tom Buckland to become our Sales Accounts manager.  With over 30 years of experience in the trade he has proven to be a valued addition to the team.

It was also good for us from a competition perspective, picking up 3 major awards throughout the year.  Starting back in March where we picked up National champion, bitters and pale ales at the Society of independent Brewers (SIBA) National Final for our acclaimed Hoard bitter.  Then in October, at the SIBA Midlands beer competition, held at the annual Nottingham beer festival, we proudly came away with Bronze in Premium Strong Ales for our ever popular East India IPA and, Gold in Speciality beers for our ginger infused ‘Gold’ bitter.

To enable us to capitalise and build on our successes of 2011, 2012 is going to see us undertaking a major expansion program.  An investment totalling almost £200,000 will see the brewery grow from 1400ft² to 2500ft² with our existing 5 barrel plant being replaced with a brand new 12 barrel brew house allowing us to produce 50 barrels, (14,500 pints) a week.  An increase of 320% on present capacity.  In addition to the new brew house, our premises will see a major transformation with the construction of new cold storage to meet the demands of the increased capacity, new offices and staff facilities and the building of a analytical laboratory; An addition which is almost unique amongst breweries of this size.

This investment in premises and equipment will enable us to meet the ever growing demand for our beers both locally and further afield.  The additional capacity will allow us to secure contracts with such chains as Punch Taverns, Wetherspoons and Ember Inns, as well as increasing our relationships with wholesale distributors both local and national.

Our Goals for the coming year are three fold:

1. To  raise production by 250% which will allow us to increase the team from three to five
2. To open our first pub.  The hunt for the right one is well under way
3. To enjoy making beer even more than we have done in the last 3 years

We would like to thank all those who have helped and supported us over the past 3 years, and hope that you all will join us for the ride through 2012 which should prove to be a very exciting journey

Castle Rock, the Nottingham based brewer and regional pub operator, has announced the retirement of its founder and principal shareholder, Chris Holmes. Colin Wilde, the firm’s current commercial director, takes the post of managing director, and director, Geoff Newton, becomes non executive chairman. Chris Holmes retains a place on the board alongside the existing operations director Steve Bramley who will take on an extended role.

Chris Holmes says he is sad to relinquish his two directly operational positions; but insists he will retain a close interest in the day by day running and longer term strategies of the business he set up as Tynemill Limited in Newark, Notts, 35 years ago. “I’m at the age when it’s best to let the younger bloods have the control they clearly deserve. In his 17 years with the firm Colin has played a major part in our growth from a minor player to an award winning and nationally recognised brewer. Much of our recent success in broadening our customer base, in winning national beer awards, and in the opening of our new brewery are down to him and his colleagues. I wish him well and have every confidence that Castle Rock Brewery has a bright and interesting future.”

In a separate move, Vicki Saxby has been appointed to the new post of administration and finance director. Previously she had been administration and finance manager for Castle Rock Brewery and its 20 pubs across the midlands and Yorkshire for six years. She joined the company in 1999 while studying at the University of Nottingham.

Colin Wilde says he plans to continue the progress the brewery has made in his ten years as commercial director. “Castle Rock is a great business with great people, knowledgeable customers, and an honourable and ethical approach to business. I’m proud to have been part of our success to date and I am confident we’ll retain the freshness of ideas and energy to thrive in these turbulent economic times.”

Paul Carruthers visits Thornbridge’s Hall Brewery to plan for the brewing of Frank As Apollo

In September 2011 Thornbridge Brewery, Nicholson’s Pubs and BrewUK launched a quest to find the best home brewed beer in the UK.

Over 120 entries were submitted for the competition and after judging by some of the UK’s leading beer experts Paul Carruthers’ “Frank As Apollo” 4.6% Premium Bitter was judged a worthy winner for brewing at Thornbridge and being available nationally through Nicholsons pubs.

A delighted Paul says he was “well aware of the high standard of homebrewed beer and so  was completely overwhelmed at winning”. He started brewing just over three years ago. Before that he says he only drank premium lager and thought he would try and brew some beer like that at home. “My  first kit brew was foul” says Paul “but gave me the incentive to find out more, so I joined an online forum and discovered “all grain” brewing which fascinated me. The combination of art and science involved pushes all of my buttons, and when the result is beer, there is no downside. It’s alchemy! I built a brewery from an old copper water tank that we had removed from the bathroom. I sawed it in half to make a boiler and mash tun, and I was off. Since then I’ve had a bash at a lot of beer styles, but there’s still an enormous amount left to learn”.

Simon Webster, Thornbridge’s Director of Operation, explains the background to the competition  “Craft brewing  has had a resurgence across the world during the past few years and is having a fantastic influence on the brewing industry in the UK. Many of the beers brewed in today’s new wave of breweries are brewed by professionally qualified brewers, others brewed by those that have developed skills through brewing at home. “A considerable number of home brewers develop great quality beers that can never be appreciated by a larger drinking public the Challenge provided  them with an opportunity to match their beers against those of other enthusiasts, and have them tasted by a panel of expert beer judges”.

Paul agrees “I’m well aware of the high standard of homebrewed beer and so I was completely overwhelmed. To have one of my recipes brewed is an absolute dream come true, and without wanting to sound like a creep, there’s no brewery that I would rather brew it than Thornbridge. I can’t wait to get started!”

Paul’s beer Frank As Apollo will be available across the UK in all 80 Nicholson’s pubs (www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk) . Ben Lockwood of Nicholsons says “the competition has been a great success and as one of those involved in the final judging I know the quality of entrants was very high.  From the seven category winners we felt Paul’s beer would make a great addition to our Spring programme of beers launched on the 3rd March, and I know our pubs and guests alike are waiting with anticipation for it to arrive”

A full list of all Great British Home Brew Challenge 2011 category winners:

Milds : Alan Bates, Stoke.

Standard Bitters:  Paul Carruthers, Nottingham

Best Bitters:  Tom Wright, Woking

Porters, Stouts and Old Ales:  Ken Winter,  London

Premium Bitters:  Paul Carruthers, Nottingham

Strong Bitter:  Matthew Lovatt, Leeds

Speciality Beer:  Steven Crump, Leeds

Nine Staffordshire Moorlands pubs have been recognised for their quality and service by North Staffordshire’s Titanic Brewery.

The pubs have been awarded Blue Riband Inns of Excellence Service by the Burslem based brewer.

And to celebrate, customers are being given the chance to claim a limited edition T-shirt, by having a special Blue Riband passport stamped in each pub.

The Staffordshire Moorlands Blue Riband Pilgrimage launches on New Year’s Day.

T-shirts are available to anyone who gets their passport stamped in each of the nine pubs during January and February.

The Inns of Excellence are:

The Roebuck, Derby Street, Leek

The Wellington Inn, Strangman Street, Leek

Top Pub, Brown Edge

The Marquis of Granby, Ipstones,

The Jervis Arms, Onecote

The Huntsman, Brookhouses, Cheadle

The Fox and Goose, Foxt

Den Engel, Stanley, Street, Leek

The Manifold Inn, Hulme End, Hartington.

“We have launched our Blue Riband as a way of recognising and supporting excellent pubs,” said Titanic Managing Director Keith Bott.

“I am a firm believer that a great pub is part of the fabric of a community and we must work hard to support them.”

“The Blue Riband pubs are chosen for their ambience, quality and service.”

To qualify for a T-shirt, pub-goers must buy a pint of Titanic beer in each of the nine pubs and get their passport stamped.

The passports are available from bar staff at the nine Blue Riband pubs.

co-founders of Burton Bridge Brewery Geoff Mumford (left) and Bruce Wilkinson (right) with Jim Wit.c

THREE breweries from the Burton area have won big at a regional awards ceremony.

Burton Bridge Brewery, Blythe Brewery and Molson Coors all won gold prizes at the West Midlands CAMRA Awards.

The top-scorer of the entire event was Burton Bridge Brewery, based in Bridge Street, which took home three awards.

Its ‘Bramble Stout’ took the gold in the speciality category and ‘Burton Porter’ took silver in the porter category.

The brewery’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ also took bronze in the strong bitter category and ‘Thomas Sykes Ale’ scooped silver in the barley wine and strong old ales category.

Nick Antona, of Burton and South Derbyshire CAMRA, and director of CAMRA’s Brewer of Britain awards, said: “The speciality category is for any beer that has got anything other than the usual contents — water, malt, yeast and hops.

“Bramble Stout has bramble in it and it’s very nice.” Burton’s own Molson Coors scooped the top prize in the light category for a real ale in a bottle with Worthington ‘White Shield’.

Blythe Brewery, based in Hamstall Ridware, near Yoxall, also won gold for its ‘Johnson’s Porter’ in the porter category.

Ninety breweries were voted for by CAMRA members from across the Midlands, and of the 46 winners, 16 were from Staffordshire.

Mr Antona said: “We have a tradition of brewing in the Burton area and obviously the breweries are very conscientious brewers who want to produce good products.

“This comes out in their consistency.

“They all do well because people know they can get a good quality pint every time.”

Geoff Mumford, co-founder of Burton Bridge Brewery, said: “We don’t expect these things because there is such a lot of competition in the West Midlands and we’re surprised and grateful when we get it.”

He said the brewery always enjoys experimenting with its flavours and he thought the reason for its success was the wealth of the staff’s experience.

“We’ve been going for 30 years and between us we’ve probably got 85 years experience,” Mr Mumford said.

Both Burton Bridge Brewery and Molson Coors will now be entered into the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival, which takes place in August next year, for their gold winners, to determine which is the country’s best beer.

Blythe Brewery will be entered into the Champion Winter Beer of Britain finals in Manchester in 2013.

Article Taken from The Burton Mail

A GROWING brewery is looking to expand or relocate after outgrowing its current home.

Titanic Brewery is operating at full capacity at its Callender Place base in Burslem.

The family run Loddon brewery, Dunsden, have won the ‘Entrepreneur’ category at the recent (23/11/11) Pride of Reading Awards. The glitzy award ceremony was held at the Crowne Plaza, Caversham, and celebrated the best of Reading and the surrounding area. There were a range of categories marking the achievements of both individuals and businesses and it was hosted by TV presenter and Reading boy, Chris Tarrant. A number of other local celebs were at the awards including chefs Anthony Worral-Thompson and Daniel Galmiche, X-factor star Danyl Johnson and Reading Football club chairman John Madjeski.

Vanessa Hearn, Director of Loddon brewery said, “We’ve been lucky enough to win a few awards over the years but this is far and away our best yet. What some of the other winners have managed to do is incredible, to be in the company of such amazing people is truly humbling.”

Vanessa’s husband Chris, the other director of Loddon, said “We have worked hard and taken a number of risks over the years, so it’s really great to have this recognised. The Pride of Reading Awards are a fantastic thing and hopefully we can be involved with them in some capacity for years to come.

• Warwickshire-based craft brewers grows another 26% year-on-year
• Achieved net profits of £200k
• Planning application approved for a new brew house
• Business making new appointments and set to recruit in the new year
• New customers include Birmingham’s Town Hall and Symphony Hall

Click here for the full press release