Thwaites opens craft brewery
FAMILY-owned brewer Daniel Thwaites has invested £200,00 in a new brewery which will be used to develop craft ales at its Star Brewery in Blackburn.
With three fermenters, the new craft brewery – named ‘Crafty Dan’ – will allow Thwaites to create up to three new beers a week. Thwaites’ head brewer Steve Fielding and his team can trial new, experimental flavours, create one-off brews to mark special events and brew highly-flavoured beers popular with cask ale fans.
The firm has already produced its first test brew, which has gone on sale for Christmas.
Fielding said: “We’re all thrilled with the new craft brewery and we can’t wait for it to be up and running and for the first beers to be ready. We’re brimming with recipe ideas and we can’t wait to get started.”
Thwaites’ brewing director, Ian Bearpark, who is responsible for the development of new beers, said: “Crafty Dan will give us the chance to develop new, short-run beers – as few as 25 to 30 barrels – which means we can really start to get creative and try out some of the great ideas the team has.
“Brewing is very much at the heart of Thwaites and we want to continue to innovate and produce great beers. The new ‘Crafty Dan’ brewery will allow us to continue our fine tradition.”
The craft brewery is being installed at the Star Brewery in the heart of Blackburn but will move with Thwaites when it relocates to a new brewery in the next few years.
