Gareth Williams attended our Brewing Skills Development course in January 2012 and has since gone on to co-found the award-winning Tiny Rebel Brewery in South Wales. Along with Brad Cummings, the brewery was set up in February 2012 and has rapidly grown in popularity and acclaim. Gareth states “The quality of Brewlab training helped us brew our brands to the highest and most consistent levels achievable. Not only did Brewlab help on the skills development course, they have always supplied us with help & support in the brewery.“

Monty’s Brewery is located in the historic market town of Montgomery on the Welsh/English border. They are a 12 barrel brewery, established in 2009. Monty’s started with Sunshine, their 4.2% flagship golden ale. They have been a proud finalist at the Champion beer of Britain in cask and bottle, winning 3 gold stars two year running for their gluten free stout and a Highly Commended at the Great British Food Awards They have also won awards at The London Beer Competition, Made in Wales, Wales True Taste amongst others. Brewlab has been part of their journey from the very beginning, having all started with the Certificate in Practical Brewing way back in 2008. Monty’s are constantly striving to perfect their brewing process along with making it as sustainable as possible. They decided to use Brewlab’s due diligence package to monitor production throughout the year, so that if a problem did develop, they could act on Brewlab’s advise and prevent any wasted products. The plan also enables Monty’s to maintain consistency of product. Pam stated, ‘The easy bit is we get sent the sample bottles and swabs and told exactly what is needed, which is one less thing to think about when running a busy brewery! We’d highly recommend Brewlab’. Monty’s are also SALSA accredited so need to ensure that they are fully compliant with requirements such as ATNC and NDMA tests as well as ABV and microbiological.

When setting up WooHa Brewing Company, former microbiologist and founder Heather McDonald chose to do the 3 Week Practical Brewing Certificate at Brewlab. Although an avid homebrewer, Heather wanted to ensure that she had all the skills up to scratch to allow her to hit the ground running when her kit was delivered. Through Brewlab, Heather made a number of valuable contacts, many of whom WooHa still work with on a regular basis.

The Brewlab Start Up Brewing course was an opportunity to decide whether or not it was worth the risk to step into the commercial world of brewing. The course provided a ‘warts’ (should that be ‘worts’?!) and all view of the industry and after the first day, it’s safe to say that Anthony felt that anyone would be mad to invest the sums of money required to set up a microbrewery. Further market research however indicated that the real ale section of the drinks industry was showing strong signs of growth, creating a very real business opportunity.

Jonny and Tuggy Delap started the Fyne Ale brewery on St Andrew’s day in 2001 having attended a Brewlab Start Up Brewing course in 2000. The brewery is in traditional dairy buildings at Achadunan, Cairndow, Scotland.

Tony Gartland and Derek Todd first met when they came on the Diploma brewing course in February 2005. Tony was looking for a more active career after success in the legal world and Derek was a chemical engineer for a pharmaceutical firm. Both had a vision of brewing as a means of combining a desire for a physical occupation with a business based on real products. Brewlab provided the opportunity for them to combine their talents and initiate the Saltaire brewery.

Stig Anderson took over the Stonehenge brewery in 1993 and developed an impressive list of beers and awards. Stig was already an accomplished Danish brewer and quickly recognised the value of Brewlab’s laboratory and yeast services. Brewlab conducts a monthly Due Diligence analyses for Stonehenge Ales Ltd. And supplies yeast as required. Stig has promoted Brewlab services to his overseas associates and Brewlab now provides services and yeast to Rise Brygger brewery in Denmark.

Keystone Brewery was established by Alasdair and Charlotte Large near Salisbury after Alasdair attended the 3 week Certificate in Practical Brewing course in 2004. Before considering a brewing career Alasdair spent 20 years as a colonel in the army and on retiring looked for an active and challenging enterprise. Brewlab supply advice, yeast and analytical services to Keystone whilst maintaining contact for future developments.

Sambrook’s Brewery is an independent brewery based in Battersea, London. Duncan Sambrook and David Welsh established the brewery in August 2008 with the aim of bringing craft brewing back to the heart of London. Duncan Sambrook’s first venture into the brewing world was in early 2007 with the purchase of three second-hand tanks of a five barrel brewing plant. The difficulty of running a brewery with 3 tanks was soon realised, with the 5 barrel plant never seeing any brewing during its lifetime. Twelve months later Duncan decided to enrol on the Start Up Brewing course at Brewlab. The course provided all the necessary information regards a career in brewing and highlighted the hard work and risks involved. Duncan stated ‘I came out unperturbed and re-focused on what I needed to do – find myself premises.’