By George I think he's got it

Guest blog by my co-investor George Harvey, written for the Chiltern Tapler

Little more than a week ago (at the time of writing) a dream came true as the team from Haresfoot Brewery sat in the White Hart at Whelpley Hill drinking a toast of Lock Keeper’s Launch ale with landlord Iain Griffiths-Jones. After a year’s avid research, intensive planning and frenetic activity, the excitement of creating a brewery has come to pass for 8 business folks from the Berkhamsted area.

The timing is particularly poignant because it was exactly 100 years ago that the last brewery, Locke & Smith, closed its Water Lane doors in 1914. The Haresfoot team are very proud to play their part in reviving the town’s brewing tradition.

Haresfoot brewery delivered its first beer, Lock Keeper’s Launch ale; a classic mid copper colour bitter brewed in the “Burton” style. Lock Keeper’s is a complex blend of malts combined with English Challenger hops. This provides a hoppy edge which, when augmented with a  late hopping using Golding’s, creates delicate fruit notes leading to a long bitter-sweet after taste sporting an ABV of 3.9%. Balance and depth of character is achieved through an extended conditioning time of up to three weeks before being released to the trade for sale. Many pubs in the area are stocking Lock Keeper’s Launch Ale – see Facebook page for a comprehensive list.

A shop based on-site  for the public to drop in, have a taste and buy some beer to take away will be open from Thursday 17^th April (check out our Facebook page for times) and a website for making orders will go live soon.

The brewery is also offering a Friends Package which has proved very popular. Amongst a range of other benefits early adopters are entitled to have their name, or the name of someone they nominate, on full display in the retail area.  It includes 9 pints on their birthday, one of the first brewery tours, a branded glass, designer T shirt and various discounts. It makes a great present!

The story and the Team

Although some of the team knew each other beforehand, the full complement came together through a local business and social networking club founded by one of the brew-crew Nick Heath called “Berkhamsted 360.” Bonded by a common passion to make beer and give something back to the community, the group have funded the venture between them.

Originally Haresfoot farm was a strong contender for the brewery location. The name is rooted in Berkhamsted history and will mean something to locals. The team liked the sound of it and so it was adopted as the name

All are 50-ish and have worked for many years in a number of related fields which offer great synergies for the venture. Nigel used to run a home brewery in Watford, while fellow founder Martin Filippides is a former fermentation chemist who lectured in biotechnology. The other founders are Scott Carter (Head Brewer), Philip Wilton (sales), Simon Spurling, George Harvey, and Keith Holmes. The brewery has one new full time employee Matt Chamberlain. Matt has extensive experience from The Goat and The Lamb in Berkhamsted and knows his stuff when it comes to looking after beer. Matt is the Drayman and helps to brew.

The beer now and future

The brewery will initially focus on optimising the flavour and consistency of its launch ale Lock Keeper’s. Lock Keeper’s was created after a series of “market research” visits by George and Nigel to local pubs to identify the most popular beers followed by a blind tasting focus group with a noble bunch of volunteers (we appreciate the sacrifice they all made).

The brewing equipment is configured as a dual channel 12 and 2.5 barrel operation which will allow new and innovative beers to be developed alongside the established lines. Next on the list is likely to be a summer Golden ale. However there are a number of options being considered. Haresfoot would love to hear what CAMRA members would like to drink? So why not drop in and see us from the 17^th April?