|
|
 |
|
Founding the Brewery
The brewery was set up in Cheddars Lane, Cambridge
in May 1997 by Steve Draper, with a 15-barrel a week capacity.
Steve has worked in the Brewing Industry for many years in sales and
marketing with major players, starting with Bass in 1985 working his way to National Sales Manager with Eldridge Pope of Dorchester.
With a passion for quality traditional beer he decided to set-up his own Brewery taking a year out to learn the art of brewing.
He soon had success with the first beer, Hobson's Choice, winning the 1997 Cambridge Beer Festival with Gyle 1.
Hobson's Choice has gone onto win other awards and accolades, being
the finalist at The Great British Beer Festival at Olympia in 1998 and in March 1999 it was awarded Bronze at the Beauty
Of Hops Competition in the Higher Alpha Category. Other beers soon followed Hobson's Choice, to the point where we now brew
8 main beers and a variety of seasonals.
|
|
|
|
Getting into Bottling
|
|
The Brewery moved into bottling in 1997 with a special commission
for Gowlett Grain, leading agents at the time for Maris Otter malting barley. Since then bottling has been extended to include
most of the range, and also the occasional special such as XK50 in 1998 to celebrate 50 years of the XK range of Jaguar cars. |
| The Big Move |
|
In October 2001 the Cheddars Lane site was closed in favour of new
premises in Chittering, where there is plenty of room to expand to meet demand. During the process of moving and setting up
the new brewery, Mighty Oak Brewing Co. were contracted to brew Hobson's Choice and Boathouse Bitter, so as not to disappoint
our loyal customers.
The new site needed much work which included removing 13 skips worth
of rubbish, converting a garage into an office and a derelict fruit and veg shed into a brewery. |
|
|
|
Nature Reserve!
|
A problem was discovered
when it was found that the new site had no mains drainage. An effluent plant would have cost £50,000 plus and was also an
eyesore, so after much research it was decided to use an enviroment friendly reedbed system to cope with the brewery waste.
This idea won the brewery 'Most Innovative Approach' in the 2002 Waste
Challenge, before a single reed had been planted. Now up and running the reeds filter out pollutents through a series of beds,
the first holding reeds then into a second which holds marsh plants then into a third pond, which is where the 'now clean'
water soaks into the earth.
The third pond also makes an ideal home for many types of wildlife,
from Dragonflies to ducks, giving us our own personal nature reserve just behind the barns. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
City of Cambridge Brewery Co Ltd, Ely Road, Chittering. Cambridge CB5 9PH 01223 864864
|
|
|
|