The Small Beer story

The Small Beer Brewery is the world’s first dedicated solely to the production of world class beer brewed to a sociable strength. Founders James Grundy and Felix James had always enjoyed a great tasting beer. On the search for one that they could enjoy whilst maintaining an active, fast-paced lifestyle, they were surprised that they could not find consistently great tasting beer below 2.8%. Combining modern know-how with classical brewing methods, they set out on a mission to reignite the lost tradition of Small Beer, historically a staple in British daily life.

Architecture

A Belcon portal frame structure erected circa 1983, comprising an open warehouse of 5,000 sqft and an adjacent office space. In recent years it housed a commercial laundry and a logistics company specialising in electronic components, until it was identified by budding entrepreneurs James Grundy and Felix James as the ideal location to set up the Small Beer Brewery. A series of internal partition walls and mezzanine floor were designed by Garbers & James Architects and built in 2018, incorporating the brewery bar, offices and storage rooms.

Sustainability and the Environment

The team are passionate about reducing the brewery’s impact on the environment through their green initiatives. Consumables from boxes to labels to business cards are 100% recycled and water usage is kept to a minimum in part due to the implementation of an unconventional ‘dry floor policy’. All energy is 100% renewable and the team is insistent on continually questioning and improving on current practice.

The Brewery Today

The brewery space combines production with taproom and community events.

The taproom is open daily Wed - Sat. See the website for more details:

www.theoriginalsmallbeer.com