Wednesday 24 December 2014

Winter Open Days Round-Up


10 days ago, we officially opened the doors of our brewery, inviting people to come see the Weird Beard setup and drink our beers on the grounds where they are made. This had been long overdue since we've been based in Hanwell from the start, almost 2 years running. At the same time, the idea of getting people to venture here, off the beaten track of Craft Beer in London, seemed like a stretch. With Christmas around the corner and an otherwise uneventful weekend in the diary, we decided to do it and boy are we glad we did!


On the Friday, Gregg rigged up the shutter to the Boston Business Park warehouse where we've hidden ourselves and on the dot of opening friends, beer geeks and beer enthusiasts poured into the brewery. On the Sunday we expected a quieter affair; instead the brewery was full to the brim with locals, CAMRA members and tradespeople, as well as a similarly wonderful crowd to the previous day. Bryan, the brewer in that night, and the rest of our team were relentless in efforts to keep the beer pouring for those who eagerly and repeatedly queued into the road outside. Seriously though, thank you for bearing with us if you did. We're still amazed at the turn out and flattered by the feedback and reviews for both Friday and Sunday. Indeed, we've been asked when are our next Open Days and we promise they'll be a regular fixture in the new year.


If you missed out on it all: the beers (bottle, draft or truffle form), chatting with the brewers, seeing our newly expanded kit and partaking in the fun pay more attention here next time! At least we have some snaps (some ours and some from attendees) for you that capture the vibe of the events. Sadly these photos do not capture, if we can say so ourselves, the epic punk or rock'n'roll playlists we had on and the magnanimous enjoyment shared. Particularly with more locals stopping down on the Sunday, we deemed the event a success in community-building. We also managed to raise over £200 in Charity Pours and donations for Alice's Youth Music Memorial Fund. For who anyone remotely knows us, we value music as much as we value great beer. Knowing our Open Days and brewery's taproom debut could contribute to a project that brings music to young people, is an added perk to what was an amazing time.


Many thanks to all those who helped spread the word, those who trekked over to us, came and drank, came and danced and to everyone who added to the fun. Here's to very happy holidays!




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