Trio set to hand over control of brewery to online investors

Crowd Brewing Company – the brainchild of Lee Thomas, James Hoy and James Fenwick-Smith – will offer investors the chance to engage with the brewery by having their say on key operational  decisions.

With finance already secured for the building of a 15 barrel brewery and fermentation vessels, the trio have now turned to crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise the final sum of money, which will be spent on associated brewery equipment, casks, working capital, IT and office items.

Investors will receive a number of benefits, depending on their level of investment. Perks include a lifetime membership, a brewery tour, gift vouchers, tasting sessions and brewing weekends.

Through live video steams, they will also have 24/7 access to the brewery, which will be located in Lincoln.

Thomas, who has worked full-time on the project for the last 12 months, conceded that the crowd run idea is an “experiment”, but he remained confident that the £50,000 target would be met.

He said: “We are around where we had expected to be at this stage of the campaign.

Control​

“There are other brewers that have been financed through crowdsourcing, most notably BrewDog, but what sets us apart is that we are looking to give control back to the people who have invested in us.

“We don’t want a bunch of people that we could report spreadsheets to, once a year. We want an engaged and immersed community that can actually make decisions that matter.”

While admitting to only limited brewing experience, Thomas said an experienced brewer has been “poached” to join the project, should it be sucessful.

He explained: “I come from a marketing psycology background, while the other two are from production and IT.

“A whole host of interests, skills, studies and fingers-in-pies have come together to get us where we are now – but what really kickstarted the idea was a love of beer.”

Visit igg.me/at/crowdbrew​ for more information.