The Derbyshire brewer invested £1.6m last summer in a new state-of-the-art bottling line and extra fermentation vessels, and is now focusing on increasing capacity and building a 50hl-brewhouse specifically focusing on making cask beer.
'More cask than ever'
The 2016 expansion has already led to increased sales, according to CEO Simon Webster. “We’ve enjoyed really strong growth in both keg and cask," he said. “We have always made cask beer and always will. In the last year we have sold more cask beer than ever.
“Our next stage of planning at the brewery will focus on building a new brewhouse dedicated to cask beers, while at the same time increasing the production capacity to the main brewhouse, to meet increasing demand for bottles and keg."
The brewery makes around 20 different cask beers in any given month, according to Webster, and is operating at 100% capacity at present.
“We have demand for our beers and also the space in which to expand, so we are really well placed to move forward with the plans during 2018,” he said.
Active recruitment
The brewery now employs more than 50 people and is looking to hire for a number of roles, including the position of director of sales and marketing.
“Good people have taken us to where we are today and that will continue,” Webster commented. “We’re very proud of those who have developed with us and we will continue to offer opportunities to our existing team and those who join us in the future.”
Thornbridge Brewery was founded in 2005 in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall, and has won 14 awards in 2017 so far. In July 2015 it opened its first ever international bar in The Netherlands.