For many people, despite being around in some guise for about six years, Beerblefish tends to hide its light under a hop sack. It was set up by James and Bethany Atherton in 2016 in a small site in Edmonton. It has always been a small team with James and Bethany only working part time. These days, the day to day operations are carried out by Glenn Heinzel (who also has his own beer range under the Tankley name) and Michaela James. Both brew but Glenn takes the lead on sales. If Michaela’s name is familiar it will be because she has brewed at a number of London brewers including Volden, Alphabeta and Enfield.
Michaela joined Beerblefish last August after Andy, the previous brewer, moved to Meantime. Michaela explained, “It was very fortunate timing. Thanks to the pandemic, I had been furloughed for a while by Enfield Brewery and then made redundant. James had heard through the grapevine that I was available and here I came.” James commented, “The addition of Michaela meant that Glenn didn’t have to brew as well as sell the beer. We identified that we needed to look at off sales and Bethany built us a website so people could buy online. If the order is local, then Glenn will deliver it, otherwise it’s down to Parcelforce.”When the November lockdown hit, Beerblefish came up with the ‘12 beers of lockdown’. “We mixed them up and discounted them. We also started to offer mini kegs” said James. “We had a premises licence and could have kept our bottle shop open but it seemed the wrong thing to do with pubs being closed. We stopped doing markets as well. We did okay in 2020 because small pack has better margins and selling direct to the customer meant that these were better margins too.”
This ethical approach is also reflected in the way they employ people. Their previous brewer, Andy, was an ex- serviceman. They met when James and Bethany were helping out at Crisis at Christmas in Paddington and they noticed that there were a disproportionate number of ex- service people there and so they offered Andy a job. Their support extended to education and Andy was encouraged to take his IBD Certificate of Brewing. The current new recruit is James, who has cerebral palsy. James started on a six month placement but is now a permanent part time member of staff. This attitude of giving something back extends to Bethany’s personal life; as well as having a busy job as a solicitor, she sits on the audit committee of the Archbishop’s Council for the Church of England, as well as being a trustee of a charity.
Beerblefish were also involved with International Women’s Day in March. Always a supporter of Unite, which aims to get women brewers to commemorate the day, Michaela brewed SMASH, a 5.2% ABV organic pale ale. Michaela explained, “This year’s theme was compassion so I thought it would fit. It was the first time ever I had brewed an organic beer.” But this wasn’t the only beer with which they have been experimenting. They have produced an unusual beer called Mumme. James explained, “I came across this on a website; it’s a black German spiced beer dating back centuries. It really is a lost style and we named it after Christian Mumme, who is reported to have brewed it in 1492. We know it was exported from Germany to England in medieval times.”
James has always had a passion for old beer recipes and Beerblefish have retained their heritage range. Based on Victorian recipes, they have developed something of a cult following with beers such as 1853 ESB, 1892 IPA and 1820 Porter and they are good value for money in 500 ml bottles. It isn’t all about history and strong beer however; there are plenty of contemporary beers to complement these older recipes, including the 5.8% ABV Edmonton Lager; a table beer, Hoppy Little Fish (3.5% ABV) and their Pan Galactic Pale Ale (4.6% ABV), which won an award in the Great Taste Awards for 2020.
There are significant changes ahead for Beerblefish. The space at the Edmonton brewery has become increasingly cramped so they are upping sticks to a new unit on the Uplands Business Park in Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, where they will be neighbours to Signature Brew and Exale Brewing. They intend to retain their current brewing equipment but will have a tap room which will incorporate their shop. They are also thinking about distilling their own gin. They have already had some forays into selling gin and the latest batch used wild hops that were growing around the brewery gates. Bethany added that they are also considering distilling whisky and maybe even rum!
If it goes to plan, the taproom will open from Saturday 22 July 2021. Blackhorse Lane is looking like the place to be these days, giving the Bermondsey Mile some serious competition.
As for the name, enthusiasts will recognise it as a paraphrase of one of Douglas Adam’s more bizarre inventions. For tasting notes, including whether or not the Pale Ale tastes like a slice of lemon wrapped in a gold bar, can be downloaded here.
Christine Cryne