Although Distortion is another brewery based in a railway arch, that is probably where similarities to other breweries end. What strikes you when you walk in is that this is a designer led brewery. The fluorescent labels on each of the beer tanks are striking and give the premises a sense of modernity.
The beer tanks, with Andy pouring
Andy North, the sole owner, explained, “I wanted a consistent look and ended up using the same designer and branding company as Siren Brewery, called Studio Parr. They were also responsible for the name of the brewery. I originally had something different but they took a sounding in the agency and people didn’t rate it. The name came from one of my original beers, Distortion, which did go down well as a name for the brewery.”
Setting up the brewery has been a long road for Andy, who was a self employed business analyst, with Unilever as his main client. He said, “Seven years ago, I had the idea of setting up a brewery and almost got started at that time but then I got some more work so it was another four years before I started to get quotes. I looked for premises during 2019 and signed the lease on the premises in February 2020.”
With Covid emerging, things didn’t go to plan. Andy managed to get the drains put in just before the first lockdown but it was the summer before the rest of the work could take place. “At the end of the year I started to do takeaways but it only lasted three weeks and then we had another lockdown. We then restarted takeaways in April 2021 and managed to get the tap room open in May.”
The brewery sits behind the tap room’s dispensing tanks. It is sparkling and is all very compact, with six fermenting vessels. Andy explained that he had had a number of issues with the company who installed the plant, not least that, despite it being a 1,000 litre brewery, he is only able to brew 800 litres a time at present. The beer is cold crashed to drop the yeast and naturally produced CO2 is used in the tanks, topped up as necessary to get the right pressure. Any beer that is not put into tanks for selling in the tap room is put into one-way poly kegs. Andy explained, “I don’t have the space for a keg washer.”
Distortion is not an insular brewery. The Brewdog pub in Battersea Rise takes their beer and they collaborated with them over a weekend beer festival featuring 73 breweries.
The core beer range is Inertia Kolsch (4.8% ABV), Phaser DDH Pale Ale (4.7% ABV), Kozmic IPA (5.3% ABV) and Quantum (5.5% ABV).
When asked what the next steps were for Distortion Brewery, Andy replied, “As things are getting busier, I will need some help and will shortly be looking for a brewer’s assistant. And maybe, sometime in the future, I might consider small pack when money allows but, at the moment, it would be an intrusion.”
It will be interesting to see how the designs would transfer to cans but, in the meantime, to really see the impact of good design (as well as trying the beer of course), pop along to the tap room (Friday 4pm to 11pm; Saturday 1pm to 11pn; Sunday 1pm to 8pm). Wandsworth Road station (Overground) is close by.
For more details of the brewery, see here. For tasting notes on the beers that the Tasting Panel sampled, go to the brewery section of the regional website.
Christine Cryne