Whenever there is a problem, there are ways to solve it.
Alongside its own beers, the Hepworth Brewery, based in Pulborough, Sussex, has been contract brewing for a number of years. This, however, was giving them a problem with progressive beer duty. Regardless of whether you are brewing for yourself or others, the annual limit of 60,000 hectolitres (approximately 37,000 barrels) still applies. Consequently owner Andy Hepworth came up with a novel idea; he would give three other organisations the opportunity to start their own breweries on his new site.
Andy originally brewed near the railway station in Horsham. After 12 years however, they were outgrowing the site and, with the lease due to expire, they decided to move to a new site outside of town, near Pulborough, which also allowed them to expand. Andy explained, “The council’s original idea was to have a centre of food and drink excellence, with a variety of companies being based together but it never happened; we are the only ones here. It took us three years to build it and we moved in 2016.”
We have several industrial estates in London which house groups of breweries but the Hepworth site is unique. There are four brewhouses, all set up to Hepworth’s design and all with their own grist mill (see below). The four are Laines, Ridgeway, the Goodwood Estate and, of course, Hepworth themselves, which is the largest. Andy explained the arrangement, “Hepworth provides a number of central services for the breweries, which include water, malt, energy, packaging and laboratory services. We like to buy local. The organic malt comes from the Goodwood Estate and we use another local farmer for the rest. It’s all Sussex barley, which is floor malted for us by the Warminster Maltings.” Andy added, “If any of the brewers use any of the hops that we use, we will buy for them too. Local Sussex hop growers have it harder because it is not Kent. Dealing with the same farmers allows us to build a relationship with them and ensure they can make a living from it. We need to ensure that they stay in business.”
Investment in the brewery has come from friends and families. “They have stuck with us all the way through and they have never received a dividend – but they do get free beer!” quipped Andy. This has enabled some major investment to be made with profits being reinvested, not least to fund Andy’s aim to be 90% carbon neutral within five years. This includes solar panels, a 100% heat recovery system and a reed bed for water treatment. The next step is a bio-digester. It has also paid for a new warehouse, which will have solar panels on the roof.
Inside the brewery
Hepworth has an 80 hectolitre brew length plant with what can only be described as an eclectic collection of fermentation and storage tanks, including ones from Whitbread (which still bears its old logo), Simonds (who used to brew in Reading) and Everards. Andy said, “We usually brew twice a day, five days a week, producing a selection of cask, keg and bottles. It usually works out as 20% cask, 30% keg and the rest is bottles. We’ll do cans when we have the new warehouse to increase our storage facility and so have the space for a canning line; at the moment we have to use part of the brewery.”
Hepworth’s own beers are mainly sold locally and account for about a third of their production. The rest is for third parties, which Andy estimates at around 100 customers. Hepworth doesn’t pasteurise but they do microfilter non- bottle conditioned beers, which can be found in Marks & Spencer’s, Morrison’s and the Co-op, usually on a regional basis, plus, if you are lucky enough, on the luxury Pullman train from Victoria.
Saxon Lager is their biggest selling keg, with a bias towards ‘venues’ such as the Swan, next to London’s Globe Theatre, and the Brighton Pavilion. They also supply Goodwood racecourse. “They need to serve the beer very fast, so we supply it in tanks to be served at three degrees to stop fobbing,” said Andy. He added, “Our best selling ale is Sussex Best. It’s a British pale ale and we sell more in bottle than any other beer. We use our own house yeast, which was originally a Brakspear strain that has evolved.”
The range of beers brewed for third parties is comprehensive. Andy explained, “We’ve brewed Nepalese beer, mainly for sale in Indian restaurants and we have seen a growing demand for low alcohol and no alcohol beers. We also have our own 0.5% ABV beer, called Spartan. What makes it unusual is that we use Agave in the brew. It improves the mouthfeel and seems to improve the malt and hops flavours as well. As anyone visiting us has to drive, when we have the tap room open, we offer free low alcohol beer to drivers.”
Andy has spent a considerable time in the brewing industry. Having decided that the insurance business wasn’t for him, he started with Courage’s in Reading although it was touch and go. Andy explained, “I had been turned down for a lab job with them although I then got an offer to come in as a shift supervisor but I was off to the TTs. Fortunately, they offered to keep the role open for two weeks. I walked in the first day and loved it.” In 1980, Andy moved to King & Barnes in Horsham and, five years later, became the youngest head brewer in the country. King & Barnes were however acquired in 2000 by Hall & Woodhouse and the brewery closed.
Andy set up the Hepworth Brewery the following year, 2001, and the first brews were made with the assistance of a number of former King & Barnes employees. Similarly, the same year, Bill King and his wife set up a microbrewery in Horsham (WJ King & Co). This was sold to Two Tribes who moved the brewery to London in 2018.
Although now in his 60s, Andy doesn’t seem to have any immediate plans for retirement; with over 40 years of brewing experience, it is clear that his passion for good beer remains strong.
For tasting notes, see my blog here.
Christine Cryne
Note: A grist mill is used to mill malted barley before it is added to the mash tun. Many small breweries bring in their malt already ground.