The plan was to grow gently but, after three years, the market was changing. Claire said, \u201cIt was becoming more aggressive with increased marketing and we feared that it was becoming a race to the bottom on price. Every penny we made we were ploughing back into the brewery. We decided that we needed to expand in order to compete but we almost left it too late<\/em>.\u201d The brewery increased from ten to twenty five barrel length which involved a move into a second unit next door. Also, ELB began to experiment with new recipes and Adrian Morales Maillo was brought in to brew. Adrian, who is Spanish, had worked for Naparbier, the biggest craft brewer in Spain, whose output was all keg. His partner, Alice, comes from Wales. Originally they decided to move to Cardiff where Adrian brewed at Crafty Devil before moving to ELB two years ago. Adrian explained, \u201cI was a cask drinker and I wanted to broaden my experience to brew both cask and keg. Every brewer wants to do something new and at ELB there are four or five core beers with a range of specials. Naparbier was a bit crazy, continuously brewing specials<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Adrian\u2019s brews was a lager called Beyond the Tower. \u201cIt made <\/em>the top ten German style lagers with Untappd,<\/em>\u201d said Claire proudly. \u201cWe were able to take <\/em>advantage<\/em> when<\/em> the<\/em> big<\/em> brewers<\/em> were<\/em> unable<\/em> to supply lager <\/em>after lockdown and we managed to get into pubs that hadn\u2019t <\/em>taken our beer before. We had to stop delivering to most <\/em>because of the ageing the beer needed<\/em>.\u201d Adrian explained, \u201cThe beer is lagered for six weeks. With our kegs, we don\u2019t <\/em>add CO<\/em>2<\/em>. We use a closed system, so the CO<\/em>2 <\/em>from the <\/em>fermentation is contained. We then use it to push the beer <\/em>into the keg and to dispense the beer<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how has ELB fared during the last eighteen months? Because of the way the grants were set up, the brewery could not access the hardship fund but they were able to apply for growth fund support. Claire said, \u201cWaltham Forest<\/em> Council have been supportive. We were successful in getting funding for our own canning line and to employ another person. This brings us to nine people including two trainees and we are intending to hire out the canning line to other brewers in due course<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ELB has also refreshed its image. Their cans now display photos taken locally by local photographers, found through one of the staff. However, the timing wasn\u2019t perfect. Claire\u00a0elucidated, \u201cWe were just about to launch the new range when the pandemic hit. We also had to take some hard decisions on what to produce and what to purchase.<\/em> There was a can and cardboard shortage and we ended up having to order 2,500 boxes at a time. We supplied beer with free\u00a0delivery<\/em> to<\/em> all<\/em> \u2018E\u2019<\/em> postcodes<\/em> and ten litre \u2018bags in boxes\u2019 were popular; we are still doing quite a lot. It has also been helpful that Marks & Spencer take our beer and have been doing so since 2015<\/em>.\u201d ELB\u2019s packaged beer can also be obtained in local Co-ops and Budgens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it hasn\u2019t only been the pandemic that has created challenges for ELB; Brexit has too. \u201cGetting samples sent to potential customers has been a nightmare. With exporting pallets of beer there is a clear system but the process for a <\/em>few bottles doesn\u2019t seem to exist. At one stage, we got advised to declare the contents as children\u2019s toys to get <\/em>around it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking forward, ELB are experimenting with vegan beers; they are not totally happy with the current trials but are convinced they will get there. September will be an interesting time for ELB. They will be running their green hop day once again (on 12 September) when locals, who are part of a hop growing group, bring their hops to the brewery to be used in producing a green hop beer. Also, ELB are still committed to making their tenth birthday special. They are producing a sherry cask matured celebration beer that will be available from September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, this was clearly the time to have another look at ELB, a blend of the traditional and the new; a brewery that is not afraid to move with the times and is clearly continuing to enjoy brewing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Panel-members-with-Adrian.jpg\")
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