Brains brewery plans diverse ales

Brains will expand next year by installing an experimental brewery

The new brewery will bring more diverse options to Cardiff bars

Cardiff pubs will have to print new drinks menus as Brains is building a craft brewery to make a wider range of beers and ales.

The Cardiff-based drinks company is extending its facilities in March 2012 to include a new brewery that can concentrate on producing more specialist drinks.

Bill Dobson, the head brewer at Brains, said, “There should be more variety as we can use more unusual flavours and different ingredients. For example, we will now be able to try different hops and different malts.”

He explained that the new brewery’s small size will allow more experimentation, which would meet the demands of thirsty customers for more choice at the bar.

He added, “What we could produce is infinite, but I’m reluctant to say just yet.”

Brains
Brains was founded by Samuel Arthur Brain in Cardiff back in 1882. They now own over 200 pubs in Wales and are the official shirt sponsor for the Welsh rugby team. Their main brewery is located in Crawshay Street in Cardiff. More information on Brains can be found at their website.

Seasonal beers
The new brewery will allow Brains to produce more of its seasonal ales. Festive examples include Merlin’s Oak, which is only in November, and Fir King Good Ale which follows in December. The full range of seasonal beers can be read here.

Brewing process
The brewing process at Brains involves four different stages: harvesting, milling, fermenting and packaging. An interactive guide can be found at their website.

Expanding business
The new brewery is just another example of how Brains has been expanding over the last few years. In the past two months, Alt Cardiff has reported on how Brains purchased Coffee#1 and will open its first restaurant.

CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has publicly supported the installation of a new brewery. Brian Francis, the secretary of CAMRA’s Cardiff branch, said, “The equipment at the moment doesn’t allow proper brewing as you can’t do much else other than big quantities. With a small brew kit, you can do wider ales.”

Brian explained that microbrewing is copying a trend in the American market as customer tastes have changed over time. He said, “American hobs are now more common as bitter beers are becoming more popular. Microbrewers can respond to this as they only use small amounts of beer at a time, meaning they can experiment to make more interesting ales.

“The real ale market is the only expanding market of the pub trade. Pubs that take in real ales stay in business.”

More information on CAMRA can be found at their website.