ONE of Northamptonshire’s oldest microbreweries, Frog Island Brewery, is enjoying a new lease of life since coming under new ownership.
The brewery at The Maltings, St James’ Road, Northampton, has been a favourite with real ale lovers since it was set up in 1994 but faced growing competition. New owners Graeme Swanson and Adrian Sheppard saw the potential and in the last year have undertaken an extensive reorganising of the business.
A grant from FEAST, the Food Enterprise Advisory Support Team, in early 2018 helped to secure the brewery’s future. The investment includes new equipment to enable the brewery to develop new products alongside traditional favourites like Natterjack Ale, a lighter golden beer.
Graeme, who was an enthusiastic home brewer, said: “The brewery was already well known when we took over but we needed to spend this year, putting systems in place so we can make the use of future opportunities.
“We value the brewery’s heritage which is all about creating decent honest pints using traditional methods and, where possible, quality English raw materials. There is nothing artificial about our real ales.”
The brewery’s range includes golden ales, dark beers, session beers, winter warmers and just good honest pints of bitter with names like Shoemaker, described as an ‘easy-drinking’ session beer to Croak & Stagger, a strong, smooth and full-flavoured beer and Pond Hop, a favourite with lovers of American Pale Ale.
They work with different businesses including pubs and restaurants and feature at food and real ale festivals. The brewery’s products are also popular at one-off events from product launches to weddings.
“The brewery has been creating a traditional, local style of refreshingly bitter beers since 1994. We never planned to buy a brewery but clearly the stars had aligned, and it was the right time in our lives to take on this new venture and continue brewing in the heart of Northampton,” said Graeme.
“We are now looking to share our passion for our beers and spread the word about Frog Island Brewery.”
To find out more see the website at www.frogislandbrewery.co.uk or call 01604 587772.