When did we start ?

The idea was first mooted, as these things often are, over a beer. Surprisingly, next day neither of us had forgotten about it, or dismissed it out of hand in the cold light of day. So just before Christmas 2004, we began to think seriously about starting a brewery.

Initially, (and how naive is this) we thought we'd get about £100 per cask, and be able to fit everything into a large shed. We were soon disabused of these happy thoughts and swiftly revised our plan and our projected income. But since the object of the exercise is to make beer, then money, we carried on regardless.

The next four months were spent constructing a business plan and finding premises. Suitable premises in Glossop are as rare as guest beers in a Robinson's pub, but on April 1st (!) we signed the lease.

The Brewkit was sourced from Dave Porter, and for the next three months we worked every day to make a very uninspiring site fit for brewing. Dave's deadline loomed larger and larger, but the day before the kit arrived, we were almost ready. The equipment was installed more or less without a hitch over the next week, and on July 6th the first brew was produced.

Too much crystal and no chiller to slow down fermentation meant that Wren's Nest was darker and stronger, and went out as Howard Town Bitter, but it's been well received, and the real Wren's Nest was first sampled at the beginning of August.

Thanks must go to Dave Porter of Porter Brewing, who has been most helpful, and almost patient with a pair of bumbling novices. Thanks also to Nick Boughton and Jon Hunt of the Millstone Brewery, who have been extraordinarily free with advice and help for what might turn out to be a rival brewery (we wish).

Preparation