July's meeting with Chamber member 'Brewing Brothers'
For our July meeting and summer social, our members and guests visited Brewing Brothers at their Taproom and Brewery on Burgess Road, to take in the scale of their operation which has expanded rapidly in the last few years, as well as hearing from the team about their journey growing the Brewing Brothers name in Hastings and beyond.
Established in 2016 after founders Ned and Charlie Braxton visited North America, the brothers were inspired by the culture there surrounding craft beer. They felt that the art of brewing was widely unappreciated and untapped in the UK. Feeling ‘hop’-timistic, this sparked an idea and a need for change by Ned and Charlie – leading to them opening the doors to the first of their brewhouses with their friend Billy Eriksson later that year.
Fast forward to 2023, Brewing Brothers spans 4 locations – 3 in Hastings, and one of their newest bases in Folkstone. Wanting not only to quench the thirst of their punters, some of their locations offer food, such as woodfire pizza at The Imperial, a pasta bar at The Courtyard, and a wood-oven restaurant at The Beachside location.
At our meeting, we convened in their base at the Ivyhouse Lane Industrial Estate in Hastings, which is where all of their beers are brewed for both their own locations and external suppliers. We heard from Ned and also Head Brewer, Billy, about the success of their expansion during the pandemic as well as Raphael who helps with their finance.
Last year the team set out to plant over 350 trees on some private land in Ore as part of their commitment to plant trees for every can/keg sold of its Reforestation 4% pale ale. Another 350 were planted at a future outdoor education site near the brewery.
Members were then given a tour of the facilities which showed the process that goes into making the beers. Onsite they have not only a chicken coop which produces free-range eggs used in their home-made pastas, a garden for growing vegetables in their dishes, but also a container where caterers can rent the space for pop-up stands. With this, we were grateful to be catered by Southside Wrappers who utilised the space and made quesadillas with a side of paprika chips which members enjoyed alongside some of Brewing Brothers finest beverages.
We also heard about how Brewing Brothers encourages and thrives on collaborations. They have worked closely with a variety of local brewers and artists to create staple products such as the artwork on their cans, special flavours, and merchandise.
Brewing Brothers will be celebrating their 7th Birthday on Saturday 5th August, and would like to invite you to join! To find out more about the event, visit: https://brewingbrothers.org/products/tickets-for-the-7th-birthday