Freedom Brewery to double its brewing capacity

Paul ButlerLatest News, News

Freedom Brewery has announced plans to double its brewing capacity by the new year to meet current and grow future demand for its award-winning craft lagers.

The Abbots Bromley-based brewery has been sold recently to new owners who plan to invest £500,000 in brewing and storage facilities as well as developing a wetland drainage system to treat waste water from the brewing process.

The new management team — led by Tim Massey as managing director and Andrew Taylor as finance director — aims to continue the brewery’s current 60% growth trajectory with its range of quality, hand-crafted premium lagers. The remaining brewery staff, including the head brewer, Ian Ward, will remain the same and licensed trade and beer expert Paul Mason has joined the team as a second salesman alongside Lee Calnan.

The previous owners, Ed and Sue Mayman, had run the business since 2008. During their tenure they have seen production capacity rise by more than 300%, expanding their customer base UK-wide by working with premium on trade outlets and winning numerous brewing awards. Earlier this year they also launched a new bottled beer called Libertà, brewed specially for Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant chain. As parents of two children under five years old, they are both ready to take a step back from an extremely busy though fulfilling period in their lives.

Tim said:

“I have always been impressed with the amount that Ed and Susan have achieved with Freedom. They have done an incredible job in the last five years with product quality, range and distribution, and have set the benchmark very high. I am pleased that we will still be able to call on their expertise in the future.

“One of the first priorities will be to increase capacity to manage current levels of demand, and then we are keen to start talking to premium quality operators who value their freedom and want to stray from the mainstream.”

Tim Massey, managing director