Melton brewery ramps up production after investing £1M in four years

With new equipment being added recently, production has been ramped up, with six times as much beer now being brewed compared to that first year of operation.

Atter starting out with a skeleton staff and co-founder Colin Paige producing the beer virtually on his own, there are now 12 members of staff including a five-strong brewing team producing an average of 26 different beers every year.

The company invested £250,000 in a canning line machine, which turns out 50 cans a minute and £5,000 in a day, and two larger fermentation vessels have also helped to transform production levels.

Colin told the Melton Times: “One big challenge for us has been Brexit. We haven't been able to export the amount of beer we would like to because of the amount of paperwork involved and the extra costs.”

The brewery’s most popular beer remains the Frisby Lager, in part because the Melton firm is one of the few craft producers which makes lager.

Lead brewer, Lara Lopes (30), joined the company during the Covid lockdown in 2020 after coming to the UK from her native Brazil.

She was an engineer at a brewery at home and found she wanted to get involved in the process of brewing, training here and also learning on the job.

"I am really enjoying being involved in the process from beginning to end,” Lara said.

"I am learning so much because it is a small brewery and we have to do everything. The team here is so friendly.”