Case Study : The Yard Of Ale Brewery - Alan Hogg

Alan, 36, said: “The microbrewery came about because I had a spare room in the pub and wanted to make good use of it. We are only producing on a small scale at the moment but it’s been a very successful start for us. We are supplying to other pubs in the area as well as stocking the beer at the Surtees Arms and we already have a lot of customers.”

Be Enterprising, provided Alan with support and funding to help get the business started and Business Coach, Andrew Wattsford, has been on hand to offer his expertise throughout the start-up process.

The microbrewery is proving a hit in County Durham and Yard of Ale beers are stocked at around 25 pubs in the area. The brewery also scooped the title of Beer of the Festival at Darlington CAMRA Beer Festival.

Alan is producing two and a half barrels of beer every week, which is around 90 gallons. The brewing process takes around 10 days. Winter’s Yard was brewed with some of the spices found in Christmas cake, including ginger and cinnamon, to give it a distinctive sweet festive taste. The first barrel of Winter’s Yard sold out before it had even finished brewing.

Be Enterprising’s Andrew Wattsford said: “The microbrewery is proving to be a very lucrative business for Alan and I am delighted to have been able to support him through the planning and set up of the venture.”

Alan added: “The help and support from Andrew and Be Enterprising has been invaluable. When I took over the pub I was taking over an established business but starting an enterprise from scratch is completely different and I’m glad I had Andrew to turn to for advice.”