Curious Brewing
Curious Brewery is a brewery in Ashford, Kent. It was established in 2011 and is owned by the Kent-based winery group Chapel Down.[1][2][3]
History
The brewery is located on a 1.6 acres (0.65 ha) former brownfield site close to Ashford International station.[4] Chapel Down had started producing lagers in 2010, importing beer and ales from the Leicester-based brewery Everards, but wanted to open a local production unit.[5] The brewery was given permission to develop from the town council in late 2016. The site was purchased for development in November 2017 following a £1.7 million investment, mostly from crowdfunding.[4]
The company chose to invest in Ashford because of its prominent location on the High Speed 1 railway. The brewery own a bar inside St Pancras railway station, London, at the other end of the line.[6] The premises are planned to be fully open in March 2019 with a production capacity of two million litres (440,000 Imperial gallons), with an accompanying restaurant and visitors centre.[1][7] The people who donated to the crowdfunding scheme, which raised £1.16 million of the funds. receive a discount on products, with those contributing over £25,000 having their names engraved on one of the fermentation tanks.[5]
Product range
The company produces a variety of beers and lagers, using winemaking methods. These include Curious Brew and Curious IPA.[3] As well as draught products, the group produces Curious Session IPA in cans, which was launched on Beer Can Appreciation Day, 2019.[8] At 4.4% Alcohol by volume (ABV), it replaced the stronger Curious IPA at 5.6% ABV.[9]
A special selection of "Curiouser and Curiouser" beers has been introduced. The name comes from the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland where Alice said that things were getting "curiouser and curiouser".[3]
References
- ^ a b "Ashford: £1.3 million Curious Brewery sets Ashford town centre open date". Kent Online. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Curious Brewery appoints new head brewer". Morning Advertiser. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "Curious Brewery embarks on series of limited editions". Bar Magazine. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Chapel Down completes payment for 1.6 acre Curious Brewery site". The Drinks Business. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Chapel Down raises £1.7m to build Curious Drinks brewery". The Guardian. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "All stations to regeneration? Work on HS2 begins in earnest". The Guardian. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "Curious Brewery in Ashford set to open later this year". Kent Online. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ "4 trendy tinnies to toast Beer Can Appreciation Day". xpose.ie. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "Curious Brew IPA availability". Morning Advertiser. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.