Kent Brewery - the making of a brewery part 2

Having spent my Spring and Summer wandering into an array of buildings in many of the deepest parts of Kent, I have had the pleasure of getting to know my county better than most will ever have the opportunity and pleasure. If ever I had any doubts (which I didn’t) that Kent was the place to be established, and the inspiration from which we would take our name and our ambitions, they were certainly dispersed by the scenes that I encountered.

From the most urban to the most rural locations, Kent wears its history with pride; and the men and women who nurture that heritage to make it relevant in the 21st century are the people to whom we aspire. As we stand on the threshold of opening our brewery in the heart of this great county, we will always remember those days in 2010 when we met some of the most wonderful people in remarkable and magnificent places who blessed us with their encouragement and unique hospitality.

Our journey into these remarkable places was of course entirely practical – the need to find a location for our microbrewery. Location is vitally important to the success of any brewery. It defines your target market and will have major implications on your ability to grow. Kent Brewery will serve the county and, as such, must be well located in relation to the main traffic flows. But the building must be right.

It needs to provide room for working and expansion. It must have the necessary service supplies to enable it to operate not only to your own high standards but to those of the local authorities. It must be secure and accessible; and it needs buildings that work for the benefit of the brewing in terms of temperature control and working practices. At the end of a long journey that included advertising in the local CAMRA newsletter, spreading the word in local pubs and knocking on a range of doors of all shapes, sizes and sturdiness, we finally found what we hope to call home. Unfortunately we have now needed to submit a planning application which could either delay or destroy our hard work - but that is now in the hands of the local authority, and we must await their proclamation…