Hastings friends follow dream to launch craft brewery

Charlie Best and Dylan Williams decided to start Bad-Boy Brewing Co during lockdown, when Charlie was furloughed and Dylan was made redundant.

It was an idea they had discussed many times over a craft beer at local tap rooms and pubs, but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that they felt able to take the plunge.

Dylan said: “We flirted with the idea of how great it would be to start our own brewery, but I think it was a pipe dream until we were given the opportunity of a bad circumstance.”

The business started out ‘really, really small’, producing about 30 pints in one brew, all from Charlie’s garage.

The pair have stuck to this scale for more than a year, and in that time have befriended the local craft beer community who have acted as a ‘sounding board’ to help the pair understand where they can improve their products.

Dylan added: “We wanted to get ourselves into a position, which hopefully we’re in now, where we’re proud of our beer and feel that it’s ideal to go to market with.

“Hopefully this is the beginning of something big.”

The pair have been friends since they were 17, and ‘compliment each other well’.

Described by Dylan as the ‘brewing genius', Charlie, a qualified electrician, has delved into the technical research necessary to perfect their products, which Dylan said is a ‘complete and utter challenge’.

Dylan, who runs his own sports consultancy, said: “What with [Charlie’s] technical ability and my commercial experience, I think it marries well in a good partnership.”

The pair’s first offering will be a 6.4 per cent IPA which is ‘juicy, fruity and a completely different experience to lager’.

Initially, it will be sold in two venues: Collected Fictions in London Road, St Leonards, and The Heist in Norman Road, St Leonards, but the duo look forward to expanding soon.

For more information, and to keep up to date with the new brand on its way to Hastings, visit: www.badboybrewing.co.uk/.