West Chiltington brewers’ joy at sharing their passion

Meet the beer-mad artists mastering craft brewing in West Chiltington to bring ‘instant happiness’
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Name: Nick and Sarah Allen

Job: Co-owners of Greyhound Brewery in Smock Alley, West Chiltington

Visit: www.greyhoundbrewery.co.uk

Greyhound Bewery, West Chiltington SUS-200610-074434001Greyhound Bewery, West Chiltington SUS-200610-074434001
Greyhound Bewery, West Chiltington SUS-200610-074434001

How did you decide on this career?

Well…we didn’t really decide so much as fall into it…. Our background is in design and in 2011 we were lucky enough to be working in Portland Oregon on a commission for a penthouse apartment in Manhattan. Unexpectedly we had stumbled across the most amazing beer and brewing culture in Portland and when we returned to the UK we couldn’t wait to start brewing. We had no brewing knowledge back then and it all started at a very small scale in our kitchen at home, after a short while the brewing kit was moved out to our garage, where the brewery still is, and the equipment got a bit bigger!

How does a normal day usually go?

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There is no such thing as a normal day here at the brewery – we are either brewing, transferring fermented beer between vessels, cleaning casks and kegs ready for filling, designing the graphics for new bottle or can labels, preparing and delivering orders and of course the regular maintenance of equipment. Then we get into our workshops/studios and get creative with our other endeavours!

What gives you the most job satisfaction?

Sharing the joy of what we love doing with others. Whether it’s at one of our own beer festivals at the brewery, doing an outside event or down at one of the pubs we supply, seeing the smile on people’s faces when they have that first sip of our beer, instant happiness! It always gives us both a huge amount of pleasure to see people enjoying our beer!

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Continuing to be creative, enjoying everything we do and sharing that passion and joy with as many other people as we can! …… of course opening a new brewery in the Bahamas would be a pretty good outcome too!

What do businesses need to do to be successful in these challenging times?

To be agile and open-minded, to have the capacity and ability to change the direction of the business and to be comfortable doing this.