Butcombe Brewing invests £4m in new brewery facility

Somerset brewery Butcombe has invested £4 million in a new facility to increase the “capability, capacity and quality” of its brewing business.

The investment is sub-divided into four projects including a new craft beer production unit, new packaging lines, a beer storage and delivery facility in Bridgwater, and investment in the existing Butcombe brewery to increase its capacity.

Butcombe will install a bottling and kegging line at the new facility to “bring the quality control of their bottled and keg beers back in house”. The new equipment will also support “the double digit growth” in Butcombe’s keg range including Butcombe Original, Goram IPA, Blonde Ale and Bohemia Pilsner.

The new facility will be based near the M5 which “will allow for faster distribution” across the west country and further afield.

In terms of its investment in the existing site, Butcombe is adding extra fermentation and conditioning vessels “to improve capacity and capability”. This will allow the brewery to produce up to an additional 40,000 barrels per annum.

Managing director of brewing and brands at Butcombe, Steve Wilkinson, commented: “This significant investment will provide us with a new platform to better service our loyal Butcombe customers more effectively at a lower cost which we intend to reinvest in our Butcombe beer brands to secure our future growth, and keep pace with the increasing demand for all of our new beers. Bringing our packaging “in-house” will give us better quality control over our brands and enhance our capability.

“The investment in specialist bottling and kegging equipment is a rare opportunity for a regional brewer of our size to really gear up and satisfy the rapidly changing market, to redouble our efforts in our heartland with Butcombe Cask beers at the centre of what we do supported by the same consistent quality beers in bottle and keg.

“These improvements will allow us to ensure we retain and enhance our quality reputation while stepping up production to move closer to our long-term goal of becoming the number one regional brewer”.

In recent months, Butcombe has been expanding its pub estate with a total of 18 managed pubs and 13 tenanted pubs in areas such as Bristol, Cheltenham and Bath, according to its website.

In February 2017, the brewer and pub operator unveiled a major rebrand which included a new logo, revamped packaging and updated point of sale materials for its beer range.

Owned by the Liberation Group, the west country brewery last year announced plans for the acquisition of up to 100 sites in the next five years.