Drygate to help homebrewers commercialise among ambitious expansion plans

To help achieve this, operations director Matt Corden has unveiled ambitious plans to extend distribution south of the border and “explore” the export market.

The brew-pub in the east end of Glasgow also plans to help fledging home-brewers commercialise their beer by offering them the opportunity to use small-scale production facilities at the brewery.

Mr Corden, who joined Drygate in October from Brewdog, said the brewery was capable of producing 12,000hl and was pushing beyond this by installing new equipment, and examining long-term plans to “do a bit of landscaping to create more space out the back”.

This expansion will help service growing demand for its core products: Gladeye IPA, Bearface Lager, Out of Space Apple Ale and Axeman Rye IPA, along with the recently launched, gluten-free Drygate Pilsner, which has secured upwards of 30 on-trade listings.

It is this range that Mr Corden said the company was pushing into England. “The big thing is to continue building that core range,” he said. “We’ve got solid accounts in Glasgow in particular.

“I’m keen to see more on tap in Glasgow, but over the next couple of months we’re expanding into the north of England.”

Through direct distribution, Mr Corden revealed the brewery was eyeing up both shops and bars in Manchester and Leeds, and possibly Newcastle and Liverpool.

“At the moment, we’ve not expanded much beyond the border,” said Mr Corden. “We’ve had nationwide listings with Mitchells & Butler for Gladeye and Bearface in the first three months of this year, which was a real success and led to another listing for one of our cask products.”

Mr Corden added that he was also keen to see Drygate exploit the London market.

“London has one of the best beer scenes in the world. It’s something everyone wants to get involved in, which has led the market to become a bit saturated, so we’d probably use distributions partners.”

European distribution is also on the table, with Drygate in discussion with a Dutch importer, but Mr Corden said this was not a priority. “It’s not something we’ve focused on in any major way. We’re doing good business in our local market and I’m keen to see that continue, but we will explore.”

Another area where the company is growing is by launching an initiative to help home-brewers scale up their batches to a commercial level. In addition to making the brewery bigger, it is also making it smaller.

These so-called picobrewers are able to pay about £600 to £700, depending on the brew, to use a specially installed studio kit that makes enough beer for 40 cases of 12 500ml bottles.

Mr Corden said it was possible to become commercially viable by using the studio kit. “You need a little bit of capital behind you but if someone is passionate about it then it’s something to aspire to,” he said.

Brewers such as Up Front Brewing, Floodline and Monolith have taken advantage of this function to make their beers available in bottle shops, as well as at festivals.

“It’s something we can be really proud of, and I’m very passionate about giving these guys the opportunity to come down and turn their home brew into a commercial product,” said Mr Corden.

“Up Front Brewing is one that has hit the ground running, built up a reputation; it really is the ethos of Drygate, to get home brewers, get them immersed in beer and the science and art of producing beer.”

Going even smaller, Drygate also has plans to introduce 50-litre kits called braumeisters, where budding brewers can produce their own beer from start to finish, based on either their own recipes or from a range offered by Drygate.

“That’s not intended for people to brew commercially but it’s an opportunity to learn the process or use our kit to produce under the tutelage of our brewers,” said Mr Corden.