Jake’s Drinks, the beer and cider brand from Kent-based Balfour Winery at Hush Heath Estate, has formed a strategic partnership with Cellar Head Brewing Co to develop its craft beer range.
Balfour Winery has acquired a 25% shareholding in Cellar Head, which helped to develop the Jake’s Drinks beers, Jake’s Lager and Jake’s IPA, earlier this year, and which now brews them.
The investment allows the brewery to bring forward its expansion plans, with new state-of-the-art equipment, including a new canning line and tanks, doubling capacity to 20 barrels.
Jake’s Lager and Jake’s IPA were launched in spring this year, after eight months of research, tasting, and recipe development between Cellar Head’s co-founder, Chris McKenzie, brewer, Joe Dann, and the Balfour Winery father-and-son team, Owen and Fergus Elias, alongside Jake Balfour-Lynn, who manages Jake’s Drinks.
Although better known for his role in winemaking, Owen has a wealth of experience in producing both beers and ciders. By combining this with Cellar Head’s brewing expertise, the team created Jake’s IPA and Jake’s Lager — traditional beers with a winemaker’s touch, combining established, revived, and new hop varieties to add a modern twist. Both beers are vegan friendly and in recyclable cans.
Testament to the success of the partnership, Jake’s Lager recently won a silver medal at the Global Beer Masters, a competition which attracts entries from across the world.
The Balfour-Cellar Head partnership is a perfect match, according to Jake Balfour-Lynn: “We can’t think of a better brewer to join us as we take the next step in the Jake’s Drinks journey and look to introduce our beers to a wider audience.
“Like us, Cellar Head is an independent, family-run and proudly Kent-based craft drinks business, with a mission to produce the highest quality drinks from mainly local ingredients. We are delighted with the quality of the beers Cellar Head have brewed for us, and our decision to cement that relationship by investing in their business speaks volumes for our confidence in them, and in our continuing success together in future.”
Chris McKenzie, Cellar Head co-founder, added: “Backing from Balfour Winery, as an established drinks and hospitality business, is most welcome, and makes it possible for us to pursue our growth ambitions earlier than we’d anticipated.
“Just as importantly, it makes the partnership between us more permanent and authentic, which is important to both us and to Balfour, as well as to our customers. We’re far more than just the brewer, we’re at the heart of the Jake’s Drinks story.”
