Two sister Cheshire pubs have rallied to today’s economic challenges by brewing their own beer and offering exclusively sourced French house wines.
The Henry Potts team. Left to right: general manager Tracie Vine, Jack Miller, Chris Clowes, and Rhys Braisdell
Both the Chester city centre venue The Henry Potts, on Watergate Street, and The Hare at Farndon were launched by Jerry Brunning’s Pubs Ltd group in the shadow of Covid 19 — ‘the Potts’ last summer and The Hare in autumn 2020.
Now staff at both pubs are throwing themselves behind the drink initiatives by brewing the house cask ale and enhancing their own knowledge of the five blends of Bordeaux house wines on offer.
Recently, team members from both pubs joined the brewers at Wrexham-based Big Hand Brewing Co to brew the JPA (3.6% ABV) house bitter. This modest-strength pale ale was developed with the help of experts at Sunderland’s Brewlab, the centre of excellence for British brewing, to offer an easy but distinctive drinking experience. The imaginative will quickly work out what, or who, the ‘J’ stands for.
The five draught house wines were researched by Cheshire-based wine consultant Kevin Sambrook, working with a talented Bordeaux négociant to provide an exclusive line-up for Pubs Ltd. The pub teams can take wine qualifications and join regular tutored tasting sessions, enabling them to guide wine lovers with their choices.
Alistair Logan, general manager at The Hare, said: “Our house wines and JPA are a real attraction to The Hare. Our regulars can rely on them, and people new to us are often first intrigued and then impressed.”
Alastair Logan (general manager), Ellie Matcalfe, and Ashlet Nicholas at The Hare, Farndon
Operations director, Lindsay Cox, adde: “You could argue it was bad timing to open both pubs in the most difficult trading times for modern hospitality, but we’re thrilled to see them developing in such a challenging environment.
“Our teams are fundamental to our success, and they have fully got behind our distinctive offer, helping to brew and develop JPA and learning about our exclusively blended and directly imported wines.
“House wines tend to indicate the style and quality of a venue, and we are proud of ours. They give our customers exceptional value at a reasonable price.”
Tracie Vine, who runs The Henry Potts, said: “Our exclusive house beer and wines demonstrate how much we care about quality at The Potts, adding to our excellent range of cask and craft beers and adventurous wine list, together with our first-class menu of modern British dishes.”
