Stannary Brewing Company owners Garry White and Chris John

Devon’s Stannary Brewing Company has completed a £100,000 expansion project, as it seeks to expand the reach of its beers to the national marketplace.

The brewery has recently completed the installation of a new brewhouse at its Tavistock site that will increase its capacity to 42 hectolitres per week. This will enable it to produce over 2000 pints from each brew day. The additional capacity will be used to expand the reach of Stannary’s beers outside of its local Devon market, where it currently enjoys a strong presence and growing reputation.

Co-founder, Garry White, said: “We are crazy excited to be taking the next step on our journey as a commercial brewery. Since opening the new taproom and brewery unit in early 2018, the demand for our beers totally outstripped the production levels we could achieve on the kit we had, and we knew at some point we would have to go big or go home. The feedback we get for our beers convinced us to go big!”

The investment in the new brewhouse and fermentation systems will enable Stannary to keep a more regular supply of its core beers, as well as the flexibility to produce more beers in its Concept and Seasonal ranges.

White added: “We‘ve gradually built up a great following here in Devon, and now the aim is to get more of our beer outside of the county to a national audience.”

Big, bold and flavourful

He and friend Chris John took over the running of Stannary Brewing Company in late 2017. The duo were inspired by the big, bold and flavourful beers they enjoyed drinking from craft breweries in America and the UK.

Initially brewing a pale ale, IPA, bitter and a saison in a small garage owned by White’s father, Stannary opened its brewery taproom in early 2018 and has since taken the local market by storm, appearing in craft beer bars and bottleshops across the county. It now produces a range of nearly 30 beers in a variety of different styles.

White cites breweries such as Cornwall’s Verdant Brewing Co and Leeds’ Northern Monk as among those who have inspired Stannary’s journey, and was honoured to pour alongside both breweries at Plymouth’s Vessel Beer Festival, which took place in November 2018.

He said: “Guys like Verdant, Northern Monk and Cloudwater have been a massive inspiration to us since we started this crazy journey. To be invited to pour our beers at a festival alongside them was awesome. We work very hard to make the beers we love to the best quality we can, and to get the incredible feedback we received at Vessel from fellow brewers and punters at our very first show was both humbling and inspiring.”

Stannary Brewing Company will have a core range of five beers (a lager, two pale ales and two IPAs) plus a full seasonal range of beers in an array of different styles, available in 30-litre kegs and small package cans.