Woodforde's brewery reveals blueprint to improve its beer

Woodfordes brewery at Woodbastwick, Norfolk.

SAM WILLIAMS
25 November 2009 06:30



Bosses at Woodforde's brewery have invested £50,000 in a new laboratory to help maintain high standards of beer after growth in demand.

The facility, constructed at the company's Broadland Brewery site in Woodbastwick, includes new equipment to analyse the products and microbial samples used in the brewing process.

The investment is seen as a key step in ensuring the company's beer meets consistently high standards following a 15pc rise in sales this year.

The growth, attributed to the increase in popularity of ale generally, has been consistent across cask sales to pubs, online orders and demand for bottled beers from shops.

Woodforde's began production in 1981 from an industrial estate in Drayton, near Norwich, before moving to their current location, and produce almost five million pints of beer a year, including Wherry, Sundew, Nelson's Revenge and Norfolk Nog.

The new investment includes an Anton Paar Alcolyzer used to test the alcohol by volume of the beer, a flask shaker, PH meter and spectrophotometer to check bitterness, colour and acidity and a laminar flow cabinet, used for microbial tests.

Head Brewer Neil Bain said: “With sales increasing year on year it is vital that we have absolute control over our processes and with so much competition in the market we cannot afford to leave the job of quality assurance to our customers.”

The building and fitting out of the new laboratory was carried out by several local companies, costing more than £50,000.

And director Mike Betts said sales were up do to renewed interest in real ales, and predicted positive trading in the run up to Christmas.

He added: “More people are appreciating the pleasure of cask ale these days, and cask ale sales have weathered the recession better than other beer types.

“We are looking forward to December, when a large number of people like to purchase a box of their favourite cask ale to enjoy at home over the festive season.”

The company last year reported a 33pc increase in sales to £3.6m.

The Evening News has been urging people to support their local pubs as part of its Love Your Local campaign.

For more Love Your Local stories log on to www.eveningnews24.co.uk.

Is your firm celebrating a major boost? Contact Sam Williams on 01603 772447 or email sam.williams@archant.co.uk

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