31 October 2008

BREWING has returned to a site famous for its ale as far back as the 1900s.
Lymestone Brewery, on Mount Road, Stone, was officially opened yesterday.

Its co-owners Ian Bradford and Ron Makins admit they stumbled upon the base by chance, but once they knew it was the site of the historic Bent’s Brewery they couldn’t resist the opportunity to take it on.
Several months down the line and after almost £250,000 of investment, the pair now have two beers to their company’s name and another in the pipeline.
Dr Makins said: “There are two unique things about our beers.

“One is the quality. We care very much about what goes into them because that affects how the product comes out.
“Heritage is another thing.
“We couldn’t believe our luck when we stumbled across the site.
“We are very proud to become a part of Stone’s brewing history.”
Mr Bradford and Dr Makins announced their intention to set the brewery up in July, despite the fact that they had no equipment, premises or funding.
However, they pulled out all the stops to get it up and running for their target date, the Stone Food and Drink Festival on October 3, which they met.
Mr Bradford, who worked as a brewer at Burslem-based Titanic Brewery for 10 years, said: “There was no room for error in that first brew.
“I relied heavily on my experience and felt a huge relief when the new beer was successfully tasted.”
Foundation Stone, a “very hoppy” 4.5 per cent ale, was the first to be produced, with Stone The Crows, a 5.4 per cent dark reddish-brown malty beer, hot on its tail.
They are already selling well not just

Taken from: The Sentinel www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk