Acorn Brewery pumps £60,000 into new facilities

The Barnsley-based Acorn Brewery has a turnover of £1.2M, employs 12 people and supplies 400 local pubs and bars with real ale as well as Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons.

Sales at the firm had already increased by 12% in the past 12 months, resulting in the need to invest in three new beer conditioning tanks to boost real ale output by 15,000l.

30,000 pints of ale a week​

The 12-year-old firm will produce 30,000 pints of real ale a week following the investment, according to owner Dave Hughes.

“The brewing industry has changed a lot since we started in the summer of 2003 and, particularly the past six years or so,” ​Hughes said.

“There are now many more independent breweries out there and it is much more important to have a clear stand-out identity at the pumps and on the supermarket shelf. ​

“Our three new conditioning tanks will mean an extra 15,000l of real ale can undergo the week-long conditioning process at any one time. This is when we monitor the beer’s development before we judge it to be perfectly full-bodied, flavoursome and ready to cask.” ​

The extra capacity would loosen-up the whole production process and allow the firm to brew more beer and meet increasing demand, he added.

Sales of British beer dropped​

Meanwhile, sales of British beer dropped by 5.6% in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015, compared with the same period last year, according to the British Beer and Pub Association’s (BBPA’s) Beer Barometer.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: “While we may see a bounce back in Q3, these latest figures give no room for complacency, and show that more action is needed on beer duty. ​

“The chancellor has made a great start, with his three one penny cuts, but with inflation very low, and an industry still experiencing the impact of the 42% rise under the previous government’s escalator policy, there is no doubt that more action is needed to create a more sustainable future for Britain’s national drink.”​