Meet the Real Ale Lover who created BeerCycle UK!
Beer and biking is becoming the “in thing” at the moment with bikers hitting the road, track or trail and finishing off a long ride with a refreshing beer! Breweries have latched on to this incredible market of beer and biking with Magic Rock collaborating with Orange Mountain Bikes to create ‘Shredder’, the epic beer for mountain bikers; and Abloc being established solely for the purpose of creating the perfect recovery brew for roadies after a long alpine climb. Let’s not forget Fixed Wheel Brewery, which is themed entirely around riding with epic brews like Winter Miles, Summer Smiles. But what about going a little further to create the UK’s first Beer Bike Bar! Set up by Amy Carroll in the West Midlands, I just HAD to check BeerCycle UK out!.. Amy is based up in Stourbridge, where she got a taste for real ale.
“Stourbridge got me into beer, there's quite a big arts culture around there, a lot of my friends own cafes and bars around there. We spent a lot of time hanging out at Craddock's Brewery. My favourite brews are Craddock’s Troll, Fixed Wheel Concussion and Wye Valley Brewery Butty Bach”.
With a background in theatre and stage management, Amy found herself unemployed in 2013.“I had been going to loads of wedding fairs and events. One day, I saw an ice cream bike and I then scored a job at Craddock’s Brewery (in Stourbridge) and I thought that I'll put the two things together!”So Amy started to make the first bike in her garage, doing all of the build, even the welding!
“The first one took three or four months to build, the bars that I used were made by Daniel O’Neill who makes scenery for stage theatre and commercials. The biggest challenge that I had was trying to make them balanced and rideable.”Once the bike was up and running, she started doing a couple of events and weddings fairs which led to a fair few bookings. Now Amy doesn’t just have one bike, but THREE! She took me to check one out… it looked EPIC! Vintage, gleaming red, with two had pulls for cask ale, you can even ride this bad boy if you want. The bike also benefits from suspension too, just in case you want to check out the trails on it!!!
“You can pull your own pint, ride the bike, which is the perfect photo opportunity for the bride and groom at a wedding. We don’t just do weddings, we also cater for events, festivals, stag and hen dos, funerals, you name it!”
BeerCycle offers three packages
BEERCYCLE CRAZY SHEEP PACKAGE
Your guests pay for beer tokens and exchange them with our staff at the bike.
BEERCYCLE HONEY EWE PACKAGE
You pay for half of the keg and your guests pay for beer tokens and exchange them with our staff at the bike.
BEERCYCLE SAXON GOLD PACKAGE
You treat your guests and pay for all of the beer.
Beer Cycle bar bike for weddings and events with craft beer and real ale from craddocks and fixed wheel brewery
Amy serves beers from Craddock’s and Fixed Wheel locally, but she also covers the entire UK and sources breweries local to the area that the event is in.“I travel anywhere; I’ve done weddings and events from Wales to Northumberland. When I’m in a new area I try to use a local brewery to partner with, as people love drinking locally and supporting local businesses. It was great working with Dave from Craddock’s, getting some nice bright ales brewed and also being introduced to Scott from Fixed Wheel as it is the perfect match for us!”But from start to finish, this little bike adventure is an experience…“When someone books I set up a date and time where they can visit the brewery, then we let them taste samples on tap, meet the brewers and they get to pick which ones that they want for their event.”
A picture of Beer Cycle for weddings and events, book now for real ale with craddock's and fixed wheel brewery
So an idea that sprouted from a series of fortunate events, a passion for real ale and a love for bikes has become a bit more than just a dream…“We just did the launch of the
and the cycle team
launch, but we are getting to the point where we have done hundreds of events!”If you have a big event coming up and love beer (well you’re on
so you must do), why not hire a
… Go on, give it a go!
