Meet Thousand Trades Brewing Co!
We went to explore more of Birmingham’s tiny explosion of local breweries checking out Thousand Trades Brewing Co.The brewery was set up by Paul Scrivens in 2014 and has been in official production over the past year. Paul, an avid home brewer had been brewing in his garage for 4-5 years when he decided to go for it, get out of the office, leave his ‘exciting’ I.T. desk job and get a unit to start brewing on a commercial scale. This proved a little harder then first envisaged and after many dead end calls and viewings with estate agents he decided to go for a cruise one Sunday and stumbled across a small trading estate of garages with an empty unit available.[su_row][su_column size="1/2][/su_column] [su_column size="1/2"][/su_column][/su_row]Paul is now happy with his results, nailing consistency, especially with his last three batches but it hasn’t come without its challenges..."It was a big step going from brewing on a small scale in my garage to a more commercial scale. It's tough getting used to the kit working the way you want it, controlling fermentation, cleaning, casking and selling too! I can be my harshest critic but I can honestly say that I’m over the moon with my latest brew Modus Savant."“I love doing something that makes people happy.”[su_row][su_column size="1/2"][/su_column] [su_column size="1/2"][/su_column][/su_row]Paul’s keeping it slow, not huge quantities, feeling his way into the industry with cask, brewing 2.5 barrels at a time but he has plans for larger premises just outside the centre of town with a tap room, bottling in the next couple of months and eventually key keg.‘Approaching what was once a hobby as a business is also a whole different board game, trying to put aside what I want to brew and focus on what will really sell.'So far the reception has been amazing, one bar ‘The Pup and Duckling’ got through a cask of Modus Savant in one night!As we wrapped up, Paul decided to crack open a couple of cheeky elevenses brews for me to try. First up was 'Modus Savant' a VERY easy hoppy blonde ale followed by "New mechanic”, a slightly darker malty brew, both were EPIC!If you can get your hands on a pint from Thousand Trades DO IT!!!