EP-151 Dan + Tom Lowe of Fourpure Brewing Co.

The UK’s independent brewing scene is booming. Recent figures from the
British Beer and Pub Association put the number of active breweries in the
UK at more than 2,000, meaning that the UK has more breweries than any
other European nation. At the heart of this growth have been the UK’s
metropolitan areas, cities such as London, Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol,
and many more.

But thankfully, that growth hasn’t been restricted to the cities, with more
breweries choosing to establish themselves in smaller towns and in rural
areas. We’ve even seen established city breweries such as Redchurch in
London, start to build production facilities outside of these city hubs.

Earlier this year I interviewed Dan Lowe, who co-founded Fourpure Brewing
Co. with his brother Tom in 2013. Dan spoke to me about how Fourpure was
planning a move similar to Redchurch's, in that they were looking at
expanding to a purpose-built brewery on a greenfield site on the outskirts
of London.

But Fourpure changed its plans (for the time being, at least), choosing to
invest more than £2 million ($2.7M) in its existing site in South London.
This expansion will involve a new brewhouse, more capacity, and more lab
and QC space. Eventually, they’ll also double the size of their taproom.

This, along with a whole bunch of other local breweries, including
Partizan, Pressure Drop, and Mondo, also investing in their London sites,
is indicative that there is still a lot of room here for growth. This
growth is also giving newer, smaller breweries a chance to establish
themselves too, as the expanding breweries move into other markets, thus
freeing up space at the point of entry.

Recently, I headed down to Fourpure, at the end of the Bermondsey Beer
Mile, to catch up with both Dan and Tom. We talk about everything above and
more.