Curious Brewery, the Kent-based premium brewery backed by Risk Capital Partners, has made a further substantial investment into its Ashford brewery. The first bottles have now started coming off the recently installed state-of-the-art bottling line.
The £0.4m bottling line will package the full range of Curious premium products including, Curious Lager Brew, Curious Session IPA, Curious Apple Cider, Curious Porter, and the newly launched Curious Pilsner.
May sees the addition of a canning line to supplement the new bottling facilities, allowing Curious Brewery to control all aspects of the production and product quality in-house, from brewing through to the finished packaged product. The bottling line has received its SALSA accreditation enabling the brewery to supply major on and off trade retailers.
Separately, the business has launched Curious Pilsner, a 4% ABV premium lager brewed with Champagne yeast. It is a traditional pilsner-style lager brewed with a trio of locally grown Kent hop varieties. Ernest and Bullion provide the aromas of citrus, orange, apricot, and lemon, whilst the classic Kent Challenger is the bittering hop.
The result is a perfectly balanced, refreshing lager, using all English malts and this trio of hops to deliver a genuinely local Kent pilsner.
Simon George, MD of Curious Brewery said “2022 has got off to a fantastic start with our latest product launch, Curious Pilsner, which is already proving a hit with our customers. The considerable investment in our SALSA-accredited packaging facilities, also demonstrates our further commitment to the future of the Curious Brewery as we continue to grow this business.”
Notes for editors:
CURIOUS PILSNER 4.0% ABV
This Kentish Pilsner is a celebration of our county’s hop-growing heritage. A traditional Pilsner-style lager brewed with a trio of locally grown hop varieties. Ernest and Bullion provide aromas of citrus, orange, apricot and lemon, whilst the classic Kent Challenger hop delivers the bitterness.
CURIOUS BREWERY LTD
Curious beer was first launched in 2011, and the state-of-the-art brewery in Ashford, Kent, was built in 2019 by the original owners English Wines plc. A management team led by Simon George (MD) and Mark Crowther (Chairman), and backed by Risk Capital Partners, bought the business in April 2021 with a view to developing and focusing on its premium, quality beer and cider production capabilities. Beer and Cider volumes have grown 54% in the first year of ownership, and the business continues to win awards – Barrel-Aged Bacchus Brut won Gold Medal at the 2021 International Beer Challenge and Curiouser & Curiouser Chapter 1, from the small-batch beer programme, won Silver at the same awards.
SALSA Accreditation
SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval): Written by experienced food safety experts, SALSA is a robust and effective food safety certification scheme which is appropriate for smaller food producers and suppliers.
Approved suppliers can demonstrate that they operate to standards that are recognised and accepted across the industry and exceed the minimum standards expected by enforcement authorities. For more information: https://www.salsafood.co.uk/