An award-winning brewery in Cumbria is to expand by opening its own new bar next week.
The Fox Tap at Keswick Brewery will serve a range of beers all brewed on site by the independent Keswick Brewing Co.
Members of Keswick Mountain Rescue Team have been invited to pull the first pint of a special new brew at a trade launch at 1pm on Tuesday October 15.
The brewery tap will then be open to the public Tuesday to Saturday every week from the following day, serving its own beers along with Cumbrian-produced spirits and a selection of wines to up to 60 customers.
The brewery has invested a substantial six-figure sum in creating The Fox Tap, which will result in more staff being taken on. Six people currently work there.
Owner Sue Jefferson said: “We were struggling for space and having to turn people away but The Fox Tap will enable us to serve drinks in a spacious bar while taking other customers on our popular brewery tours and shop visits. Our beers are available at pubs, bars and restaurants across Cumbria and beyond but it is a big step forward for us as an independent to open our own brewery tap, which will show we are here for locals as well as tourists.”
The brewery, which has a fox as its logo, has won a string of awards at the Great British Beer Festival and from the Society of Independent Brewers, including a gold for its Dark Horse bottled ale. To celebrate the opening of the brewery tap, a new 4% ABV beer called Fox Pale has been produced.
“We invited our local mountain rescue team to pull the first pint of Fox Pale because like Keswick Brewery, they are right at the heart of our community – and they share our thirst for the Lakes. All the beers we will be serving here at The Fox Tap are good for the environment too as they will have travelled about 10 yards from where they were brewed!” added Sue.
She opened her business in 2006 at The Old Brewery in Brewery Lane, where beer was first produced in 1875.
The brewery’s expansion has doubled its footprint, with a new cold room, cask wash room and additional fermenting room, along with The Fox Tap.
Keswick Brewery produces cask, keg and bottled beers, the most popular including Thirst Quencher and Keswick Gold. The Fox Tap, which will have an adjoining beer garden, will be open 12 noon-5pm Tuesday-Saturday. The brewery’s shop is open 10.30am-5pm Monday-Saturday. Tours take place Tuesday to Saturday.