Giving tourists a taste of our beers was also high in our minds when putting the brewery together. Although we were working with a Victorian building it was assembled in such a way as to provide access for the Visitor Centre that was to follow when funds allowed. This is now a major, year-round attraction in the Yorkshire Dales.
Here we are over 18 years on, having survived probably the most tumultuous time in British brewing history. Many famous, long-established brewers have ceased brewing or gone out of business completely; Bass, Whitbread, Vaux, Wards, Mansfield and Morrells to name but a few.
Pub companies with thousands of outlets now dominate the industry and in the bottled beer sector the giant supermarket groups call the tune, but the Black Sheep Brewery has prospered, overtaking many famous old names.
October 2006 was a particularly exciting landmark for Black Sheep Brewery with the completion of two and a half years of major brewery development including an extra brewhouse, new fermenting vessels, conditioning tanks and cask racking plant. All told, this has increased brewing capacity by 65% or so.
In the words of well-respected beer writer, Roger Protz, “Black Sheep Brewery is a modern day miracle.”
...we can’t argue with that.