SHOWC ASE In The Mix A Curious relationship for Christeyns Food Hygiene

As the craft beer market becomes increasingly competitive, it is even more important to stand out from the pack. This means consistently creating and producing outstanding product. We talk to Wesley Lynch, Head of Production at Ashford-based Curious Brewery as to how the company achieves this.

Curious is a fully independent brewery, run by brewers and focused on making the UK’s best lager, IPA and cider Its journey began through the Kent-based winemaker Chapel Down who introduced its first beer product in 2011, Curious Brew lager In April 2021 Risk Capital Partners, (RCP), purchased Curious in what set out as a passion-led project for its CEO, Luke Johnson

The site for the brewery in Kent was purchased in late 2017 and doors to the brand new brewery opened on May 10, 2019 The project cost around £16m with an addition of £6m equipment sourced from around the globe, including fermentation vessels from Austria and the Brew House from China

As of Summer 2022, the brewery has brewed approx 7 5 million pints The biggest seller and flagship beer is Curious Brew Lager which boasts a clean, fruity, and aromatic finish During the summer months Curious Apple, an aromatic cider fermented with Bacchus wine yeast, is not far behind

There is also a Curious Session IPA brewed with three complementary hops and the newest product, Kentish Pilsner brewed in celebration of Kent’s hop-growing heritage, was launched in 2022

So, what makes Curious Brew different and how does it keep output quality consistently high? Wes explains in more detail

“We may brew lagers, but they aren’t your standard lagers We want to brew characterful beer which celebrates the ingredients that go into it We use a lot of hops in our products which gives us a more flavourful product once it’s finished. We may no longer have the winemaking connection through Chapel Down, but what we want to celebrate is the provenance of Kent and the hops grown here

“However, the addition of champagne yeast and Nelson Sauvin hops means we have a lot more hops to clean out at the end of our processes The physical debris is always a challenge and a good hygiene partner is crucial to help us stay on top of our game and ensure a pristine brewing environment

“What I discovered is that Christeyns Food Hygiene really goes the extra mile to encourage its account managers to work closely with clients They make time for proper visits and have a good reporting structure with audits to highlight areas that need attention from hygiene to chemical safety They visit monthly as a minimum and produce a detailed report about any findings or recommendations

“Since using CFH we have done a lot of work on our brewhouse CIP procedures We standardised and validated the process and ended up with a much better result As this is one area where malt and hops and heat make the equipment that much harder to clean, it has been an invaluable improvement for us

“We have also installed an automatic testing and dosing unit for the detergent on our keg washer/filler This has allowed us to have much more confidence in the cleanliness of our kegs before they are filled Dirty kegs have a huge impact on beer quality and can lead to sourness and haze, so this is one of our key areas for brewery hygiene

“Having a supplier that knows best practice (and particularly safe practice!) matters We work with Justin Adams at Christeyns and he has carried out numerous chemical handling training sessions with my team as well, so they are knowledgeable about the risks they are taking on Health and safety is always at the top of our list – followed closely by quality ”

Not one to rest on its laurels, Curious is firmly set on the future and working on several initiatives

The brewery recently purchased Wild Beer Co. from administration and is now in the process of bringing those beers online at the Curious site From a hygiene perspective, the famous Wild, or sour beer, can only be produced in an environment with impeccable hygiene standards

Sustainability is a personal focus for Wes this year As well as looking at shortening raw material supply chains the brewery now sends spent grain to aerobic digestion rather than animal feed There are also discussions underway with a local hop farmer about taking the used hops as potential fertiliser and negotiations are underway with a new waste supplier to improve the brewery’s recycling programme.

Wes concludes: “CFH has always been supportive of using less chemical and optimising how we use it – this is counterintuitive for them as it means we would purchase less, but that’s a mark of a good supplier who looks after its customers and the environment as a whole rather than always selling more ”

In 2019 Curious won the UK Brewer of the Year award and Gold medal at the World Beer Awards for their product Curious Brew The brewery continues to go from strength to strength www.christeyns.com/uk-en/