Brewed Boy

Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

Iam going to be honest about this: I know very little about beer, save for the well known brands from when TV advertising was all the rage and which I generally drift past in the supermarket. This summer, when I was standing in the giant tent at a festival faced with a board of names for what seemed like a million different beers and my husband was mouthing ‘what do you want?’ at me from the front of the queue, my mind froze. So, when I was asked to interview George White of Brewed Boy there was a small gulp of panic. I needn't have worried of course. Who knew brewing beer could be so much fun!?

George is one of the creative brewers who have been part of the craft beer revolution sweeping Great Britain over the last eight or nine years. These micro-breweries have upended the status quo of mass produced beer to such an extent that they are proving a threat to the big boys, and rightly so. The movement began in America, no doubt when prohibition gave birth to a nation of home-brewers, most creating ‘hooch’ of dubious quality. By the '70s, craft beer had emerged from its fug of a home-brew hangover and was starting to take itself seriously. >

It was on a trip to the southern states of America that George got to thinking about opening a micro-brewery. ‘I travelled around the deep south and literally every town had one,’ he says. ‘I was in Mississippi which was interesting and then I spent time in New Orleans which is full of micro-breweries. When I got home, I wanted to start a brewery straight away but my Dad suggested I start with bars and then open a brewery.’ Five years ago, at the age of 19, he opened his first bar in Frome. Bath, Cheddar, Dartmouth and, of course, Sherborne have since followed. ‘Sherborne was always on my list,’ explains George, ‘I think it's on a similar trajectory to towns like Frome but Sherborne is uniquely different.’

After securing premises at the Old Yarn Mills, with its parachute making industrial past, he opened the brewery and bar in August 2018. The brewing goes by the name of Imaginary Friends and currently there are 24 draft beers on the board. ‘I’ve currently got 5,000 pints brewing,’ says George. ‘I make one beer at a time and have six fermenters, so when they are full that’s six beers.’ In fact, things have got so busy that he has recently taken on a lead brewer – Ian Clark, a chemist turned brewer who hails from the US.

The brewery is openly housed at the back of the bar which gives the whole place an authentic feel leaving inquisitive customers to often wonder at the Willy Wonka nature of the process. With the fruity aroma of hops hanging on the air, George tells me about the raw materials which arrive freeze dried. ‘The hops are all sourced from America,’ he starts out, ‘American hops are intense and flavour loaded. But for sour beers I don’t use hops, it’s fruit puree.’ In a business that is about flavour not format, the search is for a beer that will take the imbiber on a journey and is not simply an end product.

‘Sours have become very popular,’ he says ‘25% of the liquid volume is fruits – cranberry, raspberry, blood orange, mojito and lactose.’ I didn’t grasp the lactose idea straight away but basically it has a vanilla-esque flavour, quite nice as it happens. ‘They’re all very experimental but very popular,’ says George. ‘For people with a broad mind who are looking for something different.’

Micro-breweries cater to the discerning and inquisitive beer drinker and tend to be run by artisan mavericks dedicated to their craft. In the search for new flavours comes the endlessly creative search for new product names. The sour beers, for example, go by names such as Nightmares Are Real at 3.9% ABV and Hide My Fries, a classic pale ale at 4.5%. Then there’s the aptly named Tropical Haze, which at a whopping 6.9% is likely to promptly induce sensations of the warm and fuzzy kind. ‘It’s a New England IPA with an all-fruit flavour from hops,’ explains George. When I ask what a New England IPA would be, George patiently explains, ‘New England IPAs are currently one of the most popular craft beers. They came out of Boston 10 years ago. It will taste like a session beer but is much stronger.’ A session beer, I am told, is under 5%.

If the names aren’t inspiring enough, then there are the cans which are sealed on site. George’s sister, Mary, creates the can artwork, her designs far removed from the accepted industry norms. The huge graffiti mural adorning the mezzanine was produced by Belfast artist >

Dee Craig. The can artwork takes me back to the days when some of the most cutting edge art around was to be found on record sleeves, collectable in their own right. With the added bonus of quaffable content I can see myself starting a new collection…

Were it not for his stateside inspiration, George might have taken a different route. ‘We moved to Bruton 11 years, ago,’ he explains. 'My dad played football for Watford and when he stopped we moved west. Dad came from Honiton and a dairy farming background. I’m the one who broke the football tradition,’ he smiles. ‘I didn’t fancy it.’ George hasn’t fallen that far from the tree however. A branch of the family run Millwhites Cider in Rooksbridge near Cheddar which has been in operation for four generations, so while George might have broken one tradition, he’s successfully continuing another.

A reflective and deeply ambitious man, George has taken his time to build the Brewed Boy and Imaginary Friends brand. He already has a strong following within the town and supplies Burrito Boi in Frome and Gilcombe Farm Shop in Bruton. In the manner that he questioned family tradition to follow his own path, George is determined to create a contemporary brewery which pushes boundaries and explores new ideas. The Sherborne bar hosts regular pizza and beer nights on Friday and Saturday in association with Baker Man Dan and George is now in preparations with the comedian Michael Hackett to host comedy nights. Next month he is hoping to host a one-nighter at the Digby Hall and continue to tour Brewed Boy comedy nights across the UK. He also has more in store for Sherborne. ‘Now that we’re hopefully out of lockdown for good, I will be relaunching my monthly music nights with DJ Dave Oxford, Hot Top Burgers and of course an ever-rotating choice of beer,’ he says.

‘I genuinely love the towns where we have our bars,’ says George. ‘Sherborne saved this brewery during lockdown and I can’t thank the town enough. Back in late January, people were queuing outside and I heard someone say ‘if we don’t come and buy now they might not be here after lockdown’ and for that I am deeply appreciative. I think this town has gone 100% above and beyond in terms of support during what we have been through.’ George has the patience of a saint when it comes to beginners like me and is dedicated to sharing the knowledge and affection of his craft. He’s clearly fond of Sherborne and pleased to have been able to set up his brewery here. He is also part of a burgeoning community of unique independent businesses finding their way to Old Yarn Mills. Home to design agency Lolly, artist Victoria Young Jamieson, design dealer Molecula, board games cafe Gamespod, Old Barn Framing, and now the beloved Vineyards, this unassuming corner of town is becoming quite the destination.

For now, with all his plans and ambition, George is content to brew and follow a simple mantra: ‘People should just drink good beer,’ he says. With that in mind, the next time I’m in a queue for the bar I now know exactly what to ask for…

@Brewed-Boy-Sherborne @imaginaryfriendsbrewing