Lager than life

One of the holy grails in terms of routes to market for small independent breweries is the restaurant sector. Notoriously wine-centric, restaurant sommeliers spend hours dissecting the qualities of a bottle of wine, and matching it to their menus, but many barely spare a thought for their beer offering. This was a gap in the market that perfectly suited Nick Trower and his former colleague from the wine industry Luke Wilson, who, along with business partner and chef Cameron Emirali, launched Braybrooke Beer Co five years ago to fulfil exactly this need. Nick’s background in wine and, more latterly, beer supply to the restaurant trade meant he was perfectly placed to transfer his knowledge to creating a beer portfolio that not only went perfectly with food, but had the provenance, high quality production methods and hand-crafted nature that restaurants were already demanding in their wine suppliers. Braybrooke specialises in lager, and not just any lager. The beers are brewed in the style of traditional German lagers, with the same exacting standards, time-consuming processes and German ingredients that you might expect to find somewhere like Bamberg in Germany, the home of Mahr’s Bräu, a brewery Nick looks up to and indeed has sent his brewing team to visit in order to perfect their craft. Just as Nick envisaged, much of Braybrooke’s output is sold in restaurants through his own Biercraft wholesale distribution operation, and the beers have pride of place on tap in 10 Greek Street, the restaurant owned and run by Luke Wilson which has become Braybrooke’s unofficial London taproom, shortly to be joined by an official taproom on the Wilson farm site near Market Harborough which is the brewery’s HQ. Independent Brewer’s Editor Caroline Nodder spoke to Nick back in May to find out how he’s succeeded in cracking the restaurant market, when so many before him have failed…

Business Basics

Name: Braybrooke Beer Co

Founded: 2018

Location: Braybrooke, Northamptonshire

Owners: Nick Trower, Luke Wilson & Cameron Emirali

Annual production: 2,500hl (2022)

Production split: 60% bottles & 40% keg

Brewing team: 5

Total Staff: 10

Flagship beers: Keller Lager (4.8% ABV lager), Helles Lager (4.2% ABV lager) & Pilsner Lager (4.5% ABV lager)

Key export markets: Italy