T|E|H – Meet The Brewers- Bricknell Brewery

Hello, my fellow beer lovers,

Today is a chat with a twist. Now usually I do these on my own, but Bricknell Brewery is located in my hometown of Hull, and now that I’m living in Leeds I would have to travel down to do the interview and pick up the beer. However, as if by magic, both my father (John) and my uncle (Peter) enthusiastically volunteered to do it on my behalf. Some may wonder why these two beer-loving middle-aged men were so enthusiastic to visit a microbrewery, meet a brewer and pick up some of their tipples to sample, but I for one can certainly understand their interest, and I appreciated the help!

So both John, and Peter went down to Bricknell Brewery at the end of October to meet the head and only brewer, Richard English, after one of his brewing days to ask him some quizzie questions about his brewing process, his beers, and his view on the industry.

“Thank you for taking the time to allow us to visit you and ask you a few questions, can you tell us a little more about how Bricknell Brewery first got started.”

I have always had a passion for brewing, but in July 2015 I left my job as a lecturer at the University of Hull in order to spend more time with my wife who was seriously ill. Due to my lack of employment, I needed to find an alternative source of income, and so decided to take the step from home brewing to commercial brewing. Thus my microbrewery, Bricknell Brewery came into existence.

I’m currently brewing around 140 to 150 litres per batch, so the emphasis is on quality, not quantity. I personally do everything by hand, from the brewing through to bottling and even adding the labels.

Wow, that is a lot of work for one man. Clearly, your hard work hasn’t been wasted as you are now becoming well recognized locally, given this do you have any plans for expansion?

This is something that a lot of people have asked me over the last 6 years. However, the short answer is “no”.

There are two ways I could expand. One would be to buy more fermenters and therefore brew more frequently, but, as you can see, I don’t have the space for any more than the two fermenters I have at the moment. The second way to expand would be to replace my 200 litre vessels for bigger ones, but again, I don’t have the space to accommodate these. I guess I could purchase or rent bigger premises, but I don’t want to make that sort of financial commitment. And anyway, I’m very happy only having to work 2 days a week, because that leaves plenty of time to go hiking, meet up with my family, visit pubs and drink!

Given your smaller brew size, have you noticed any shifts or changes in your business since the pubs re-opened earlier this year?

Yes, I have seen a definite shift in my sales as I am now receiving fewer orders from private customers but I am supplying more bottle shops and restaurants than I was previously. The overall level of sales has been fairly constant over the last couple of years, but the emphasis has shifted from private customers to commercial ones as we emerged from lockdowns.

At the moment I am brewing the different beers according to the demand for each one. I keep an eye on stock levels and brew a particular beer when it starts to run out.

How would you say your brewery ties in with the local area, other than the name Bricknell Brewery?

Well as you know it’s called Bricknell Brewery because that is where we are situated, here on Bricknell Avenue. I also grow my own hops on-site, and use them in our seasonal brews. I believe you have a few bottles of the Avenues Pale and the Green Hop Bitter, both of which utilise our homegrown hops. Most of our beers have a similar name convention to our brewery in that they are named after local places, people, and also ships that were built in Hull. We also only supply to the local area, with the furthest regular customer being in Beverley, just a few miles away, although I have occasionally supplied beers for CAMRA beer festivals in other parts of the country.

As you provide beer to a number of local places, can you tell our readers where they can purchase your beers, and do you brew any casks?

As I said, I’m currently brewing to demand and so should I be approached about supplying a cask, as I often am by Tony at The Hop & Vine, I always try to accommodate the request. However, given my small brew size, I can’t fill a lot of casks as it would take up a significant proportion of my brewing capacity.

So by default, all of the beer goes into bottles, which can be purchased from the online store on the Bricknell Brewery website here. Or if you are out and about, you can get a hold of bottles and the occasional cask beer at the Hop & Vine, as well as bottles at Larkins Bar on Newland Avenue, Wok So Ever and The Old Lamp Room in Cottingham, Tapasya on the Marina, Vittles & Co in Trinity Market and Vine & Grain in Beverley. I’m also hoping to supply the new Hammonds of Hull Foodhall, which opens in December.

What kind of beers do you personally enjoy?

As a homebrewer, I always brewed beers that I like to drink, and that has not really changed. I have expanded the range of beers in the last couple of years to include, for example, American-style IPAs, but for the most part, I like to stick to traditional English ales, particularly the darker beers, which is why I produce four different porters, plus three imperial stouts, some as high as 11.7%.

I’m not a big fan of sours, gose, saisons etc. so I don’t brew them.

And finally, what can we expect to see next from Bricknell Brewery?

Well, I’ve just bottled a new 4.9% porter. It’s based on the recipe for the other porters, but I’ve reduced the ABV to make it more ‘sessionable’ and I’ve also gone big on the oats and wheat to give it plenty of body and mouthfeel. The other porters are flavoured with chocolate, vanilla, coffee, or coconut, but this new one is ‘back to basics’ with no adjuncts, so it’s all about the malts. It’s based on a traditional Victorian recipe so I’m hoping that it will be something close to Fuller’s London Porter, but the proof of the pudding will be in the drinking! It’s called Wilberforce Porter, and it should be available for you all to enjoy in bottles from early December. I’ve also filled one small cask, so watch this space to see where that will be appearing!

---

And that brings our chat to a close, thank you again Richard for taking the time to sit with us and talk to us about Bricknell Brewery. I for one can’t wait to get in line to get my hands on some of that Wilberforce Porter, and I am sure John and Peter will be right behind me!

Until then, we will be making our way through most of the beers that Bricknell has to offer. The first of which will be their Green Hop Bitter, which will be posted tomorrow afternoon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!