20 Arches Brew Co, the craft beer bar on Brackley High Street, has opened a nano brewery on site, the town’s first brewery in 67 years.
Brackley once had a proud brewing tradition, home to two breweries: Blencowe & Co, which closed in 1925, and Hopcraft & Norris, which ceased brewing in 1959. With the new nano brewery now up and running, that heritage returns to Brackley for the first time in over six decades.
Starting small, the brewery is currently a one barrel nano brewery, with plans to expand capacity in the future as demand grows.
The first beer to roll off the new kit is Hard Graft, an American Pale Ale, launched over 20 Arches’ third birthday weekend. It’s the first of two core beers that will be exclusively available at the bar, with the second to be announced soon.
For now, the beers will only be poured at 20 Arches itself.
But once production reaches full capacity, the brewery plans to expand, making its beers available in other bars and bottle shops across the region, with bigger ambitions still to come.
Alongside the two core beers, once volumes are established the brewery will also turn its attention to single-batch, small-run craft beers, using the best malts and hops available, giving regulars something new to try alongside the mainstays.
20 Arches has built its reputation over the last three years on quality craft beer, stocking a rotating range of keg beer alongside its bottle shop on Brackley High Street. Last year the bar expanded into the unit next door, a project part-funded by community crowdfunding, a reflection of the local support that’s carried the business from its early days to today.
Owner Tom said:
“We’ve always prided ourselves on the range we pour: beers from all over the country, Europe and America, for people who travel from near and far to try them. Now we get to hand them something brewed right here in Brackley too. At a time when hospitality is struggling and so many pubs, bars and breweries are closing, it’s brilliant to have a community that turns up and lets us deliver on what we set out to do in the first place.”
20 Arches Brew Co is a truly independent bar and brewery in the heart of Brackley, built with and for the community it serves.