Cheers as Shropshire brewery Joule's marks its success

Joule's is producing more than 45,000 pints a week at its purpose-built £1.5 million home in Great Hales Street, Market Drayton.

Last week saw the opening of its newest pub, The Rose and Crown in Ludlow, which is one of about 40 the firm owns in Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.

Vicky Shirley, retail marketing coordinator, said the secret of the firm's success was due to a number of factors, including how much it cares about its beer.

"We look after our beer, our pub locations are fantastic, and we are dog-friendly," she said.

"Those that run our pubs fly the Joule's flag, realise the importance of local communities and offer fantastic service.

"Our pub tours are very popular. People get to find out about our heritage, how we came to be in Market Drayton and what we produce. People come from all over."

Joule's history dates back hundreds of years to monks who brewed their own beer, blessed it and then marked the barrels with a simple red cross.

In the late 1700s Francis Joule adopted the same red cross as the symbol for Joule's Ales – and in 1929 when the Red Cross Act made this the symbol for international first aid, Joule's had special dispensation to continue to use it.

Joule's was based in Stone, Staffordshire, for generations, but in 1974 it brewed its final barrel when owners Bass Charrington pulled the plug on the name.

Flash forward to the year 2000 when the name Joule's was resurrected by Steve Nuttall.

He was drawn to brew in Market Drayton because of a source of pure water running below the town, which once supplied two breweries.

Mr Nuttall set up Joule's Brewery Ltd and the company began a 10-year project to open its own site. The company bought the 16th century Red Lion, a former Joule's pub in the heart of the town. The site gave them enough land to build their own brewery above the crucial water source.

The building, with a famous 30-metre high tower, was completed in July 2010 and the first ale was brewed on October 25, 36 years to the day after that last Joule's brew in Stone.

Joule's produces three core ales on site – Pale Ale, Blonde Ale and Slumbering Monk as well as a number of seasonal beers.

It also produces its craft lager, Green Monkey, which was launched in May 2014.

Ms Shirley said: "Green Monkey has done very well and our pale ale – our first one – remains very popular."

Mark Leedham, head brewer, lifted the lid on the company's brewing technique.

He said: "The malt starts at the top of our tower. We pass it through a mill, smash it up to extract sugars and it is ready for the brewing process.

"We use three or four tonnes of malt, mix it for 25 minutes, leave it for two hours then add the hops at 103 degrees. It takes a total of seven hours to do a brew.

"We use good materials.

"New technology has only benefited us. It is not a hindrance at all.

"A lot of the big valves are set manually but we are able to control things via an iPad."

One of the biggest challenges facing many businesses in the future is the country's decision to leave the EU.

During the build-up to the EU referendum, pubs and small business owners were largely in favour of leaving. It was thought that by being free of the EU, pubs would be released from 'red tape' slowing down the mechanics of commerce.

Ms Shirley said: "We use a lot of English products so I don't think it will directly affect us. But we do use hops which are sourced from New Zealand so we will see how it goes."

Over the past few months a team of craftsmen have been carefully restoring the The Rose and Crown in Ludlow.

The firm commissioned an array of traditional stained glass windows for the restoration, which have been created by Paul Georgiou.

His work can be seen in all Joule's pubs, signed off by his mark of the honey bee depicting the pub as the honey pot of the community.

Ms Shirley said: "The pubs we choose are community-driven. We tend to choose ones which are in disarray. If they are about to close we will look at them.

"We realise that pubs are the centre of a community and we want to give something back to the community when restoring them and taking them on."

Despite the economic downturn in recent years Joule's has bucked the trend of many businesses and continued to grow, acquiring more pubs and producing more beer.

So what does the future have in store for the brewery which boasts an impressive portfolio of about 40 pubs across three counties?

"Production-wise we are in the range of 45,000 plus pints a week and growing.

"At the moment we are very much committed to the heartlands of Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire.

"But we will see what opportunities come up. We are very careful with spending money responsibly," Ms Shirley added.