The London microbrewery finding Redemption in selling beer to the world
The UK internet hasn’t just enabled new types of businesses and services to flourish, but has played a key part in the renaissance of some traditional crafts and trades. London’s Redemption Brewery is typical of one such small enterprise enabled by the web.
“Before I went for it, I spent two years trying to convince myself it was a bad idea.”
So says Andy Moffat, who in 2008 quit his job as a banker to start a small brewery in North London.
“There were so few breweries in London. I was sure it was for a reason. But the more I did research, the more I realised it could work. We also timed it well — craft beer was just taking off,” he adds.
He found an empty industrial unit in Tottenham, acquired a 12 barrel plant, fermenters, conditioning tanks, chiller units, pumps and pipes — and began to brew. In early 2010, Redemption Brewing released their first batch of Redemption Pale Ale. And today, Redemption is one of the most successful craft breweries in the UK.
They had timed it absolutely perfectly. The microbrewery trend in the US had just begun to make its way across the pond. Now, new wave beer is firmly instilled beyond the foodie fringe — and there are currently more than eight hundred breweries in the UK. That is the highest number since the 1940s.
And Redemption’s web presence played a key part in their growth. Andy and his plans were online before they’d even started brewing
And Redemption’s web presence played a key part in their growth. Andy and his plans were online before they’d even started brewing, with Andy blogging about his adventures in craft beer back in 2009.
Branding has been a major part of Redemption’s success. As much as their flavours, their individualist branding helps the beer stand out. Andy’s partner Sam is the brains behind Redemption’s likeable, down-to-earth web presence, but it is an essential sales channel too.
“At the start we didn’t bottle, we just did barrels. But we kept getting people asking for bottles, so in 2014 we started bottling, and then we opened our online shop.”
Now on Redemption’s website, you can get three of its core beers delivered anywhere in the UK, with their .co.uk address reinforcing the beers’ country of origin.
The idea of a “Microbrewery” originated in the late 1970s to describe the small breweries that produced traditional cask ale, eschewing the mainstream brews of the major players. CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) was started in 1971 for similar reasons — a quest for better flavour and character.
But while real ale might invoke images of old men in flat caps drinking down a stuffy pub, today’s craft beer is as cool as it gets, with local brewers taking their lead from the strong tastes and bold identities of the US scene.
As they created more sophisticated flavours, pubs stepped their game up, too. Previously tied to buying beer from larger breweries, they could now answer to demands for better-tasting, more intense and esoteric beers.
And microbrewers like Redemption are bucking a national trend. Overall beer sales in the UK have dropped by about 20% in the last 15 years.
When Andy set up Redemption, it was one of just a handful of craft beer producers in London. Now there are over seventy.
Tottenham remains at the heart of the business — and in 2013, the “Tottenham Ploughman” was even invented: Redemption beer, locally-made bread from Flourish Craft Bakery and hand-made local cheese from Wildes’ Cheese.
We’ve always made a lot about being a North London brewer, but when we got the web shop set up,” says Andy, “we could get those beers far further afield.” And while Redemption currently brews around 16,000 pints a week, Andy says he’s aiming to double that next year, as well as expand its bottle range.
This story is one of 30 celebrating the launch of .uk domain names in 1985. To read the others visit our 30 Years of .uk hub. To start your own .uk story check out www.agreatplacetobe.uk.
