A family owned microbrewery is taking over a Chester pub that thrived back in the 1990s as The Fat Cat.
Wrexham-based Big Hand Brewing Co Ltd will hope to emulate that success when the Lower Watergate Street venue reopens ‘towards the end of July’.
Work is ongoing to create 'Big Hand Alehouse' with a banner outside which reads 'Think independent, drink independent'.
Company founder Dave Shaw, who set up the business with nephew Andy Benson, tweeted: “It’s all coming along very well.”
The ‘About Us’ section on the company website states: “Started by an uncle and nephew team, Dave (uncle) and Andy (nephew) decided to give up the luxuries of a guaranteed income and offices with heating to brew beer they would both be proud to serve.
“Armed with nothing more than a redundancy cheque, a pair of Wellington boots and Google, Dave convinced his wife that starting a brewery was the correct course of action. Having found a piece of kit with suitable pedigree, Dave realised that he needed someone else to do the cleaning. So, the shortest telephone conversation in history was made: “Hi Andy. Do you want to give up teaching and brew beer?” – you can fill in the rest.
“In the rather cold winter of 2012, Dave and Andy started the process of putting the brewery together. Dave’s background in construction and engineering proved invaluable, while Andy’s background in theology proved, well, useless. Still, he could hit things with a hammer so he was happy.
“Officially born in March 2013, Big Hand Brewing has quickly established itself as a serious player in the North Wales craft brewing scene, racking up five SIBA Regional awards in three years. But as the brewery develops, and as new recipes are discussed and trialled, the underlying beliefs from the start remain the same...”
Core beers include Bastion, 4.2% in strength, described as ‘a crisp, balanced best bitter. European and British noble hops create a refreshing, easy drinking beer with a classic finish’. While Oren is 3.7% in strength and ‘fresh melon, peach and tangerine flavours run through this beautifully soft pale ale’.
There are also seasonal brews, recipes that only come out once in a while and special charity beers such as Little Monkey (4%) with a ‘warm spice finish revealed as the biscuit chocolate body fades’ in support of the Countess of Chester Hospital Babygrow Appeal.
The Lower Watergate Street location has struggled in recent years.
It has changed hands three times in the past five years – previously opening as Linenhall in 2013 then Mockingbird Taproom in 2014 before El Sotano took over in March 2017 only to close less than a year later.
