ABOUT US

Severn Vale Brewery was set up to provide top quality traditional ales to free trade pubs and to the general public of Gloucestershire and beyond. It is the culmination of a year of hard work for Steve McDonald and his family. His father, Norman, having worked so hard cleaning and painting, sadly didn't see the results of his labours. He died suddenly a week before the plant was installed and the first gyle brewed.

Steve gained his brewing expertise when he worked for six years as the head brewer at a successful local brewery. Many of the beers he helped develop won awards at local and national competitions. It is very much a family business. Wife Sue, sons Josh, Douglas and Duncan, and mother Betty have all pitched in to help Steve get started.

THE BREWERY

Severn Vale Brewing Co is situated on a farm on the edge of the village of Cam in Gloucestershire. the farmer has given up farming, as have so many round here because of the lack of profits. The building used for the brewhouse used to be the milking parlour. It was ideal in many ways, already having 3-phase electricity and a raised platform so that the brewing vessels are higher than the casks when they are being filled. The farm's effluent system is also utilised to minimise the brewery's impact on the environment.

The 5-barrel brewing plant was purchased new from Dave Porter of Porter Brewing Installations, Bury, Lancashire. Dave has done a very good job in designing an efficient plant which is easy to use, and it came in at a favourable price compared to his competitors, many of which are merely modifications of former cellar tanks.