West Berkshire Brewery has switched the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply at its recently expanded production site to Flogas Britain, which will now be providing the brewery with around 150 tonnes of LPG annually.
The award-winning brewery, which is based on the site of a former dairy in Yattendon, has recently trebled in size to meet growing customer demand for its extensive range of British ales, lagers and stouts. The business had already been using LPG from another supplier to fuel production before the expansion, but opted to switch to Flogas in a move to further improve cost efficiencies at the new, larger building.
Will Twomey, Head Brewer at West Berkshire Brewery, explains: “The brewery going through a £6 million upgrade felt like a natural time for us to reassess our energy set-up, so we started looking into other LPG suppliers and what they could offer. Flogas stood out as being very professional, helpful and easy to do business with. Ultimately, their proposition was the most competitively priced too, which is important for any business.
“As we were increasing the size and production capabilities of the brewery so significantly – including adding a new steam generator – the capacity of the LPG tanks we already had in place was no longer sufficient for our needs. Ensuring the new steam generator achieves the right level of evaporation is crucial to the success of the brewing process, and having enough fuel to enable this is paramount. To cater for this, Flogas specified and installed a series of six new two-tonne bulk tanks. We were impressed by how flexible and accommodating they were willing to be when it came to fitting the installation into the wider project timeline, and are very happy with the results.”
West Berkshire Brewery’s new Flogas LPG system now feeds its state-of-the-art steam generator directly, allowing for production of up to 18,000 litres of beer per day. There are also plans to use the LPG to power hot water and cooking facilities within a new on-site bar and kitchen area for visiting customers, which is currently under development.
Wayne Brown, Area Sales Manager at Flogas, concludes: “At Flogas, we’re supplying a growing number of breweries and distilleries with LPG – and we’re delighted to now count West BerkshireBrewery among them. Brewing and distilling are energy-intensive processes, so it’s no wonder that as a cleaner, cost-effective fuel for off-grid businesses, LPG is growing in popularity in this sector.
“Whether our customers are looking for oil to gas conversions or wanting to switch to us from another LPG supplier, we’ve got 30 years’ experience in the industry and we’re here to help. We pride ourselves on building lasting working partnerships with our commercial customers, so I hope this is just the beginning of a long and successful relationship between Flogas and West Berkshire Brewery.”
As a business, West Berkshire Brewery is committed to sustainability – from adopting greener brewing methods to using locally sourced ingredients in its beers, and even supplying local farms with spent grains to use as animal feed. In comparison to oil, which many breweries and distilleries still use to power their processes, LPG is a much more cost- and energy-efficient choice.
For more information on Flogas’ LPG offering, please click here or call 0800 028 3802.