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Reaching new peaks

A NORTHAMPTONSHIRE brewery, which has been developing innovative beers since 2017, is set to produce more perfect pints, thanks to a second helping of cash.

Three Hills Brewing at Woodford near Kettering was founded by Andrew Catherall, an innovative brewer whose mission is to encourage beer lovers to challenge their taste buds, and it received a grant of £1,625 from FEAST2 (Food Enterprise Advisory Support Team), enabling it to meet the growing demand for its tasty tipples.

It follows an injection of nearly £5,000 which Andrew was awarded last year by the project’s predecessor, FEAST, which went towards the purchase of various pieces of brewing equipment, including a canning machine.

As Andrew explained, that in itself made a big difference to production: “The craft beer market has moved definitively towards cans and, as a result of moving away from bottles, small pack sales have increased over 50 per cent,” he said.

“When I heard that FEAST2 was under way, I jumped at the chance for more support and, having purchased two further fermentation tanks, I’ve been able to not only produce more beer but also release a wider range of products, including a gluten-free range.”

While this double financial boost has clearly made a personal difference to Andrew, it has also led to his taking on staff, with four people now working full time on creating, tweaking and perfecting one-off recipes, which are then made up in small-scale batches.

Indeed, such is Three Hills’ growth trajectory, Andrew is now looking for new premises to further expand the brewery, having already outgrown its current base.

Given the success with both schemes, it’s hardly surprising that he is encouraging other businesses to benefit from the wide range of support that’s available through FEAST2.

“The teams that helped me with both applications were absolutely fantastic,” said Andrew. “They made the process so simple and, given the difference that the grants have made to my business, I really would urge food and drink producers to sign up and take advantage of the varied help that’s on offer.”

FEAST2, which offers access to grant funding, technical support, sector events and mentoring to eligible food and drink manufacturers, was awarded to the Food & Drink Forum and is worth £3,934,176 in total. It will receive a further £1,967,089 in funding from the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020

For more details of FEAST2, including registering your business for the free support on offer, contact Amanda Askew at The Mallows Company on 01933 664437 or email

Meanwhile for more information on Three Hills Brewing, including details of its ever-changing range of unfined and unfiltered ales, visit www.threehillsbrewing.com or contact Andrew at

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