New Longton 'nano brewery' looking for help expanding into city centre tap room

A crowdfunder set up to create Preston city centre’s first brewery tap room smashed it’s target in 24 hours.
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Ryan Hayes the New Longton man behind Chain House Brewing Company, says he’s been “overwhelmed” by the response to his appeal, and has now upped the target from £5,000 to £15,000.

>>>To support Ryan’s crowdfunder, click here“It seems that the brewery is more popular than we realised”, said Ryan, 29.

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Ryan, who works full-time at Springfield Fuels, Preston, began home brewing in 2014 at his parent’s house in Chain House Lane, Whitestake, before registering the business in 2017, and setting up equipment in his own garage off Sheephill Lane, New Longton.

Ryan in his nano brewery, inside his garageRyan in his nano brewery, inside his garage
Ryan in his nano brewery, inside his garage

Since May 2019 he has been supplying kegs of craft beers to local microbars, but his limited space means he only has two tanks and no canning line.

“It’s not a full-time thing at the moment, I’m doing it in my evenings and weekends, mainly on my own and with help from my girlfriend, but I want to move into bigger premises”, he said.

“I really want it (the expansion), but there’s not a lot of money in the bank. It’s such a small business and this would be a massive outlay.

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“Five thousand (pounds) was never going to buy much, and it’s probably going to cost more than double the new £15,000 target, but I do have savings and family support, and everything helps.

Ryan works on his brewery around his full time jobRyan works on his brewery around his full time job
Ryan works on his brewery around his full time job

“It seems that there are a lot of people out there who want to see this happen, and the appeal has snowballed.”

As well as financial help on the crowdfunder - which secures the contributor with rewards such as merchandise or money off products, depending on how much is pledged - Ryan is also looking for pledged of physical help with items such as plumbing and joinery for the tap room.

He’s currently in discussions over premises in the city centre, just off Friargate, which he claims is “very small”, but would “have a great atmosphere”.

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The former Hutton Grammar School pupil said: “I love Preston, that’s the aim really. It would be cool to bring more craft beer to Preston, to give people somewhere to go and drink a local beer, in the place where it was made. I think that has a charm to it.”

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