Eight months after the Four Candles closed its doors in Broadstairs, Kent its owner is hoping to find a new home for the brewery equipment that operated at the tiny pub and the name.
Four Candles opened in 2012 as Britain’s 12th micropub and later installed its own compact brewery, becoming the country’s’ smallest brewpub.
The 2.5-barrel brew kit was chosen because it was the largest that could be fitted into the cellar at 1 Sowell Street.
The brewery can produce around 440 litres – approximately 11 nine-gallon casks – a brew and operates on domestic single-phase electricity. Alongside the main brewing vessels and fermenters are pumps, heat exchanger, cask-washing equipment and other equipment. There are also 95 steel and 47 plastic casks.
When Four Candles closed in December, owner Mike Beaumont says he was not in any hurry to dispose of the brewery.
“After more than 12 years it represented much more than a collection of tanks and pumps. There are 734 handwritten brew records and recipes, the registered Four Candles/Fork Handles brand and a lot of local history tied up with it.
“I deliberately didn’t put the brewery up for sale when we closed. I wanted time to decide whether to sell the equipment piecemeal or try to find somebody who might take on the brewery, recipes and Four Candles/Fork Handles identity as something with a future.
“I’ve decided to try the latter first. Over its years of brewing, Four Candles produced hundreds of beers, concentrating on traditional clear ales. The handwritten archive contains 734 individual brew records and recipes, including bitters, porters, single-hop experiments and seasonal beers.”
One of the brewery’s annual traditions was green-hop brewing at the beginning of the September harvest. Fresh hops were collected locally, and neighbours were encouraged to bring them from their own gardens to add to the copper.
“Another memorable one-off was Resist Ukrainian Anti-Imperial Stout, brewed with beetroot following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Bottles were sold for £20 each in aid of the Red Cross and the project raised thousands of pounds for the charity.
“The sale can potentially include the registered Four Candles/Fork Handles trade mark and brand assets, original Fork Handles display case and brew archive.
“It could suit an existing pub or micropub wanting to brew its own beer, a new small brewery, or an established brewer looking for a compact, small-batch system.
“I would much rather see it brewing beer again than simply dismantle the whole thing into separate lots,” said Mike.
Contact Mike Beaumont (mike@beaumontfamily.co.uk) for more details.
