Ventures putting Ilkley’s beer industry on the global stage

FAMOUS the world over for its restorative spa waters, Ilkley is fermenting a new reputation for its brewing industry.

Former business partners Stewart Ross and Chris Ives, co-founders of the Ilkley Brewery, are both embarking on new projects.

Mr Ross is acting as consultant to Flying Duck Enterprises Ltd, which this week won planning permission to create a new microbrewery at one of the town’s most historic buildings.

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Mr Ives is pursuing his international ambitions and heads across the Atlantic next week to showcase his range of beers at one of North America’s biggest craft beer conventions.

He and Mr Ross co-founded Ilkley Brewery in 2009 and won national acclaim when they scooped the top award in the Local Business Accelerators competition with backing from the Yorkshire Post.

But Mr Ross left the business at the end of last year and has declined to comment on the circumstances of his departure.

The partially blind businessman is now consultant to a group of investors planning to transform the Albert pub into the Flying Duck.

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The pub, formerly known as the Mallard, dates back to 1709 and was noted by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner for its architectural importance.

Flying Duck Enterprises, backed by investors including gambling tycoon Peter Fisher, will invest £160,000 in renovating the pub and developing a brewing operation. Once complete, the pub will be home to the new Wharfedale Brewery.

Jonathan Shepherd, one of the investors, said: “We felt there was a niche in the market to capitalise on the resurgence in the popularity of real ale by producing and selling our own beer in the kind of pub which has been sadly lacking in Ilkley.”

Mr Fisher, a director and shareholder at StanJames.com, told the Yorkshire Post why he decided to back the project.

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He said: “The shareholders have a great passion for beer and a great camaraderie and I thought it would be an exciting project. I think we are going to be offering a unique drinking experience.

“It’s a fantastic premises – it’s 300 years old, it has some tremendous features, it really is the essence of the traditional British pub.”

Mr Fisher added: “I’ve been based in Gibraltar for the last 14 years and I do tend to miss the British countryside and Yorkshire is the best example there is of the British countryside.

“Some of the shareholders go on an annual walk in the Dales.

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“Five years ago I decided to take part and have done so every year since and became very good friends with the other shareholders.”

StanJames.com sponsored the Champion Hurdle at last week’s Cheltenham Festival. The other investors include former chairmen of the Ilkley Round Table, accountants, estate agents and scientists.

Mr Shepherd, who owns the odds comparison website Betrescue, said Wharfedale Brewery will produce three regular beers, a blonde, a bitter and a dark, plus experimental brews.

The company will start renovation work on April 1 and has bought brewing equipment from Oban Ales, a Fort William-based supplier to the microbrewery industry.

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The company plans to extend the main bar area and create a beer cellar in the gents. Wharfedale Brewery will initially have capacity to produce around 1,300 pints a week.

Mr Shepherd said local restaurants and wine bars have already requested supplies.

He is confident that the Flying Duck will be a success in spite of the cyclical and structural challenges facing the pub trade.

He said: “While appreciating that a large number of pubs continue to close, we feel that good, specialist outlets which give customers what they want can thrive even in such difficult economic conditions, and by running both a pub and a brewery we can effectively get two bites of the cherry by being a wholesaler and retailer.”

He hopes the pub will be open by July.

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Meanwhile, Ilkley Brewery’s Chris Ives is preparing to attend the Craft Brewers Conference & Brew Expo in Washington DC as part of a delegation of 10 British brewers.

Mr Ives will be showcasing three beers – Siberia, Lotus IPA and a specially brewed 6 per cent version of flagship ale Mary Jane – to an audience of 5,000 global brewing professionals. UK Trade & Investment and the Brewing, Food & Beverage Industry Suppliers Association are supporting the trip.

Mr Ives said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for Ilkley Brewery as we start to export.

“We hope that the beers we have selected for the convention will be well received by delegates.

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“We have chosen them based on emerging craft beer styles but at the same time, we wanted to give people a taste of something deceptively different, handmade in Yorkshire.”

He is also hoping to learn from other brewers.

“Having the opportunity to position ourselves among such an influential overseas crowd is going to be a hugely valuable experience for Ilkley Brewery,” he said.

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