A tale of two breweries

One of the few bonuses of being the chairman of Stone Food and Drink Festival is that I, necessarily, have to keep my finger on the pulse of the local scene regarding anything to do with food or drink!

So when, as happened a couple of years ago, I heard that a new brewery was about to open on the old Bents site on the Mount estate, I was round there in a flash. I quickly introduced myself to Brad and from then onwards we've been the very best of mates. At the time, he was worrying himself silly as to whether his very first brew as Lymestone Brewery would be ready for that year's Food and Drink Festival but he need not have worried! It was and the rest, as they say, is history. Lymestone has gone from strength to strength and Brad is now about to expand into the vacant unit next door. It has given me great pride and pleasure to have been able to watch the growth and success of Lymestone and to have kept in touch with Brad and Viv along the way.

And the same can be said for our other local brewery, Titanic. A few years ago, we had a daft idea of having a beer tent on Westbridge Park during the Festival.  So, on the off chance they might be interested, I arranged to meet Dave Bott in the White Star in Stoke to discuss the idea. Well, I've never stopped admiring the bloke since then. Yes! He would be very keen to sponsor the beer tent! Yes ! He would be willing to sponsor the Real Ale Trail! Yes! What was the question? And then he dropped a quiet little question into the conversation. 'Can you keep a secret?', he asked. And that was when I first learnt that Titanic had just signed the papers for the Royal Exchange pub in Radford Street! The first Titanic pub outside the Potteries! Then, a year or so ago, I was invited to the opening of The Sun in Stafford where I've spent several happy hours since.

And then yesterday lunchtime I shared a seafood platter and a bowl of chips in the latest Titanic venture - The Roebuck in Leek. A super plateful in great surroundings. Dave has applied the Titanic treatment to a very old and quirky building and I'm in no doubt it will be a great success. Even on a damp Monday lunchtime almost every table was taken with diners choosing from a very appealing menu.

So I feel I have a very close and personal connection with the success of both Lymestone and Titanic breweries. Whilst, sadly, we see some pubs closing down, it's great to see our local real ale breweries bucking the trend. Long may they continue to do so - and I shall continue to do my bit to support them!