Stays Sharp's to the bottom of the glass (St Austell)

Sharp's is challenging St Austell as Cornwall's biggest brewer. Roger Protz visited it

My wife and sons are all too familiar with the following episode during our annual summer holiday. It begins with my saying: “On the way to the beach, can we make a small detour to look at a new microbrewery that’s just opened?” It continues, some three hours later, with the sun gone and rain falling in torrents. The morning has involved (a) getting lost three times (b) finally finding the minor road but getting stuck behind a tractor and (c) discovering that the brewery is shut while the owner pursues his second job as the village postman.

It was in this manner in 1994 that I found Bill Sharp in his brand-new brewery on the aptly named (as far as my family was concerned) Pityme Industrial Estate near Rock in Cornwall.

At least Bill was there, not delivering the post.

But, scrubbing his fermenter on a warm day and with a new brew to mash in, he wasn’t able to do more than shake hands and recommend a good divorce lawyer.

A decade on, Sharp’s has become a phenomenon. It is one of the fastest-growing breweries in Britain and has long left behind the status of a micro. It is, indisputably, a regional company, vying with St Austell Brewery, which dates from the 19th century, as the biggest producer of cask ale in Cornwall. Sharp’s is still on the same industrial estate but now occupies most of it, not just one small building.

The company has changed hands. In 2003 Nick Baker and Joe Keohane bought the business but Bill Sharp remains as a minority shareholder and advisor. Nick.....

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By Roger Protz

Section : Brewery Focus

Page number : 55