More than 300 guests attended a party to celebrate the relaunch of Hanlons Brewery, formerly O'Hanlons.
Jim Bungard and Dan Taylor took over the business last December and moved the existing brewing equipment into a purpose-built brewery at Half Moon Village, near Exeter, as well as rebranding and refreshing the image.
Yellow Hammer fans and friends for the last 15 years, Jim and Dan had both been looking for a new direction in their careers. When the opportunity to take over the brewery came up, they felt it was too good to miss.
Four members of staff, including master brewer Richard Mayne, stayed on after the takeover and the company has seen considerable rewards for their efforts including 140 new pub customers across the UK and being awarded the 2014 Gold Taste of the West for Port Stout (bottled) and Silver Taste of the West for Yellow Hammer (cask).
One of their customers, Andy Chrichard from the Rose & Crown in Sandford, said: "One of the main reasons we choose to use Hanlons is because it's a local brewery, it's great to serve beer that has come just a few miles down the road from where its brewed. We think it's important to serve local beers as much as we can and always have Yellow Hammer available."
Hanlons is a real family affair with both Jim and Dan's family making significant investments in the business and the new brewing site being built on land at Dan's family farm.
"Family members have all thrown themselves into the venture, and we couldn't have made such progress without their help," said Jim, who has taken on the role of sales and marketing director whilst Dan is in charge of production.
The launch was enjoyed by customers, suppliers and friends alike who all sampled a free bar and took part in tasting sessions provided by renowned beer specialist Adrian Tierney-Jones.
Accompanying food was provided by catering company the Proof of the Pudding using ingredients from local suppliers such as Quickes Cheese and Good Game.
The team will be brewing Yellow Hammer (4.2% abv), the lead brand in a five-strong core cask range that also includes Port Stout (4.8%), Stormstay Premium Ale (5%), Firefly Bitter (3.7%) and Copper Glow (4.2%), the lineup will also feature occasional and seasonal beers.
Jim said: "We'll stick to those five core beers as it means we can have better consistency and quality and fresher beer in the pubs. We did, however, brew a wheat beer, Half Moon, to commemorate our launch and it became the third best-seller at Wetherspoon's Spring Beer Festival."
