London & South East Premier Construction

The Tasting Rooms- Meantime Brewing Company

The Tasting Rooms, Meantime Brewing Company
Written by Roma Publications

 

The Tasting Rooms, Meantime Brewing Company

Meantime Brewing Company has expanded their London brewery with the launch of a new state of the art pub, shop and tasting facility.

The Tasting Rooms comprise a multi-purpose venue offering guests the chance to tour the site, eat, drink and shop in the company’s main brewery.

The project has seen the company invest £6.4 million over the last 18 months to create a fully immersive brewery and modern craft beer experience. Forest Gate acted as the scheme’s main contractors and Michael Hook undertook the architectural services for the project.

Meantime came up with the idea of expanding the Greenwich based facility in November 2013. After the team had gained planning permission, landlord approval and bar licence applications, works began on site in July 2014 and completed in December 2014, with the venue being unveiled in January 2015

The on site team has converted a 9,000 square foot space adjacent to their existing brewery to create The Tasting Rooms. The complex comprises of a bar, with room for 100+ people, and a visitor centre boasting views across the brewery connecting the consumer with the brewing process in a revolutionary step.

The Tasting Rooms, Meantime Brewing Company

The space includes new brewing equipment with 800hl maturation vessels and a 21st century kegging robot, viewable from the retail area. The Tasting Rooms also contain a fully merchandised shop open to the public seven days a week, which stocks the full range of core and seasonal beers and branded merchandise.

Studio 48 has overseen the design of the new bar and shopping space. The shop, which also opened in January this year, boasts an impressive back drop of giant silver maturation vessels, as well as interactive iPads, a central circular aluminium table and stools, warm natural wood and bespoke units carrying Meantime merchandise and lifestyle apparel.

The shop also contains a unique cold store where visitors can purchase chilled beer to enjoy at home.

The bar interior comprises a blend of different textures such as reclaimed wood, distressed leather, as well as piecemeal ceramic and rectangular floor tiles. Retro style chairs and stools feature throughout, as do utilitarian steel tables and exposed brickwork.

The design gives the bar a warm, urban, open sense to it that nods to Meantime’s focus on craft and heritage.

The Tasting Rooms, Meantime Brewing Company

The opening of the new site has created an additional 20 jobs for the company and transformed the brewery’s main facility to 35,000 square foot. Nick Miller, Chief Executive of Meantime Brewing Company, commented:

“The Tasting Rooms will bring our customers even closer to the brewing process, allowing them to enjoy high quality modern craft beer and food, with the added theatre of being in the heart of a working brewery. The way people think about beer is changing. Provenance and the use of the finest ingredients, coupled with the latest brewing technology enable our quest for better tasting beer.

“Consumers are also more engaged than ever with quality and locality wanting to engage with and understand the brewing process, and this deeper education is becoming part of the enjoyment.”

The Tasting room forms part of Meantime’s ongoing investment plan which has seen the company plough £9.5 million into the brand since 2010.

The improved brewery site now has the capacity to brew 120,000 hectolitres of beer every year and host over 1,500 people on brewery tours each month. The company plan to introduce new courses designed for budding brewers.

The Tasting Rooms, Meantime Brewing Company

Nick Miller added:

“There are three major benefits to the project; firstly our production capability has significantly improved. Secondly we have created a brilliant shop window for our customers; the new facility is great for our brand visibility and looks professional, like a premium brand. Thirdly it is great to have all members of our team back on one site.”

Caterware Ltd

 Caterware Ltd are multi-award winning specialists in the design, installation and maintenance of commercial kitchens boasting over 37 years’ experience working with leading brands.

This industry renowned and well-respected company offers an extensive list of services to clients including: production of drawings, project management, attendance at technical design meetings, and liaison with other contractors, warranty management and staff training. All services are supported by in-house technicians, maintenance packages and an excellent after sales services.

The Tasting Rooms, Meantime Brewing Company

Meantime Brewing Company recently added their name to Caterware’s enviable client list following a revamp of their popular Tasting Rooms. Caterware installed a bar and a compact but fully-equipped kitchen as well as a glass-fronted cold room for displaying and selling beers in a temperature-controlled environment.

The chic bar equipment installed in the brewery Tasting Rooms was specially designed to be in keeping with the vintage look of the venue. Thanks to Caterware’s space-saving kitchen—which includes a top-notch food preparation area, dishwashing area and a full air extraction and replacement canopy and system—the Tasting Rooms now also provides an all-day food and restaurant offering to complement the beer tasting experience.

The refrigerated ‘Beer Cave’, where customers can browse and buy beers stored at precisely the right temperature, adds to the whole customer experience. Customers can now take home the perfect specimen after an immersive shopping experience that truly differentiates the brewery.

To contact Caterware visit www.caterware.co.uk.

You can also follow Caterware on Twitter @caterwareltd.

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Roma Publications