Rebellion's 2023 Year Summary
28 December 2023
Rebellion Wrapped
Number of brews: 481
Pints produced: 4,985,000
Pints sold in our tap yard:
120,070
Deliveries made: 33,673
And so our 30th year of brewing comes to a close!
We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has
supported us, not only in 2023, but throughout the last 30 years.
We're really proud of what we've achieved, and we couldn't have
done it without you.
2023 was a pretty stormy year, with lots of market changes and
ongoing price increases, but with our excellent staff and loyal
customers we've been able to focus on what we do best - making
great beer.Here's a little summary of this year at Rebellion,
starting with our Head Brewer, Ed.
In the Brewhouse - A Summary from Head Brewer, Ed Bates
Another successful year in production despite the very
challenging wider economic climate with many breweries struggling
to stay open. In response to this we've really been focusing on
driving quality up to make us stand out from the sea of cheap
mainstream beer available. We want the consumer to get the benefit
of super fresh local beer, both here on site and in the local pubs,
which hopefully is so much more satisfying than a disappointing
pint from a faceless mega corporation…
That being said, the change to the ABV of IPA is probably the
most nerve-racking change to a product that I have ever been
involved in. Due to new legislation from the government, we felt we
had no option but to drop IPA from 3.7% to 3.4%; we dedicated a
huge amount of time and effort to make sure the consumer would not
notice any difference and we couldn't be more pleased with the
results. We hope that many of you haven't even noticed!
Our small-batch development brewery beers are going from
strength to strength - we brewed 22 this year which is twice the
number of last year. We've continued to improve the equipment
and learn how to use it and we couldn't be happier with how the
beers are coming out now; theRauchbier,Wild Hopand HoneyandCzech
Pilsnerwere favourites of mine this year. We launched the
development beers in 1 litre bottles for you to buy and take home
and the response to these has been incredible, with some batches of
NEIPA & DIPA selling out in 24 hours.
The development brewery has also given us opportunities to work
with local suppliers and customers. Local honey and hops collected
from the fields around the brewery, wooden barrels from Harrow
& Hope who are just over the road, botanicals from Griffith
Brothers, coffee from Coopers roastery - it helps to tie the
brewery and the beer to the wider community.
We launched Rebellion Black 'Nitro' into trade and it's slowly
building momentum and a loyal following of drinkers. We've had the
beer available in the Tap Yard since it opened but it has been a
challenge to scale up production. We are extremely happy with the
beer and its incredibly drinkable despite its complexity; I hope
you get to try it on draught in a local pub soon if you haven't had
the opportunity yet!
Next year looks to be another extremely challenging year for the
industry and it's highly likely that we will see even more brewery
and pub closures. We will just continue to focus on making the best
beer we can and hope that you continue to think it's worth every
penny, whether fresh from the brewery or in all the fantastic local
pubs and clubs.
Cheers,
Ed
Development Brewery
As Ed mentioned, our development brews this year have been one
of our standout successes and have been universally popular amongst
customers and staff alike.
We've tried to produce high-quality, well-balanced examples of a
variety of beer styles from around the world and the reception has
been incredible.
The awaited arrival of two new dual-purpose vessels, which will
serve as both fermenters and conditioning vessels, will allow us to
produce larger quantities as well as new beers with more complex
conditioning profiles - offering you greater variety and
availability throughout 2024; hopefully meaning we'll always have a
fresh development beer for you to take home.
We're also hoping to be able to start offering some of our
development brews to select local pubs and clubs, so watch this
space!
Borehole & Engineering Update
Our clever engineering team has been hard at work digging an
on-site borehole, which allows us to take increasing amounts of
water directly out of the wonderful chalky Chiltern hills fifty
metres below our site.
We've been using this water to brew for the past year, and we're
looking to expand this to be able to extract a greater volume for
use in general applications around the brewery (read: endless
cleaning).
We're also really close to commissioning a computerised control
system for our fermentation vessels, which will give us better
control over the temperature and pressure of the fermenting beer;
this is another step forward for us in managing quality &
consistency.
Brand New Mini Barrel Taps
We launched our brand-new metal taps for our 22 x Pint Mini
Barrels this year, which took a lot of planning and we're really
happy with how they've been received.
The new tap has significantly reduced mini barrel dispense
issues and allows a significantly more controlled pour. We really
hope you're enjoying them and would encourage anyone who has ever
had a problem with the old black plastic taps to give the new ones
a try.
The black plastic taps have been put to rest, for which Bobby,
our resident mini-barrel expert who has spent the last twenty years
fixing them, is very glad about…
Tap Yard
An amazing year for our Tap Yard! Our Tap Yard manager Tom and
his team have done an excellent job, serving around 40% more pints
compared to last year.
We're also proud to have achieved full marks in the Beer Marque
accreditation; the award celebrates businesses that have met a
rigorous quality standard, checking the beer from the cellar to the
glass.
In addition to the food trucks on a Saturday, we've introduced
rotating food trucks on a Thursday, - meaning you can now pop in
for dinner as well as a pint on your way home from work.
We're currently running a promotion which gives you a free pint,
glass of wine, or soft drink when you buy a main meal from one of
the Thursday vendors, so another great reason to visit!
2024 will hopefully be another great year for the Tap Yard, and
we'll look to continue to develop in the coming 12 months. We
appreciate the great, family-friendly atmosphere that has been
cultivated by all of our loyal customers, and we look forward to
seeing you all in the New Year!
Shop & Drive Through
We continue to focus on making our shop and drive through a
great place to visit, and we've just recently finished installing a
new tap rail for tasters in the shop (you can buy a pint there
too).
As well as the focus on beer, we continue to offer a great
selection of wines, spirits and ciders - introducing a cider of the
month and more recently collaborating with the gin experts over at
Griffith's Brothers to launch our very own Rebellion Gin, which
we're glad to say has been really well received!
Over the next 12 months, alongside offering new beers and an
excellent space to shop (and drink) in, we plan on really
concentrating on the site itself - reviewing site access and how we
can improve our car parking.
Thank you so much for all your support, and we hope you have a
Happy New Year.
From all at the Rebellion Brewery,
Cheers!
