Traditionally stadiums have been out of bounds for craft, says Beavertown founder
What is Beavertown’s presence at Spurs’ stadium?
The brewery is a Braukon 35hl (hectolitre) brewhouse that has the ability to brew 5,000hl per annum. That’s about 1m pints per year. The taproom has 10 taps all serving Beavertown beers, including Neck Oil, which is also served throughout the stadium, Gamma Ray Pale Ale and many others. The taproom has space for around 200 comfortably on a match day and is designed by our creative director Nick Dwyer to get that full Beavertown brand experience.
How well has Beavertown been received by Spurs fans?
The reception has been crazy, it’s gone above and beyond both predictions and expectations, the fans can’t get enough – which we are delighted about.
There’s a buzz about the beer as well as the football and the Spurs fans have really taken us into their hearts as a local brewery pushing the boundaries and working with Tottenham Hotspur to do something unique. It feels like everyone has seen that and got on board with it from day one.
How much beer do you sell at the stadium?
As a rough idea – lots. Way more than we thought so it’s a good job when we built the brewery we made sure we could get more capacity out of there than we needed to.
At each home game we sold pretty much the same amount of beer which is amazing. Straight from the off, the Spurs fans were very thirsty, so the bottoms up pouring system they have installed has already been worth its weight in gold serving up the pints in super-quick time.
Personally, I’m particularly looking forward to the arrival of the Wolves to the new stadium as I’m a huge fan. All the games last year were amazing regards atmosphere and vibes – the South Stand have got a huge voice.
Have you got anything special or bespoke planned for next season?
We’ve got a few bespoke Beavertown/Spurs pieces in the taproom and we did some special one-off pint glasses for the first pour in the taproom at the stadium. Right now, the focus is to make sure we’re keeping the fans in beer but we are always looking at more ways we can work with Tottenham Hotspur.
How have you seen sport fans’ drinking habits change in recent years?
Sports fans’ drinking habits are pretty much a reflection of the market as a whole, it’s all about access to the good stuff and that is what is changing. Give anyone, sports fan or not, access to a better product and they are as likely to want to make a shift as anyone.
Because of big sponsorship, traditionally stadiums have been out of bounds but going into partnership with Tottenham Hotspur on this means we have been able to break down that door and give fans a choice, which – as it turns out – is exactly what they want.
Are there any emerging beer trends you’re looking to tap into over the next Premier League season?
We’ve got a few things we have been working on behind the scenes that might make it into the light in the next few months but we have relaunched Bloody ‘Ell Blood Orange IPA this year and launched Beavo Lager so alongside Gamma Ray, Neck Oil and Lupuloid they are our priorities at the moment.
Between 10 and 20 years ago, British football was awash with kits featuring beer sponsors – Carlsberg and Liverpool, Greene King and Ipswich, McEwan’s and Rangers, Newcastle Brown Ale and Newcastle – do you think we could ever see a craft beer brand on a shirt?
If we were allowed to we’d love it, but with the large amount of children watching and engaging with football and the Portman Groups guidelines around it I don’t think we will see any breweries branding back on the front of football shirts.
Is Beavertown involved with any other football clubs – professional or amateur?
Just Spurs. That’s not to say we haven’t had a few offers but we are in it with Tottenham Hotspur for the long haul.
How do you think Wolves will fare this season?
What a time we are living in as Wolves fans. Our City’s motto is ‘Out of Darkness cometh light’ and that hits the nail on the head with what’s happening at Molineux. We are very lucky to have an amazing infrastructure formulating at the club.
Fosun – the owners – are very driven to succeed and in [manager] Nuno Espirito Santo’s team, we have one of the best coaching set-ups in the Europe. The investment in our youth set-up has been immense over the years so we have a very talented U18s and U23s set-up. The turnaround from two years ago has been nothing but unbelievable at the club. So in regards to Europe, bring it on! The last time we were in Europe was when I was born. Live the dream and hold on for the ride. In Nuno we trust!
I do think it will be tough this season. Nuno has recruited well and improved the squad while keeping it a tight-knit 18, backed with really young prospects like Neto and Gibbs-White. At the moment the balance between Thursday to Sunday games is going well.
I used to play and, as a player, you just want to be playing, so hopefully we can keep injury-free and keep the small squad rotating with everybody getting good game time. We’re good enough to break [into] the top six but with Europe progressing well, it may be a tough ask. However, I reckon we can go far in the Europa League. The way we play and the European experience a lot of our players have, who knows?
Do you get to many games? What’s your match-day routine?
I love football. I’m obsessed. I’m a Wolves fan through and through but I’ll watch any game with my kids on TV. We’ve been to Wembley to watch England, the new Spurs ground too. We have three season tickets still at the Molineux, the same seats for the past 35 years, so I try to get back when time permits. Last season I hit about six to seven away games as quite a few are in London where I am based with my family – who are all Wolves fans. I love going down the park with my kids in our Wolves tops on among all the Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea fans. We beat them all last year!
