Brewing in Hay-on-Wye
The closure of Cwmbran brewery was a sad loss to the Torfaen area but the brewing plant has gone to a good home, namely Kilverts in Hay-on-Wye, though Ed Davies is yet to start brewing. Follow his journey to restart commercial brewing in Hay via the Hay Brewery website here and his blog here and follow him the pub Twitter as well as following Ed himself on Twitter
When brewing recommences in Hay it will be the first time in almost 75 years that beer has been brewed in the town, now famous for its books rather than its beer. In the nineteenth century almost every pub in the town would have brewed its own ales and two of them lasted into the twentieth century:
The Wine Vaults in Castle Street was brewing in 1906 under Thomas Stokoe, although the premises became a hotel, the Wye Hotel in 1910 and a café, the Wye Café later, but has now reopened as a pub once more.
The Swan Hotel in Church Street carried on brewing until at least 1935 under William Samuel Jones. This is one of the oldest pubs in Hay and although it has been rebuilt over the years has its roots stretching back to at least the 18th Century.
More information on pubs of Hay can be found in the book, “The pubs of Hay-on-Wye and the Golden Valley”, ISBN 1904396461, published by Logaston Press.
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