Cheers to one year of business for brewery

A family-owned Peterhead microbrewery is celebrating its successful first year of business.

Stuart Leel, Kristof Szappanos and Cameron Bowden at the Brew Toon brewery

Brew Toon was started up at 72 St Peter Street in May 2017 by Shirley and Fred Bowden.

The opening of the Brew Toon Cafe Bar followed just four months later and business is going well.

After purchasing the St Peter Street building, the Bowdens discovered it used to home both a bakery and a former brewery.

General manager, Cameron Bowden, said: “After finding out Hunter & Sons used to be here it feels quite special to bring brewing back.

“Our beer is handcrafted in small batches and we physically fill, cap and label each bottle.”

Currently Brew Toon has just eight members of staff but this is beneficial to the business as Cameron explained: “Even though we are a small team we have a good relationship and everyone has a passion for craft beer.

“We are a city bar with a small town vibe.”

Over the last year Brew Toon has created brewery tours, giving visitors from both near and far the chance to go behind the scenes.

Over the festive period Brew Toon welcomed visitors from Japan.

The microbrewery has organised and hosted regular events at the bar in a bid to create an entertainment hub for Peterhead.

Head of Brew Toon’s PR, Stuart Leel, said: “We have live music on a Saturday, a quiz on Sunday, an accoustic night on Wednesdays, and we have held one-off events.

“Recently we had a really successful stand-up comedy night and we are looking to run that on a monthly basis.

“There is a lot of local talent and we want to do what we can to promote that and our events are so varied that there is something for everyone.

“Our cafe bar, overlooking the brewery, is open from 12pm serving our own blend of coffee, a range of teas and a delicious snack menu.

“Our dog and child friendly bar is also stocked with a wide selection of wines and spirits.”

Looking to the future Brew Toon is aiming to double its productions by the end of the year and has invested in a new bottling line that will see it complete 1,000 bottles an hour, an increase from the 100 they currently produce.

The firm has a range of craft beers including lager, IPA, stout and fruit beers that are made using ingredients from local farms.

Cameron added: “This is Peterhead’s beer, we aren’t just another beer on the market.”