BREWSHINE BREWERY
Friends Bruce Hine and Wayne Fisher (Billy to his mates) are the owners and brewers of Brewshine Brewery in Kendal. The brewery is named after Bruce Hine – Brewshine – and the beers all have Billy’s name incorporated.
While visiting York on their annual pilgrimage to taste the many beers on offer, they decided they would try to brew just as good beer as they were drinking at the time, and at the same time it would save them money.
They began in September 2013, converting the integral garage in Bruce’s home into a nano-brewery and continue to brew there.
Bruce and Billy have designed and built their own kit for the brewing, as well as developing their own styles of beer.
Their neat operation brews a firkin or nine gallons of beer, usually once or twice a week, fitting this in around other full-time jobs. Could this be the smallest brewery in Cumbria?
Their four regular beers are Billonde at 4%, Billy Goat Ale 4%, Silly Billy Bitter 3.8% and Billyonaires Gold at 4%.
Both Bruce and Billy like experimenting with flavours, trying out ingredients such as lime, resulting in a “Billimey” beer!
Brewshine involves other family members, with wives Alison and Suzie designing pump clips, managing social media and developing a website.
Bruce and Billy want to carry on doing what they are doing, keeping quality high, while continuing to experiment.
Both have a passion for flavour and because of the scale of their operation, can keep tweaking their beers.
They have sufficient orders for some months ahead and are selling their beer both around Kendal and as far north as the Drovers Rest on the Solway Coast.
Their signature beer, Silly Billy, is an all-English brew and they are keen to continue to use English ingredients in their beer whenever they can.
What are their favourite beers? From other breweries, Billy is a fan of Timothy Taylor Landlord and Bruce is keen on Hawkshead Brodie’s Prime and Bowness Bay Swan Blonde.
Of their own beers, Bruce likes Silly Billy Bitter and Billy’s favourite is Billy Goat Ale.
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