DRINKERS will soon be able to thirst their quench for real ale at a South Lakeland pub serving up beers made by the micro- breweries across the county.

Alex Brodie, owner of Hawkshead Brewery, is behind the joint venture with business partner Tony Brooks, whose company runs pubs at railway stations, including Liverpool, Huddersfield, Newcastle and London Euston.

They are due to take over The Swan Inn at Ulverston in early December and are currently seeking an experienced manager to run the town pub.

Mr Brodie said the Swan would specialise in real ale, and would be the only pub selling the full range of Hawkshead Brewery beers, including Hawkshead Gold and Red.

He is in talks with other Cumbrian small brewers to add them to the list of real ales on offer at the Swan Inn.

Explaining the thinking behind the pub acquisition, Mr Brodie told Business Gazette it made sense because many small brewers found it hard to access the market as many other pubs were tied to national chains.

"It helps to secure the future of the brewery and it gives us an outlet, a shop window for all our beers. Very few pubs take more than one of our beers at a time.

"It's what the drinking public wants - more pubs that are prepared to really go to town with real ales, especially those locally produced. The micro-brewery revolution is about choice, it's not about excluding beers."

If the venture proves a success, Mr Brodie said he might consider taking on at a second pub.

But he stressed there were no plans to change the character of the Swan. "We want to build on what the present landlord has done," he added.

Present owner of The Swan Inn, Mike Dunford, said he was pleased that the pub would remain a free house, selling a variety of real ale, rather than being swallowed up by one of the big pub operators.

Mr Dunford and his partner, Barbara Foster, took over the pub two years ago and, after refurbishing the premises, they have seen it go from strength to strength. He is now taking some time out before looking to acquire another pub.

Hawkshead Brewery is currently operating flat-out, making 40 barrels of beer a week, and Mr Brodie has plans to boost production and open a bottling plant in the future.

Meanwhile, he is keen to take on a young recruit: "For anyone interested in an alternative job to farming or tourism, there is the potential to learn the trade."

The brewery is currently seeking to appoint an experienced pub manager to run the Swan, and Mr Brodie said he had been delighted by the "fantastic response" to his job advert in last week's Westmorland Gazette.

"We put an advert in the trade paper The Publican and got only one answer. As a result of the Westmorland Gazette advert, we have had seven applications, all from people with the relevant experience as pub managers," said the former BBC foreign correspondent, who set up his business in a converted listed 17th century barn at Town End, Hawkshead, two years ago.

The brewery, which employs five full and part-time workers, was named the county's best start-up business in last year's Excellence in Cumbria Awards.

And the firm's Hawkshead Gold beer proved a winner at this year's northern heat of the Society of Independent Brewers' annual competition, picking up the best bottled beer accolade.