Curious Brew
14 years ago we embarked on a journey to transform people’s opinions about English wine. It’s been a mission. But now English wine is no longer the butt of jokes. It’s served in some of the best restaurants in the world, it wins serious international accolades and, of course, sits alongside Grand Marques of Champagne at premium prices in major supermarkets. In building the Chapel Down wine business, we’ve not only won a hatful of awards, lots of friends and great customers, but also built a solid business with terrific people and an exciting future.
And we see a lot of parallels with lager. Yes lager. The world’s favourite beer now reduced to a sad fizzy yellow liquid – a testament to big brewer blandness, where market research wins over passion and corporate cardboard trumps taste. Where the only thing that changes seems to be the advertising. Where it’s big news if the logo font is upped a point.
As a thank you to everyone who decides to join us on this journey, we are happy to offer the following investor perks:
IF YOU INVEST £100:
◆ An annual guided tour of either the Curious Brewery or the Chapel Down Winery in Tenterden for two people
◆ A Curious metal pin badge
◆ Shareholder information pack in presentation wallet
IF YOU INVEST £500:
All the benefits of £100, plus:
◆ A Curious glass
◆ A bottle of limited edition Curiouser and Curiouser’ beer*
◆ An ongoing 25% discount for purchases of Curious beer and cider
IF YOU INVEST £1,000:
◆ An ongoing 25% discount for purchases of Curious beer and cider
◆ An ongoing 25% discount off dining and drinking at the Curious Brewery
◆ An ongoing 25% discount off Chapel Down wines
◆ A bottle of limited edition‘Curiouser and Curiouser’ beer*
◆ Three limited edition Spieglau beer glasses, comprising a specially designed Lager, IPA and Porter glass
◆ A private tour and personalised tasting at the Curious Brewery for four people each year
◆ A preferential gold discount card offering preferential privileges at the Curious Brewery
IF YOU INVEST £25,000:
All the benefits of £1,000, plus:
◆ Investor’s name etched onto a fermentation tank
◆ Exclusive invitation to the Curious Brewery with private tour of the brewery before it’s open to the public
◆ Six bottles of limited edition ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’ beer each year*
◆ Six special edition bottles of Curious Brew lager from the first production run at the Curious Brewery with personalised label and handsigned by the team
◆ A preferential platinum discount card offering further preferential privileges at the Curious Brewery
14 years of evangelism for Chapel Down has shown us there is a different way. And in the last few years there’s been something of a boom in great new beers.
• Where taste and passion come first.
• Where customers really do matter.
• Where we make beer that we know is better and about which we feel truly passionate.
• Where we can apply the passion we have for ingredients, use our thirst for knowledge, and apply the care and balance of our winemaker’s skill to make more appealing beer.
• Where it’s not just about cramming as many hops as possible into a pint, but creating a drink that has balance, depth, flavour and style and which does what we think a great beer should do first, middle and last. Refresh.
We’ve been making our beers for four years. And in that time we’ve won a lot of fans. Much like Chapel Down wine, we’ve built steadily and without any compromises to quality. And now we have reached the point where we need to build a brewery and then conquer the world. Because we believe Curious Brew is a beer that can truly conquer the world. We really think it’s that good. And we believe it’s a taste and style with global appeal, not just for British or craft beer palates. So exports are high on our agenda.
We’ve found a fantastic (“Epic” or “Awesome” to some) site for our brewery. We don’t want to hide on some industrial estate, we want people to take the pilgrimage to the brewery and see how we brew and how we work (and play).
So we’ve picked a site that’s as visible as we can make it whilst staying true to our Kentish roots. Just 38 minutes by high speed train from London’s St. Pancras. Just 1hr 52 mins by train from Paris. Just 20 minutes drive to the Channel ports and 10 minutes from the Kent countryside that surrounds it, this advanced brewery will not only transform the image and landscape of Ashford, but also make a bold and positive statement about modern brewing in Britain. We will be inviting the world to come and have a beer with us at the Curious Brewery.
Over the last two years Curious Drinks has grown 313%. Turnover in 2014 was up 43% at £1.75m with gross profit up 54% at £563k. Turnover in the first 6 months of 2015 was up 33% on 2014 at £974k.
We have opened, direct and with our wholesale partners like Matthew Clark, circa 300 on-trade accounts, gained National listings in Majestic and Waitrose, and already have the beer in some prestige accounts…
• Jamie Oliver
• Gordon Ramsay
• All Hilton hotels
• Selected Marriott, Starwood and Guoman Hotels,
including the Sheraton Park Lane, St Pancras
Renaissance Hotel, the Tower Hotel and Amba
at Charing Cross.
• The Ivy Market Grill
• Regents Park Open Air Theatre
• Pub Groups such as Spirit Pub Company,
Brunning & Price and Whiting & Hammond]