‘Opportunities are easily lost while waiting for perfect conditions,’ says best-selling author Gary Ryan Blair. It’s fair to say that 2020 has not delivered the conditions you would hope for to launch a new venture. Far from it. But, as Blair warns: ‘You cannot afford to wait for perfect conditions.’

One man who’s not hanging about to wait for perfect conditions is Danny Ennis. If the name rings a bell you might recognise him as part of the Dark Farm Brew Crew featured in issue 003. He has also collaborated with Dark Farm on one of their recent all grain brew kits, where he helped develop a spot-on (and wildly popular) Blonde Ale. Turns out he has been a busy man. As well as all that, and alongside a full-time day job and family, Danny has been building a nanobrewery in his garden in Runcorn. And is a whisker away from launching his brewing baby, Small Batch Brewing Co.

We love it when people go all out and chase their dreams. Life’s too short not to, right? Let’s hear the big story behind Small Batch Brewing Co. from the man himself.

‘I began homebrewing in 2012 - kits to start off with mainly, and then I did a BIAB (brew in a bag) and was hooked! I moved straight on to all grain after that and it just grew from there. I’m just self taught, I started off by downloading recipes online then deciding what styles of beers I liked and went from there. There are always changes you can make to someone else’s recipe, and in time you start to make your own and experiment with flavours. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. 

To go pro was mainly down to encouragement from my friends and family. As soon as that seed was planted it just grew. It did take two years, mind, but I am glad that I’ve got the ball rolling. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my doubts but that’s a good thing because it keeps me grounded.

My immediate plan is to just get the brand on the shelves in retailers and craft beer shops and make sure I’m consistent with my recipes. I am limited to the volume that I can make so my plan is to purchase larger fermenters once I’m up and running. I’ve not really tried to make a long-term plan as you just don’t know what’s going to happen, especially in the current situation. I am a homebrewer moving into the unknown; a very small fish in a very large pond. So it’s going to be one foot in front of the other until things pick up.  

The Brews

The first brew I release will be a 7% NEIPA called SATURATION 7. This is crammed with Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic. A real juice bomb. Then comes a 6% chocolate oatmeal porter - something smooth for those Christmas evenings. Possibly canned conditioned. I’ve got an 8% - 10% Russian imperial vanilla stout, but this will need conditioning so it won’t be ready in time for this Christmas. Possibly canned conditioned too; I’m still working on the final recipe so the finer details are still to be confirmed. Plus a 6% IPA, probably bordering a DIPA (Double IPA) as I’ve set the IBU’s at 70/80 to 5.5% alc.

The moment I get to see my first can on the shelf is what excites me the most. It’s something I know will stick with me for a very long time. I am also excited to (hopefully) watch the business grow, as you can see from my instagram feed (@small_batch_brewing_co). It started with the build of the garden room where the brewery is now. Before then I was brewing in my kitchen on a Grainfather, so it was definitely an upgrade. It seems a lifetime ago now! I’m not sure whether to class it as excitement or anticipation but I would also list getting feedback from customers; good or bad. Good is great, and I hope I can achieve that, but constructive criticism is why we get better at things; it makes us look more closely at what we are doing and why. 

The Challenge

At the moment the biggest challenge has been actually setting it up. The local council and the HMRC require a lot of information. More than I ever imagined. So this has the potential of not even happening at the moment. Not to mention the amount of money I’ve spent getting everything ready: the brewery and canning and labelling machines, for example. I even got my first label designed and printed. So it needs to happen. 

I also think that keeping my customers interested in my style of beers, and coming up with new recipes that work will possibly be a challenge. And dealing with the pure anticipation of brewing one day and having to wait two weeks before you can try the outcome!

I think the long-term challenge will be to keep it going with just myself. I work full-time alongside this, so managing my time is very important to me to still have time with my family.  

The Kit

For my main brewing system I’m using a Brewtools B80 but I will hopefully be upgrading to a B150 one day. Fingers crossed! 

I recently started using a Blichmann HopRocketâ„¢ for my hopback. I was uncertain it would make a difference but it certainly does for beers that need to be drunk fresh. The aroma in the fermenters is amazing. 

And I’m running with 2 x 14g SS brewtech fermenters, both with cooling and heating. Only low volumes at the moment but we all have to start somewhere.’