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Getting to know Bristol Beer Factory's Sam Burrows

Posted on: 24 Apr 2023

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This week, we spoke to Sam Burrows, managing director of Southville's Bristol Beer Factory, ahead of their takeover of the old Wild Beer unit at Wapping Wharf. We met with Sam in Studio BBF (formerly the Pony & Trap) - BBF's Southville event space.

 

Can you introduce yourself, and give us a few sentences on what BBF is to you?

I’m Sam Burrows, I’m the managing director here at Bristol Beer Factory. We are, in simple terms, a very proud independent Bristol business. We’re 20 years old next March, so we’ve been going for quite a long time.

We’re all about four simple things: our people, our beers, our service, and our community. That’s the pillars of our business, and we’re very proud that over 80% of what we produce is delivered directly with our vans, by our people, around Bristol & the surrounding area – that’s our model, and that’s why the city has been so kind, and so supportive.

 

Do you have any big plans for your birthday coming up?

We haven’t got to birthday plans yet, because we’ve just taken the Junction – our new site down at Wapping Wharf, the old Wild Beer site. That’s taking up a lot of time, and there’s a lot of work going on here: we’re looking for a new home to build a new brewery – we’re running out of capacity here.

So those are the big projects at the moment – we really need a new home. We want to stay in BS3, or South Bristol, increase employment, and just let the business go, really. There’s so much potential, and I think with beers like Clear Head we have such a big scope and opportunity on a national level with that brand.

This place is full of charm, we’re in a great neighbourhood, but the reality is – from an operational perspective – all the vehicles coming in and out, all the residential development that’s going on around...it’s a tricky place to operate from.

You mentioned Junction earlier – BBF’s stated mission for that is a more “traditional pub” atmosphere. How are you going about that and why?

The main reason we’re doing it is I felt – and so did the guys at Wapping Wharf – that we needed a more inclusive, comfortable environment for residents, visitors and traders alike down there. Where we’re so lucky as a business is we have beers that suit a really wide demographic of people. With no disrespect to Wild Beer, or some of the other people that have gone into that unit, it’s quite a narrow demographic of drinker – the beer styles are all quite out there. We have beers to suit a lot more people’s needs.

We wanted somewhere that was a bit warmer, a bit more inviting. The feedback we’ve had is people didn’t like the seating arrangements there. Those huge benches, in certain places that works really well, but we like having that ability to break the place up a little bit.

We’ve kind of gone down the “when train travel was high-end” with the name ‘Junction’ – it’s that Orient Express vs. traditional London pub. So we want to get those deep rich colours in there, soften it up with some rugs, get some wallpaper on the walls & get rid of the concrete. It’s quite a challenging little project, because you’ve got so much glass – but you can soften it right in with good lighting.

We wanted somewhere where the retired couples up stairs can come down and have a pint and read their book & a cup of coffee – somewhere where we do a great Sunday roast, a really simple British pub menu. So complimenting what goes on at Wapping Wharf rather than competing with it, and just giving it a community focal point – which I think it’s really missed since that site’s been shut.

 

Speaking of Wild Beer, and their unfortunate collapse - that came as a shock to everyone. We’ve also seen Newtown Park going the same way, and a lot of venues in general. Is this a hard time?

It’s a hard time for everyone – we’ve got the business rates changing again this month. We’re kind of fortunate in the sense that, because of our operational model, we’re have a lot of control of that.

A lot of breweries, through no fault of their own really, have a lot of business outside of the city – which involves a lot of work and a lot lower margins. So if you can have that local support and work really hard in your heartland, where it’s going from A to B, instead of going out on a pallet network, to a depot, then shipped to a warehouse somewhere, then shipped on...There’s a lot of moving parts in that, and everyone needs to make a cut along the way.

It’s gonna be tough for people – Newtown Park started right on lockdown, COVID kicking in, it was a really difficult time. For Andrew & Brett as well, Wild Beer’s a ten-year-old business. They were bringing beer to a really niche part of the market, it was a brilliant brand...even an established business like that can fall victim to these surging costs.

 

Do you think there’s any chance of that climate changing any time soon, or do you think it’s something we’ll have to get used to?

Wholesale gas prices have plummeted, but there’s still no change in the bills. People are using this as an excuse to put their prices up – thinking “well, everyone else is getting away with it, this is the time.”

But from a hospitality standpoint, the independent business seems to be doing well – people are quite entrepreneurial, they’re quite quick to adapt, and to change. If you’re tied up in some of the ‘PubCo’ models – with the Enterprises of the world, the Admirals, these sorts of people – when your margins are already really low to be competitive on the bar...those are some of the venues that are really struggling.

We put our prices up every year, as nearly all businesses do. To counteract the costs on the business, we could have put them up like Black Sheep did – like 19-20%, but we were more around the 8% mark. But again, without independent bars & clubs, we don’t have a business. So we have to accept we aren’t going to make as much money, but hopefully that means our customers are still there when we come through this, and we might see a drop in costs.

But you don’t see many prices go backwards, do you?

 

 

How can people help indie businesses – apart from the obvious, going out and buying a pint?

I think one of the benefits of lockdown is it really highlighted for people what local means, and how important independent businesses are. Whether it’s your local bakery, greengrocer’s, corner shop, whatever it might be.

The beauty of Bristol is it does support itself incredibly well, but to drinkers out there now: when you see those macro-brands – you know, the Heinekens of the world – and you see a local Bristol brewery – and there are so many fabulous breweries in Bristol – try one. Support it.

Choose differently, drink less, spend a bit more – or just have one less pint, you’ve spent the same amount of money. You’re keeping the money in the local economy then, and not going into global conglomerates.

If people want great choice, and to see local employment climb, then slight changes in one’s habits when they’re at the bar is the way to do it.

 

What’s your favourite BBF beer?

Aauugh...Fortitude. I think I’ve been over-hopped over the last 20 years, because I’ve had so many hoppy beers. It’s the beer I have most, when I have a pint after work with the team.

I do try all the others, and I do love them. I love our Milk Stout on cask, you don’t see that on cask enough. I’m very very proud of Clear Head; I think that’s an incredible beer that we – especially Tristan, that’s our head brewer – have worked so hard on.

 

I wanted to ask about Clear Head – it’s quite pioneering in Bristol’s craft beer scene as certainly the most famous no-lo option. If you could do another, what style would it be?

The obvious one is lager – but we just don’t have the setup or the capacity at the moment to do that. I’d also quite like to bring an alcohol-free Milk Stout as well. At the moment, capacity is against us, and we’re struggling to keep up with natural demand as is, so all these things are projects for the future, really.

I mean Wiper [& True]’s Tomorrow is fantastic, really really fantastic. That’s the one that really stands out for me. It’s great – everyone’s having a go at them, doing them. They take a lot of work, they’re hard – hard to produce consistently – but Clear Head has been a revelation for us. And we haven’t touched the surface with it yet, either.

 

 

Where did the decision to work with Talk Club come from?

I train next door at Workout Bristol, and a couple of the founders of Talk Club train in there. They spoke to Craig, the owner of the gym, about finding a place to host their events.

I had reservations about it. Genuine reservations. At the end of the day, we’re an alcohol brand – which, the truth is, alcohol has a relationship with mental health. There’s no denying that.

But Ben explained to me what Talk Club was about, what they were looking to achieve, and why they were looking to do it in bars. They wanted somewhere where people would be comfortable walking through the door. The first step in going to those sorts of meetings is the hardest. If people have to come into a pub, where most men are comfortable – it all started to make sense.

They were saying “we want to do an alcohol-free beer, can you make one?”. We said “Don’t think we can, but we’ll have a go.” We brought in a bit of help, and worked out a process that would work for us – it’s been a really good collaboration.

We give 5% of the sales back to Talk Club – not profit, sales. So hopefully we’re allowing them to employ people in the charity, to grow their charity, subsidise therapy groups and stuff like that.

 

If you were mayor of Bristol for the day – what would you do?

I would probably look at a gondola mass transit system, rather than trying to dig bloody tunnels under the earth, because there’s a lot of hills in Bristol, and gondolas like hills – and I don’t think that’s been looked at.

Sounds like fun - we're on-board!

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Read more:

• Getting to know: Bristol AF with Paul Holbrook

• Neighbourhood Guide: Southville

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