The Crown Inn & Halfpenny Brewery
Our sister pub,
The brewery is owned by Alan Watkins in partnership with his mother Valerie. They bought The Crown Inn, a free house, over 10 years ago, and it has been Alan’s ambition to brew on site ever since. The new brewing business was launched at the tenth anniversary celebration.
Pub regulars were involved in naming the brewery and all the ales through a competition, which attracted 720 entries. ‘It was a difficult choice, as they were all so clever and we were overwhelmed by the vast number of entries we received,’ said Alan.
‘The Halfpenny Brewery name was inspired by Lechlade’s landmark stone bridge that spans the River Thames,’ said winners Nick and Claire Brown, locals from the small Cotswold market town. The beers have been named Old Lech, Crownin' Glory and Thames Tickler, and there is also a lager called Crowninburg.
The brewery building is enhanced by having one wall fully glazed, so that customers of The Crown Inn can view the brewing equipment. On a brewing day, they can witness the process. Brewing capacity is 4 Brewers Barrels (16 casks, or 144 gallons, or about 650 litres)
This real ale Micro-Brewery, commissioned on 2 December 2008, is located in a newly refurbished building at the rear of the Crown. All of the real ales are brewed traditionally on the premises and the process is meticulously overseen by the head brewer Graham Gerrard. The other members making up the micro-brewery five-strong management team are manager Gemma Court and financial controller Trevor Wilkinson. The equipment was purchased new from The Porter Brewing Company.
