Wiltshire
Stonehenge Ales
Wiltshire
All the brewing magic takes place in The Old Mill at Netheravon. The Old Mill is in the most idyllic setting imaginable on the bends of the River Avon. The Old Mill started life in 1914 as an electricity generator for the Netheravon Airfield using waterpower from the River Avon.
The power from the river never managed to generate electricity to the extent needed, hence diesel generators were installed to run the turbines. This soon proved not to be cost effective and the power station was closed down.
The years in between power station and brewery, the building was put into many different uses. For a while, it served as village hall hosting dances and boxing matches. Also a fibre glass factory was in operation for some years. For long periods the towering 'old mill' was boarded up and only the ghost was rummaging the stairs and corridors.
In 1983 Tony and Robinetta Bunce bought the old power station from the MOD and converted in into a brewery. They started brewing in 1984. Had it not been for the Bunces, we probably would not have been brewing at The Old Mill today.
In 1993 I, Danish Master Brewer Stig Anker Andersen, my wife Anna Marie Andersen and our 7 months old daughter Amalie uprooted from our native Denmark. We took the jump into the deep end and bought the brewery and embarked on the long, challenging road of brewing award-winning, handcrafted English beers. Of course, we didn't go it alone - without our loyal customers and dedicated team, we would never have managed to be where we are today, still running one of Wiltshire's oldest micro-breweries.
Our brew plant is arranged so that brewing ingredients and wort mostly move downwards, using gravity as in early tower breweries. One pump only is used in the entire brewing process for transferring the hot wort through a plate cooler prior to fermentation.
Each of our beers are brewed to its own recipe by the traditional infusion mash method, using only the finest quality malt and whole hops and Stonehenge Spring Water. After fermentation the beer is run off into carefully sterilised stainless steel casks where final conditioning takes place.
Our beers are allowed to condition naturally in the cask and call for a certain care in handling and dispense; a first class pint owes much to skill in the cellar and pride in the pub.
In 2015 bottling of Stonehenge Spring Water was added to our activities - and today we supply Stonehenge Visitor Centre with thousands of bottles of the most refreshing and pristine spring water from the Salisbury Plain aquifer on top of which the ancient and enigmatic stone circle rests.
The years in between power station and brewery, the building was put into many different uses. For a while, it served as village hall hosting dances and boxing matches. Also a fibre glass factory was in operation for some years. For long periods the towering 'old mill' was boarded up and only the ghost was rummaging the stairs and corridors.
In 1983 Tony and Robinetta Bunce bought the old power station from the MOD and converted in into a brewery. They started brewing in 1984. Had it not been for the Bunces, we probably would not have been brewing at The Old Mill today.
In 1993 I, Danish Master Brewer Stig Anker Andersen, my wife Anna Marie Andersen and our 7 months old daughter Amalie uprooted from our native Denmark. We took the jump into the deep end and bought the brewery and embarked on the long, challenging road of brewing award-winning, handcrafted English beers. Of course, we didn't go it alone - without our loyal customers and dedicated team, we would never have managed to be where we are today, still running one of Wiltshire's oldest micro-breweries.
Our brew plant is arranged so that brewing ingredients and wort mostly move downwards, using gravity as in early tower breweries. One pump only is used in the entire brewing process for transferring the hot wort through a plate cooler prior to fermentation.
Each of our beers are brewed to its own recipe by the traditional infusion mash method, using only the finest quality malt and whole hops and Stonehenge Spring Water. After fermentation the beer is run off into carefully sterilised stainless steel casks where final conditioning takes place.
Our beers are allowed to condition naturally in the cask and call for a certain care in handling and dispense; a first class pint owes much to skill in the cellar and pride in the pub.
In 2015 bottling of Stonehenge Spring Water was added to our activities - and today we supply Stonehenge Visitor Centre with thousands of bottles of the most refreshing and pristine spring water from the Salisbury Plain aquifer on top of which the ancient and enigmatic stone circle rests.