Reaching an important milestone in any business is a real achievement. It’s the culmination of hard work, commitment and the result of providing a quality product or service. Probably both. And in 2025, Wye Valley Brewery toast their 40th year in the world of beer. And as we all know, that simply doesn’t happen by accident.

Since starting out in 1985, Herefordshire-based Wye Valley Brewery has been producing a wealth of excellent cask, keg and small pack beers.

They’ve earned a reputation for consistency and product quality, seeing their beers served in more than 1,200 pubs and bars throughout the West Midlands and South Wales.

As a result, they’ve gone from a humble beginning of producing approximately 10 brewers’ barrels a week to an average of 1000 barrels per week, with further growth to come.

And the brewery’s story started nearly 40 years ago. After brewing for years for Guinness, Wye Valley Brewery founder, Peter Amor decided to branch out on his own.

He began brewing from the back of a pub in Canon Pyon in Herefordshire but soon moved to the old stable block of The Barrels in Hereford – Wye Valley Brewery’s very first pub.

After studying at Young’s brewery in London, Peter’s son, Vernon Amor, joined the brewery to help with the demands of the growing business.

And some 17 years later, the business would signal its latest growth by moving into a 9-acre former cider mill in Stoke Lacy.

But the journey doesn’t stop there – far from it. Ongoing expansion has included the installation of an impressive bottling and canning setup from Bedford-based Enterprise Tondelli, as well as investment in its warehousing and solar PV infrastructure, with a new brewhouse part of the brewery’s future, too. 

And on the beer front, it’s super successful Nightjar, a kegged stout based on an original Wye Valley Brewery cask recipe, have helped put the brewery in front of eager new audiences.

Here we speak with head of sales and marketing Abbie Gadd and head brewer Gareth Batemen, to discover the secret of the brewery’s longevity, the importance of moving with the times and why its 40th year will be the start of a new period of growth and evolution for the much-loved business.

“When it comes to business, consistency has been the one of our biggest traits throughout,” says Gadd. “When I joined the business some 10 years ago, landlords would always recognize our reputation for consistency.

“With two flagship cask beers in HPA and Butty Bach people knew what they looked like, what they smelled like, and what they tasted like. And then when they go in the pub, day-in, day-out, week-in, week- out, they know how their pint should be, and they will be the first to say if something isn’t right.

“So when you think about the ingredients that go into making those beers, and the fact that every year these ingredients can be affected by growing conditions then maintaining that level of consistency becomes more a challenge. It continues to blow my mind that our brewers can mating the levels people have come to expect from us.”

And for the last 12 years, brewing has taken place under the stewardship of a team that includes storied head brewer Gareth Bateman.

“My first job in a brewery was in Magor, South Wales with Interbrew or AB InBev that is known now. Starting in microbiology, I would hold similar roles in Australia when travelling,” he recalls.

“Upon returning to the UK, Bateman would work at Brains in Cardiff, Young’s in London and also Wells and Young in Bedford. I moved here to Wye Valley and it hasn’t stopped since.”

He adds: “As soon as I got here I did my Master Brewer qualification, which was something I always wanted to do. It was interesting, especially after working for bigger businesses, to see what it was like being part of a family firm that has always been in growth.

“There’s always something happening. Despite the growth taking place we are all looking to the future, too. We probably have the next five or so years planned out, which is enough to keep anyone entertained.”

While Bateman has proven to be a superb guardian of production at Wye Valley, Abbie Gadd has helped steer the brewery into exciting new waters and secure its place in the changing, modern beer landscape.

We’ve definitely been growing organically. So when I joined the business in 2015 we were doing just shy of 30,000 brewers barrels, which obviously was pretty much mostly all cask with some bottle.

“I feel that we’ve always had a fantastic reputation for great beer, long before I joined! But before I started, the business had undertaken a research project by a third-party agency that opened our eyes a little,” she explains.

“The feedback was that the company was great but the range was limited and a little stayed. It was at the time where lots of newer breweries were coming onto the scene and it was clear we needed to step up and inject more of our personality into this business.”

Thankfully Gadd had a wealth of marketing experience from her time in London. “I’ve worked with cars and coffee to chewing gum and nappies. You name it I’ve probably worked with it. But I hadn’t worked with a brewer until then and wasn’t as qualified when it came to the hospitality trade,” she says.

“So it was refreshing to have our managing director Vernon see that I was coming at things from a different perspective. It was positive for both of us.

“We wanted to acknowledge and retain our traditional values as without them we would alienate our existing audience. But we wanted to reach a new consumer, too.

“So a way to do that were introduce new, regular beers and showcased modern styles and modern flavours. By doing this, and by embracing keg beers we have found ourselves in markets and venues we traditionally weren’t reaching.”

And one beer that has helped consolidate the brewery’s position in the modern keg market is Nightjar. It’s a stout based on the original Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout cask ecipe dating back to 1985 when ex-Guinness alumni, Peter Amor, first began brewing his own beers at the back of the well-known watering hole, The Barrels in Hereford. As a kegged stout, Nightjar is chilled to 4°C and is nitrogenated.

“It’s no surprise that one of Peter’s early recipes was a stout,” says Gadd. “That early stout has won many awards over the years. But cask stout is more of a niche product these days and sadly it doesn’t appeal to everyone’s tastes. So when we started kegging, Gareth explained that we needed to see how that recipe worked on keg dispense. And it worked extremely well!”

She adds: “It’s a beer that has really worked for the drinker and one that has grown organically so back in 2022 we made the conscious decision to rebrand it as ‘Nightjar’ and it has flown ever since.

“So much so that late last year I had a called from Diageo referencing that one venue had taken off Guinness to keep our beer on tap. To be on their radar, and to see consumers and licensees really take to the beer is really rewarding.”

These beers are produced at a brewery that has sustainability as its beating heart from both buying local ingredients to a raft of technological measures across the brewery site.

On the solar front alone there has been some four phases of solar panel array installs, accounting for just shy of 40% of the brewery’s electricity usage. “There’s no roof space without them!” Bateman smiles.

Ongoing investment has become a calling card at the Bromyard-based outfit. While there is much on the horizon, a significant install in recent years came when the business was planning their new packaging hall with Enterprise Tondelli.

A key consideration, Enterprise Tondelli managing director Craig Wilson outlines, was to maximise the flexibility of the packaging hall to allow both bottling and canning on the same line.

Whilst the space was a challenge the final layout ensured good access, rationalisation of operators and good functionality. This line was supplied and installed by the business who also supplied the new bottling line too.

While the packaging operation is in good hands, it’ll soon be time for the business to turn its attention to even more investment.

“We have got some big plans that we’re looking at signing off. Plans that will signal more massive growth for the brewery,” says Gadd. “So that means a new brewhouse, new visitor centre, new taproom, the lot! When I look at the road map for the next three, four five years. It really is huge.”