Making the beer you want to drink, and not forgetting your roots, can sometimes be enough to get by. For Bradley Cummings and Gareth Williams, the co-founders of Tiny Rebel, that’s most definitely the case. As the Newport brewery enters its latest chapter, they’re in no mood to compromise their principles. And that means making beer people enjoy and above all else, keeping it accessible.
“It’s coming along, isn’t it?” asks Bradley Cummings, looking to his side.
“Yeah….after Christmas we’ll be flying!” replies Gareth Williams with a smile on his face.
Brad and Gazz are best mates and brother-in-laws. They’re also the co-founders of Newport, Wales-based brewery Tiny Rebel.
It’s a Wednesday afternoon in October and Wales have just defeated Fiji 29-17 in the group stage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
As dozens of content Welsh fans pour out of the brewery’s impressive taproom and restaurant, probably with the swift realisation that it’s, in fact, not the weekend, Cummings and Williams’ minds are on other matters.
They’re looking at the land that will, in 2020, house their new 30,000 sqft distribution hub. A build that will give the brewery much-needed space for packaged beer, freeing up significant room for capacity expansion in the building behind them. It’ll also house a four-storey office complex for the team, too.
It’s often easy to forget that Tiny Rebel has been going for the best part of eight years, until you look at the figures. They’re on course to produce close to 30,000HL in 2019, up a massive 12,000HL on 2018’s output.
A £10m+ turnover business, they also employ more than 130 members of staff. Despite the team’s impressive main facility, the new distribution build is a necessity and not a luxury.
“We grew up in this area,” Brad says proudly. “I went to school just down there and this whole plot where the brewery is used to house a large-scale bakery. They’d make all types of cakes here.”
He adds: “The most positive feedback we get is from people we knew growing up. They visit the brewery for food and drink, for the experience. It’s something different for many people, something new.”
Brad and Gazz met while working for the same Building Services Company in 2008. Commuting to Bristol from Newport, Brad’s expertise was on the mechanical side and Gazz’s in electrical.
They realised they shared the same taste in music and a mutual love of good beer soon became apparent.
“We were just beer drinkers and beer fans,” recalls Gazz. “I remember seeing beers like Punk IPA in the supermarkets and thinking ‘wow, this is different’. It kicked things off and gave you a taste for something new. So we’d jump on the train to Bristol, London, wherever. Just like many others, you’d go further afield looking for new beers and new flavours.”
Experiencing those broader horizons gave Gazz a taste for homebrewing and the infectious nature enthused Brad, too. It soon became apparent that the duo wanted more choice when it came to beer, so they needed to change that.
“I like making beer, and I love everything around it,” Gazz says. “The problem with South Wales was that the beer was good but the variety was shocking. We knew we wanted to change things up and maybe open a bar that would serve our beer and bring in beers from breweries we enjoyed like Thornbridge and Magic Rock.”
“We just wanted to show people that there is more beer out there, and hopefully help grow the market as well,” adds Brad.
By 2011, the brewery known as Tiny Rebel came into being and on 16th February the year after, they launched their first two beers in the form of FUBAR and Urban IPA at The Commercial in Pontyminster.
A successful debut at the Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival followed at the duo ended 2012 brewing some 800HL.
Much has changed in the years since.
2013 would see Tiny Rebel grow to a 20 staff operation producing 3,500HL of beer with its beers reaching eight countries across the globe. By the end of 2015, 6,500HL was brewed and more importantly, Tiny Rebel became the first brewery from Wales, and the youngest brewery ever, to win Champion Beer of Britain at GBBF, with Cwtch, their 4.6% Welsh Red Ale, taking the top prize.
Despite capacity constraints, 30 new beers were brewed in 2016 and the team grew to 72. The following year, with support and guidance from Lloyds bank, Tiny Rebel would move into its new home and officially opened the doors that July. They’ve not let up in the years since, mind.
“We now brew 15 times a week on average. So that’s 15 x 50HL batches,” explains Brad. “If you were to break it down, three or four of those end up in cask, and the remainder is packaged between keg and can.”
Canning continues to grow for the brewery. So much so that the arrival of a £1m canning line from KHS is imminent, giving Tiny Rebel the ability to output 15,000 cans an hour.
Another growth area, and one they carefully manage is, is the brewery’s cask production.
“When we started we were 100% cask, and that informed the types of beer we brewed,” recalls Gazz. “If you want the customer to be shift that beer in three-to-four days, you need to give them an accessible beer. There’s no point in making it too in your face, it just doesn’t make sense.”
He adds: “I love Bitters, ESBs and Milds, we all do. You just need a careful balance in the beers you produce and ask what works for the drinker. If I had it my way I’d be making lots of smoked beers!”
“And I keep knocking them back!” laughs Brad. “Around 70% of our volume revolves around the core beers. So we need to carefully plan how, and where, we dedicate that remaining capacity.”
In 2019, Tiny Rebel’s core range comprises Welsh Red Ale Cwtch, Clwb Tropicana, Cali Pale, Dutty, Stay Puft, Peaches & Cream IPA, Pump Up The Jam, Easy Livin’ and Lazy Boy Lager.
These complement a diverse seasonal, limited and collaboration portfolio of releases. Regardless of the fit, Gazz says one things stays constant.
“We like to laugh and poke fun at ourselves,” he says. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously but we take our beer seriously. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing then what’s the point?”
He adds: “I feel that some people maybe take things too seriously but at the end of the day, it’s just beer and should be enjoyed for what it is. It doesn’t need to be overanalysed.”
One area the duo pay particular attention to, however, is the audience for the beer Tiny Rebel produces. Central to this is notion of accessibility.
“The price of some beers out there concerns me. The last thing I ever want to see is the industry pricing the consumer out of the ‘craft’ experience,” he argues.
Brad says: “A lot of the people that drink our beer are not craft beer fans. They’re not nerds, even though we’re all nerds here! They just want great and consistent beer.”
“Accessibility is so important. What’s the point of making a beer if nobody is going to be able to drink it. The same applies to drinkability. Making accessible, drinkable beers is at the centre of everything we do,” adds Gazz. “Ultimately we always have, and always will, make beers that we like to drink. We’re just lucky others do as well.”
