You can make your way in this industry with great beer but with that, you need to be genuine in your approach and create an environment people want to be part of. And for Theo Freyne, founder of Deya Brewing Company, he’s striving to do just that.

For many, Odell IPA is the quintessential American IPA.

Hailing from Fort Collins, Colorado, the 7.0% beer features no less than nine American hops and a blend of Pale and Vienna malts, perfectly married with the brewery’s house yeast and fresh Rocky Mountain water from the Cache la Poudre River.

It’s the flagship release of the brewery founded by Doug Odell, his wife Wynne, and his sister Corkie back in 1989, and one that’s gone on to influence and inspire countless brewers since.

A much-loved beer, it has long been a go-to for those lucky enough to get their hands on it.

Some 4,500 miles across the Atlantic, Deya Brewing Company of Cheltenham, England, are following their own path in beer.

And in Steady Rolling Man, the brewery’s 5.2% Pale Ale, they have their own flagship beer. One that has already become a byword for quality in the world of hazy, hop-forward UK brewing.

And although it bears little resemblance to Odell’s beloved IPA, Deya’s founder Theo Freyne learned much about quality and consistency during his own internship at the American brewery.

“When you have the chance to work at a brewery like Odell, you become something of a sponge,” he smiles. “I was simply trying to absorb as much as possible. But the overriding message each and every day was quality.”

Freyne’s stint at Odell complemented his studies, where he completed a Masters of Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University. And it’s that time in the US that put him good stead for a future running his own business.

He explains: “They are a big brewery making lots of different beers but every single detail, no matter how minute, was so well considered. There are lots of different cogs forming part of this massive wheel, but each and every cog has to be spot on.

“This attention to detail resulted in beers of the highest quality, but what was of equal importance was that everyone in that team loved working for the company.

“Each member of the brewery was treated the same so you ended up with this whole synergistic effect where people took pride in what they’re doing every day, and that showed in the beer.”

“Each member of the brewery was treated the same so you ended up with this whole synergistic effect where people took pride in what they’re doing every day, and that showed in the beer,” Theo Freyne, Deya.

And making Deya a brewery that is a company his team want to work for is front and centre of Freyne’s focus as the business continues its impressive growth trajectory.

Deya started out back in 2015. As a die-hard fan of US beer and the culture that surrounds it, Freyne built the recipe of Steady Rolling Man on a homebrew scale before brewing it locally on a 4bbl kit.

Things moved quickly and by 2016, he had the keys to a 4,000ft2 industrial unit in Cheltenham, home to a 10bbl kit and a 800ft2 taproom where the brewery’s beers were first poured that May.

With the increasingly popularity of hazy pales and IPAs, coupled with the quality of Deya’s output, the brewery grew its team, added extra fermentation capacity, and a new canning line.

But by 2019, it was time to move on. The brewery had outgrown its existing site and secured a new 25,000sqft premises only moments from its previous facility. One that has been retained going forward.

The centrepiece of this new brewery is a a 40hl four vessel brewhouse from Leeds-based SSV Limited, and a 2,000sqft destination taproom.

“SSV were fantastic throughout the whole process in terms of the install and planning, and getting the whole site up and running,” he says. “The capabilities of the new brewhouse are just night and day compared to our brew kit.

“At the old site, things was very manual, and quite basic. But we really loved working here and enjoyed brewing on that kit. But the new technology is just a massive step up for the whole company, and it makes a huge difference in everyone’s working day.”

While brewing commenced on their new kit in January of 2020, the year that followed was far-removed from anything Freyne and the team would have anticipated. Especially as they’ve, to date, yet to open their impressive new taproom for anything other than off-sales.

“This year 80% of what we’ve sold has been in can format, which is a major jump over the 20/30% it accounted for in 2019,” he explains. “As a business, we set ourselves up to place a major emphasis on direct to consumer sales. But the situation this year has sped that up somewhat.”

Beers like Steady Rolling Man and Into The Haze are incredibly popular in keg dispense, pouring at bars, pubs and bottleshops. But in small pack is where Deya has continued to build its name, especially in the last year.

Regular releases launch weekly on its webshop, and Freyne acknowledges how the wealth of social restrictions in place during 2020 have driven more traffic to web sales for breweries such as his.

“This year has been so strange. So many people have been buying online, because they haven’t been able to go out to the pub,” he muses. So that’s obviously a factor in having such strong sales in that area. But when things do get back to normal, we hope that we can build upon and sustain that relationship with the consumer.”

But he’s also clear on the valuable and essential role that other businesses, both in the off- and on-trade, have in helping build the Deya name.

“Hearing and seeing people buy our beers in pubs, bars and bottleshops is an incredibly rewarding feeling, and one we are always extremely grateful for,” he says. “But with the ability to make more beer than before, we want to get out to even more people and fulfil the demand we’ve previously been unable to.”

Elsewhere, the business has also just undertaken a full carbon audit with the aim of making the brewery carbon neutral. This forms part of a holistic approach being taken to the company. 

“As we grow, a big part of my job is to make sure that this company is a really, really good place to work,” he says. “We should always be asking what can we do better, in terms of the beer we make, the wellbeing of our team, and the impact the brewery has on a wider basis.”

This approach comes at a time where the brewery will have produced some 8000HL in 2020, but with capacity already hit at the new facility, extra fer- mentation capacity and a rotary canning line will be added this year, with Deya targeting 10,000HL packaged volume in 2021. 

And in terms of being able to make more beer, Freyne is enthused about the doors that will open.

“We used to operate in a very narrow consumer base, but now find ourselves being able to serve other markets that weren’t possible before. And that’s a great thing. It’s exciting for us, as a company, to be able to branch out,” he says.

And branching out isn’t solely restricted to the volume of markets Deya can serve. While their hop-toward beers are where they’ve made their name, the brewery has also turned its hand to a variety of styles, both in the clean side of the business and also it’s barrel-aged arm, too.

2020 saw the release of Giant Leap an ESB featuring light caramel malts and Fuggles and Goldings hops from Brook House Hops. While Tappy Pils is the brewery’s first lager, a 4.4% beer with a noticeable hop bitterness and aroma from big whirlpool additions of Hersbrucker and Saphir.

“On the clean side, we’re pretty well known for the ‘juicy’ IPAs but it was always in the plan to spend time focusing on lagers and traditional English styles, too,” he explains. “And these complement beers on our mixed-fermentation side, with beers aged in both stainless and wood.”

“I still believe we’re at a starting point in this chapter of Deya, and it’s very much a learning process but I’m very excited about the road that lies ahead,” Theo Freyne, Deya.

Looking forward, Freyne wants to have mixed ferm beers released over the course of the year and to enable this the brewery hired Toby Munn, formerly head brewer at The Kernel in London, to head up this side of the business.

“Toby was involved with The Kernel since its inception and is very experienced in that field, so it’s great to have him as part of the team,” he adds.

Munn is part of a 20-strong Deya team that also includes head brewer Gareth Moore, sales manager Nils Lindborg, taproom manager Rachael Evans and brewery dog Teku.

The latest releases to emerge from this part of Deya include Leckhampton Hill, an oak aged mixed fermentation ale with locally foraged elderflower. The beer was conditioned in red wine barrels for over 12 months with mixed cultures, resulting in a tart, funky and quenching ale with flavours of lemon, hay and elderflower.

While upcoming launches include collabs with a local winery and also a project with Little Ponoma Cider based in Bromyard, Herefordshire.

“I still believe we’re at a starting point in this chapter of Deya, and it’s very much a learning process but I’m very excited about the road that lies ahead,” Freyne says. “When we can finally open the taproom in the way we planned, it means visitors can enjoy hoppy beers but also lagers, mixed ferm numbers and hopefully beer on cask, too.”

And the whole concept, according to Freyne, is to provide a varied and beautiful tap board that caters for all.

“In my opinion, the truly great breweries are the ones that can turn their hand to a handful of different styles but do them very, very well. And that’s what we’re trying to do,” he says.

Freyne adds: “So we’re certainly trying to do that. You know try to extend yourself, and push yourself to always try and do new things.

“I think anybody who works in this industry, and really cares about what I do, will always feel that you can improve on things or make them better. If a beer was a 9/10 then next time the plan is to make it a 10, and that’s what we always strive to do.”