It's a little over a year since The Brewery last received honourable mention in these pages. Much has happened at Cassels and in Christchurch since that time. Work continues apace on the Tannery arcade conversion (see photo above). Gustav's, Cassels new wine bar opened this week, marking the second anniversary of The Brewery (bar rather than lower-case brewery!) opening. Gustav's outstanding fitout, together with its two handpumps, will receive further attention here in the near future but, for now, let's raise a glass to Alasdair Cassels and his team for the fine work they are doing in making Christchurch a better place after nearly three years of difficult times. Admittedly, there have been problems with beer quality control over recent months, although most of the beer pulled from the handpumps has been of respectable quality. A rapidly expanding brewery was always going to have challenges, especially after the astonishingly high quality of its beer in its first year of operation. Let's hope that its third year sees a return to its incomparable best.
