A welcome break from service stations
By Phil Mellows
So there you are, tootling up, or down, the M1, taking in the fabulous scenery and thinking about breaking the journey with a spot of lunch. I had a boss who always stopped off at Leicester Forest service station on the way to meetings in the brewing capital of Burton-upon-Trent. He insisted that it was “the best”.
Thankfully, we now have an even better alternative. Less than a mile from Junction 21 you’ll find the new home of Everards Brewery, complete with a spacious, spectacular beer hall amid 70 acres of green walkways and cycle paths beside the Grand Union Canal.
Across the road from the old brewery, it was completed exactly a year ago, and the beer hall alone is attracting 3,000 visitors a week. Not all of them arrive by car. Everards Meadows, as the whole complex is known, is on Route 6 of the National Cycle Network, and, to encourage pedallers, there’s a purpose-built cycling store on site.
Four miles outside the city, the new brewery secures for Leicester a sudden promotion among Britain’s beer destinations. The beer hall is an amazing space, much more than a mere tap room, and worth seeing and experiencing even if you’re not drinking. Indeed, most people are here to eat.
There’s a fascinating slice of history to devour, too. Excavation of the brewery site uncovered an Iron Age shield, more than 2,000 years old. It’s now in the British Museum, but a sculpture of the Enderby Shield makes a striking feature at the entrance to the beer hall.
Inside, as well as Everards’ established favourite ales, Tiger and Old Original, you’ll find an interesting range of the family brewer’s adventures in modern beers on handpump and keg tap.
They include well-executed classic and American IPAs and tank lager and ale fresh from the brewery, plus specials and experimental beers you might not find anywhere else. In case you can’t make up your mind, they’re available as a three-thirds beer flight.
Then there’s the brewery itself, shiny and new, gleaming behind the glass wall at the back of the bar. It’s not only state-of-the-art kit, it’s custom-designed for tours with the production process set out in an easily-understood way, all visible from a viewing platform that runs through the heart of the plant.
And, after being in existence for nearly 175 years, the family firm has, in the Meadows, gained more than a fancy new brewery, as managing director Stephen Gould recognises.
“We’ve now got a leisure and tourism destination that reflects what we are all about in a physical way,” he says. “It gives a lift to the local community and to our credentials as a brewer.”
Taking a wider view, we can see Everards Meadows is part of an evolution among Britain’s traditional brewers that’s keeping them relevant in the age of craft beer, helping them to tap into that spirit of exploration.