A BAD Co. Invite

Just the other day we had the fantastic crew at BAD Co. host our whole gaggle of Hawkers at their impressive brewery in Dishforth, North Yorkshire. It was a welcome outing after the hard work of Father's Day. We are most grateful for the invite and are excited to see one of our North Yorkshire neighbours be so successful, so quickly.

For some of us this was our first trip to a brewery ever. With BAD Co.'s gleaming copper kettles, massive stainless steel conditioning tanks, a top-of-the-line bottling line and free samples, this was a great first time!

BAD Co. came onto the British brewing stage in late 2014. Inspired by the American craft beer revolution and modern British brewing techniques, they've been producing some fantastic beers like their award-winning Comfortably Numb and firm favourites Dazed and Confused and Wild Gravity for their increasingly growing fan-base. Led by Head Brewer, Paul Holden-Ridgway, BAD Co. has been growing by leaps and bounds and they've got huge plans for growth in future.

BAD Co. has not only impressed us with their aforementioned core range beers but they're doing some really great stuff with some of their one-off specials. Think lots and lots of grapefruit for the Grapefruit Slow Rider or fresh lime and mint in their Mojito Pale Ale. It took a team of four guys the better part of an hour to gut boxes of grapefruit for the beer they were brewing that day. Good thing we got to enjoy some samples while watching!

Having a Taste of BAD Co.

There's nothing better than drinking fresh beer right out of the tank while being surrounded by the sights and smells of a brewery...  

And learning about it from the guys who know it best...

This exceptionally impressive brewery has a bright future ahead and we feel very lucky to be a group that gets to say "we've been there!" Truth be told, however, no number of awards, no gleaming conditioning tank can outdo the status of the brewery dog. Like this one.

After milling about and checking out the beginnings of the Grapefruit Slow Rider working away in the mash tun and being treated to a great lunch (with plenty of millionaire shortbreads to go around) we left our gracious hosts for a team-building BBQ at one of our beery-comrade's house. We called it Sausagefest. Because there were lots of sausages on the grill. Come on people. Thanks so much BAD Co.! We loved seeing your digs. We love what's inside your bottles even more. Cheers!