Kevin the landlord is third from left. Brewers Joel (second from left) and Dean (third from right) with beard. Other members will know who they are!

Members of the Neath Port Talbot sub branch made a long-awaited visit to the recently-opened Borough Arms Brewery, New Henry Street, Neath, in January. After a 1pm gathering to undertake some quality control and sampling, the tour started at 2pm with landlord Kevin Davies and his brewers Joel and Dean.

The brewery building behind the pub – in its beer garden to be accurate – cannot in any way said to be spacious. However,  Kevin and partner Mandy Draper have managed to squeeze in £30k worth of new brewing equipment. Prior to the setting up of the brewery Kevin attended training courses and is constantly fine-tuning his six different brews, taking into account both his own and customers’ tastes and feedback.

Borough Arms landlord Kevin flanked by brewers Joel and Dean.

All of his brews’ names are somehow connected to either steel-making (Kevin’s occupational background) or Wales’ industrial heritage, mainly coal. Kevin was kind enough to have a ‘spare’ barrel of his Triple Bleeder brew available for members to sample in the brewery. Despite the cold, members took up his generous offer with enthusiasm.

The success of Borough Brewery has been featured in a recent Evening Post article

By Colin Rees – Publicity Officer  – Neath Port Talbot CAMRA Sub Branch