Our Story

About Ennerdale Brewery

Established in Croasdale (nr. Ennerdale) in the summer of 2010, our brewery and beer were set up under the guidance of the late Peter Laws. Attached to the former Jenning’s Brewery of nearby Cockermouth, Peter was known throughout the industry for his brewing brilliance.

Four years later we began to outgrow our humble barn in the hamlet of Croasdale, and here began our journey to our Rowrah home that you know and love today. After a complete redesign, our fully functional brewery, tap & bistro was ready. To this day, we’re forever grateful for the efforts of our family and friends who made this possible.

Fast forward a few years more, and sustainability and reduction of our carbon footprint became one of our core values. With assistance from CLEP Cumbria we installed 176 solar panels to align perfectly with the sun’s east-west orientation arcing perfectly over the brewery from dusk to dawn.

We’ve weathered floods, material shortages and a global pandemic yet have continued to nurture our craft. Over the years, we have achieved continuous SALSA accreditation for our brewery, SIBA awards for our beers, business awards, and a host of 5-star reviews for our brewery tap & bistro.

Family has always been at the heart of everything we do and we’ve been incredibly lucky to work with a host of talented, hard-working individuals along the way who continue to leave their brilliance on us every single day.

Brewing Beer

Our beers begin with only four ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast.

It is of utmost importance to us that our beers are brewed using ingredients that are as fresh and natural as possible:

We exclusively employ the finest malts, which are freshly kiln-dried and milled especially for us.

Our flavourful hops are whole-leaf, dried hops, and our yeast is cultivated from one of the longest-established English Ale Yeasts. Moreover, we harvest yeast from each fermentation to utilise in the subsequent brew, ensuring the preservation of those distinctive flavours.

Our beers undergo a week of fermentation, followed by a careful transfer to racking and conditioning vessels for up to six days, depending on the recipe. It’s pure natural goodness!

meet The Team

Our Directors

PAUL ZANACCHI

Director

Paul joined the brewery in 2012 alongside Emily and Jodi and has been involved in all areas of the business, from brewing beer to designing logos and anything IT or engineering related. His passion for real ale started when he brewed his first homebrew in his mams shed! He’s designed and brewed a number of beers himself since them and thankfully standards have dramatically improved. Favourite Ennerdale Ale – Marathon Man IPA

EMILY ZANACCHI

Director

Emily joined her dad Barrie in the family business along with Paul and Jodi in 2012 and has remained more of a silent Director behind the scenes, stepping in when needed on the sales calls, assisting in the kitchen or behind the bar. Emily managed the refurb of the Brewery Tap during 2020 and assists in the recruitment of key members of the Brewery Team. Emily is mum to Sofia and when not working full time at Sellafield is usually attending horse events with keen horse rider Sofia, enjoying breaks with her friends and family or up a fell with her dog Coco.

JODI PARKE

Director

Jodi joined the family business along with Paul and Emily in 2012. Where she worked as part of the Brewery team in the Accounts department for 10 years while the business was developing, once established Jodi passed the reins over to Andrea who is doing a fantastic job. Jodi steps in when needed, assisting in the kitchen or behind the bar to help ease the pressure on the brewery tap staff. Jodi is mum to Lewis and Elliott and when not working full time at Sellafield is running around after the boys, enjoying walks with her husband and two dogs or redecorating their house!

BARRIE ROBERTS

Director

Barrie is the founder member of The Ennerdale Brewery which was formed in 2010 at a tiny Hamlet in Ennerdale, Cumbria. Barrie managed the relocation of the Brewery to new premises in Rowrah in 2016 which would be a more permanent home for the Brewery. Barrie took early retirement in 2020 from 40+ years in the Oil and Gas/Nuclear Industry to spend more time in the Business. Barrie is a mega Rugby Union fan, once travelling to Australia for 4 nights to watch his beloved Lions win the Rugby World Cup against their arch rivals! Barrie enjoys spending time with wife Doreen at their caravan in Staithes. When not at the caravan, you’ll catch Barrie on his laptop doing all things “business”, installing solar panels, fixing the brewing equipment or quaffing one of his favourite ales ‘Blonde’ in the Brewery Tap.

Brewery Team

RUSSELL LEMON

SALES OUTREACH MANAGER

Russell is our sales manager. He started at The Ennerdale Brewery in 2017 after previously working in and managing several successful bars. He knows what beer drinkers want and he is always on the road visiting our loyal customers, as well as potential clients, to give out samples and get feedback. Russ was the driving force behind our ales getting on the shelves in Morrisons and Booths. Favourite Ennerdale Ale: Seven Bridges.

STEve DAVIeS

DELIVERY DRIVER

Steve moved to Cumbria from Nottingham in 1999 and started working at The Brewery in summer 2016. He drives the van all around Cumbria and Lancashire on Wednesdays and Thursdays delivering our beer to our lovely customers. He is a friendly and familiar face for The Brewery and he will chat to you for as long as you let him!

Favourite Ennerdale Ale: Darkest Bitter

Tim Hughes

Head Brewer

Tim came to the Brewery in 2023 and has made quite an impact! Tim is a keen brewer and has been doing so for 13 years. In his spare time, Tim enjoys spending time with his family, paddle boarding on the local lakes, climbing and swimming. Favourite Ennerdale Beer: Coastline

The Brewery Tap & Bistro Team

DOREEN ROBERTS

HEAD OF BREWERY TAP

Doreen retired at the NHS in 2016 to take on a (more than) full time role at the Brewery to ensure the Tap/Restaurant was opened up and up to standard. Doreen decorated, sourced furniture, and kitted out a full commercial kitchen ready for opening in the summer of 2016, along with that she was the main cook in the kitchen for years until the refurb in 2020. Its thanks to Doreen’s efforts over the last 7 years that the Brewery Tap is what it is now and we can’t express enough gratitude for the blood, sweat and tears (literally) that she has put into the place. A keen baker, Doreen put the first ever menu together with her pies being a well-loved favourite at the Brewery. Doreen has removed her apron and oven gloves and has taken more of a back seat of late, overseeing the Brewery Tap, ensuring everything behind the scenes runs like clockwork. The spare time has seen Doreen travel more and given that extra time to spend with her family and friends.

DAVID PETTIT

BREWERY TAP MANAGER and Marketing & Social Media Lead

David joined us in May 2021. With over 13 years of industry experience leading hospitality in bars, restaurants, theatres and more, he was tasked with leading the Brewery Tap. He works alongside Gemma in the Brewery Tap to deliver the award-winning excellence you’ve come to expect from us.

GEMMA SCOTT

HEAD CHEF

Gemma joined us in 2021 and since then the Brewery Tap has gone from strength to strength. She came to us from the Kirkstile Inn where she worked for over 17 years. She's lived in Arlecdon, which is only a stone's throw away from the brewery, all her life and loves the fact that she can supply her community with locally sourced good quality food. Favourite beer - Seven Bridges

Our Story

Our Story

About Ennerdale Brewery

Brewing Beer

meet The Team

Our Directors

PAUL ZANACCHI

EMILY ZANACCHI

JODI PARKE

BARRIE ROBERTS

Brewery Team

RUSSELL LEMON

STEve DAVIeS

Tim Hughes

The Brewery Tap & Bistro Team

DOREEN ROBERTS

DAVID PETTIT

GEMMA SCOTT

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