The Curious Brewery is an award winning, state of the art facility, located in Ashford, Kent. The brewery, which sits alongside a visitor centre and a 120-cover bar-restaurant, was constructed in 2019 and has been described as a ‘cathedral to beer’.

Risk Capital Partners acquired the brewery in April 2021, as part of a carve-out from Chapel Down (the English wine company) and appointed a new heavyweight management team to lead the business into the next phase in its development. Pub and brewing veteran Mark Crowther and former UK head of Budweiser Budvar Simon George join the business as chairman and managing director, respectively.

The deal will be followed by planned investments in a new bottling and canning line, as well as increased support for the sales and marketing functions.

Why we invested:

• Well invested, state of the art brewery, with substantial capacity to grow production.
• Award winning range of ciders and beers under the existing brand.
• Substantial opportunity to further the brewery’s status as a leisure “destination”, building on the success of the restaurant, tap room, events and tours proposition.
• Opportunity to consolidate the fragmented craft/premium beer segment through M&A.
• Opportunity to work alongside an experienced and industry leading management team.