TWO young entrepreneurs could have ended up bitter when their jobs were on the line, but instead they served up a career for themselves by saving a Dales brewery.

Geoff Southgate, 23, and Carl Gehrman, 22, were devastated when the owners of the Wensleydale Brewery in Bellerby, near Leyburn decided to pull out earlier this year.

Geoff had worked there since before he left school with Carl joining later, so with their jobs in jeopardy they decided to pool their resources, call on the community for support and organised a buy-out.

Now the brewery has gone from strength to strength and they are relaunching the brand with a special event on Friday at Bolton Castle which features heavily on the new logo and beer pump badges. 

The pair, who are among the youngest brewery owners in the country, now do all the work themselves with Geoff’s sister Becci providing sales support one morning a week.

“When we first started we were doing a lot of the manual jobs, but what we both wanted to do was brewing. It was a case of being patient, reading up, taking whatever training was available and learning the best way there is, by actually doing it,” said Geoff.

And it is paying off. The brewery produces a range of cask and bottled beers including Sermer Water Summer Ale, Falconer Session Bitter, Wensleydale Gold and Coverdale Poacher. They have managed to maintain sales and are looking at building up and expanding trade in the future.

“We have benefited greatly from strong support by local pubs, farm shops and independently run stockists,” said Geoff. “And thanks to things like our online shop selling direct to the public, Wensleydale beers can now be found throughout Yorkshire and beyond.

“It has been hard work, but it’s great. Our strength has always been the quality of our beer and that won’t change. Keeping the beer consistently good will always be our number one priority. For us being our own boss is a real bonus, what could be better than owning a brewery,” added Geoff.

Bolton Castle administrator, Katie Boggis, said: “We are especially happy to support Geoff and Carl as they take on the business, they have always been a real joy to work with and we wish them every success in the future.”