St Mary-the-Virgin church in Primrose Hill is exploring the world of craft beer, working with a London brewer to produce local beer and non-alcoholic drinks to raise funds to support the successful youth work of the St Mary’s Centre.
St Mary’s Brewery was launched by the Bishop of Edmonton, Fr Rob Wickham, at a special beer tasting evening at the church. The beer is currently being prepared at UBREW in Bermondsey but the team at St Mary’s hope to do their brewing on site in the future.
The St Mary’s Centre works with young people aged 9 – 21 through outdoor outreach and centre-based programmes. It is experiencing ever-increasing demand and offered 13,000 attendances in 2015 to over 300 young people.
As well as raising funds, the beer will be the centrepiece of a craft beer club for the local community, allowing them to take part in brewing, enjoy lectures and beer tastings, visit breweries and become part of the craft beer revolution. The club is open to the local community whether or not they attend St Mary’s.
The idea is the brainchild of two members of the congregation, Churchwarden Steve Reynolds and Roddy Monroe. Some of the beers currently on offer include an American IPA and a London Porter with non-alcoholic options being planned for the future. Several local pubs, restaurants and off-licenses have already expressed an interested in stocking the beer and there are plans to sell it online.
Steve Reynolds, church warden and co-founder of St Mary’s Brewery commented:
“The idea came from three sources; the love of beer, a passion for St Mary’s and the need to support our fantastic youth work.”
This enterprising approach to fundraising, local beer making and community building follows a long tradition of beer making and the Church of England; Fuller’s Brewery, in Chiswick was started by the local Churchwarden.
The Revd Marjorie Brown, Vicar of St Mary-the-Virgin Primrose Hill, commented:
“The brewery project has brought lots of new energy and enjoyment to St Mary’s Church. It’s lovely to be able to raise money for our community youthwork while having so much fun. The wider community has taken a real interest in our church-brewed beer and we are definitely on the local map in a new way as a result.”
To find out more about the youth work of St Mary’s visit the St Mary’s Centre Website, or discover more about the Beer Club and the St Mary’s Brewery online. Read the Camden New Journal’s coverage of the launch event here.