Crafty Brewing Company acquires the Little Beer Corporation

UK-based craft brewer The Crafty Brewing Company has acquired Guildford-based craft brewer the Little Beer Corporation (LBC) for an undisclosed sum.

The Crafty Brewing Company, whose portfolio of craft beers includes Crafty One, Dunsfold Best and Five Hop, claims that the acquisition will double its brewing capacity to 40,000 litres of beer per month.

The acquisition sees Crafty Brewing take over LBC’s brewery, acquire its assets and all LBC staff members will transition to The Crafty Brewing Co.

The Crafty Brewing Co has also said that it plans to redevelop its original brewhouse at Thatched House Farm near Dunsfold, in order to create a new 4,000 square-feet brewery with a capacity of 100,000 litres per month.

Andrew McMorran, The Crafty Brewing Co’s chief executive officer, added: “We owe our success to the loyalty of our customers in Surrey but with demand now coming from national restaurant groups, hotels and theatres we need this extra capacity in Guildford to produce more beer.

“We launched an apprenticeship scheme with Godalming College in February so now we have the capacity to increase production we can recruit more local people to make, sell and deliver to new customers.”

Taylor at LBC said: “We closed Little Beer with a heavy heart. However our extraordinary beers and our former shareholders will be in excellent hands with The Crafty Beer Co, and I look forward to seeing Crafty Brewing go from strength to strength.”