Nestled in the countryside outside the Forest of Dean village of Longhope is Holly Bush Farm, home to one of the leading breweries in Gloucestershire.

Hillside Brewery was established back in 2014, and in the four years since opening has won numerous awards for its beers and lagers. Last year the brewery beat a host of Gloucestershire based businesses to the title of ‘Food or Drink Business of the Year’ at the 2017 Gloucestershire Food and Farming Awards. Paul Williamson, manager of Hillside Brewery, says winning the award came as a pleasant surprise. “Winning that award last year was a huge honour, especially when you consider all the amazing local producers in Gloucestershire that were nominated, said Paul. “To get an accolade like that, in the infancy of our business, was a huge shock,” he added.

Paul was working in the automobile industry before being lured into the world of brewing by his father Peter. “Dad phoned me up one day and asked me to pay the farm a visit. We fell in love with the location, the setting is just incredible. The prospect of turning up for work and getting to work with beer was an appealing one!

“From the very beginning we were committed to producing a product that we can be proud of. There’s no point doing anything unless you’re fully committed to it. We’re absolutely over the moon as to how things are going. We love what we do, we love the business we’re in, and the local area is just a great place to be working.”

Any successful workplace relies on committed staff, the Hillside Brewery is certainly no exception. Continued Paul: “You’re in work for a long time, so we try and have as much fun as we can. We want our team to look forward to coming to work. It does help that we’re surrounded by beer all day! For us the most important thing we strive for is quality and consistency. We work hard to create a well-balanced beer that tastes the same every time. We never sell anything we’re not prepared to drink ourselves. It’s a great time to be a drinker, there’s breweries popping up all over the country. It’s good to have competition, it keeps us on our toes.”

It’s not just sales of beer that keep the tills busy at Hillside Brewery, who offer a number of experience days where the premises are opened to the public. “Our experience days have become very popular. We offer our customers the chance of a guided tour around the brewery, where they can see the whole process of brewing beer. Another experience we offer is a brewing day where people come and spend a day brewing beer with us here. We always try and make it a fun experience for our visitors.”

As well as stocking their produce on their website, the brewery sells its lagers and beers at a number of Gloucestershire based retail outlets. “We supply a number of beer shops, farm shops and delis. It’s a real joy to be working with so many great Gloucestershire based businesses.

“Our aims for the future are to keep on producing quality beers and lagers as well as developing on our experience days.