Plans for brewery on Spitbank Fort

Three entrepreneurs plan to launch a beer brewed in the middle of the Solent.

The trio want to turn Spitbank Fort into a brewery. The 19th century fort, currently a private museum, has a freshwater spring. Owners Neale Brickwood, Paul Holland and Ian Price have drawn up proposals to build a brewery on site which would draw on its unique water source to make real ale.

They also want to establish a bottling plant at the fort to sell mineral water. Mr Brickwood said: ‘The building is incredibly unique, incredibly industrial and strong, and we know what we’d like to do.’

Keith Bott, president of the Society of Independent Brewers, told the Portsmouth News: ‘There are some very isolated breweries in Scotland like the Isle of Arran, and similarly distant ones on the outer reaches like Orkney which supply their local communities.

‘They clearly realise the benefits of having a unique selling point.’

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Image: courtesy Visit Portsmouth