Glasgow brewery says power bills have quadrupled, with other costs rising 400%

Despite the rising costs, the owners are staying positive.
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With the craft beer scene more popular than ever, the first organic brewery in Glasgow continues to blaze a trail – and director Rachel Suttle insists it’s important to stay positive despite the cost of living crisis.

Hidden Lane Brewery is organic, vegan, sustainable and female-run, and boss Rachel is constantly innovating to stay ahead of the curve.

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Rachel admits it’s difficult right now as costs have soared in all areas of the business, but she’s doing all she can to keep prices down – and hopes any rises will be short term.

Hidden Lane Brewery.Hidden Lane Brewery.
Hidden Lane Brewery.

Rachel said: “Of course it’s a really hard time for all of us now, whether at home or in business, it’s just how the world is at the moment.

“We have so many hidden costs, minor ingredients used in brewing which have gone up in price by three or four times.

“The power cost alone for brewing a batch of beer has quadrupled. One supplier of an ingredient has gone from around £20 a barrel to over £70 a barrel.

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“Most of our trade – around 60 per cent – is to bars and restaurants like Taymouth Marina, The Finnieston and so on. The hospitality trade has no choice but to pass the rising costs on to customers which we understand.

“Our in-house sales via our shop, or on Amazon, we have managed to keep prices as they were so far but it may come to the point where we have to go up a little.

“The thing is though, I really believe this will be a relatively short-term thing, that hopefully this insanity will end in a few months and we can get back to some kind of normality – and prices will drop again.

“We have to believe that really, otherwise the industry will be crippled.”

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With an in-house shop at the front of their quirky Finnieston building by the famous blue gates, tucked away in an artsy courtyard behind Argyle Street, you can pick up beers in refillable brown glass growlers to cut down on waste.

All grain used in brewing is given away, mainly to feed horses at a local farm, although it’s also used as fertiliser for local allotment owners who grow organic vegetables – and set up shop at the brewery to sell them.

All glass bottles and so on within the brewery are re-used, while cans are recycled and they even trialled e-bike deliveries.

“We do everything we can to be as sustainable as possible, it’s something we constantly work towards as it’s a real pillar of what I set out to do with the brewery,” Rachel added.

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Rachel is also thrilled that more and more women are working in the beer industry – although she counts herself as lucky that her extended team make her gender feel irrelevant.

“Maybe it’s just that the people I work with in general are good people so it just doesn’t feel like a factor at all.

“I’ve been in the trade for a long time – 18 years – and at the beginning there were times it definitely wasn’t so good being female in this world.

“But times have changed and I work with great people. It’s an industry I love and I definitely encourage more young girls to get involved.”

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