Warwick based Warehouse Manager / Delivery Super Hero

The good people of Britain are loving our beers and as such we’re expanding to improve our delivery capability and capacity.
As a result, we’re looking for a particularly awesome new person to join our great team!

We’re opening a depot in Warwick and require someone on an initial three month contract (with the possibility of moving to permanent) to assist us in getting more of our great beers out across the country.

Therefore, it would be advantageous if you’re based in or around Warwick.

An overview of what the role entails is as follows:

• 41 hours per week. Proposed hours:
  • Monday 11:00 – 16:00
  • Tuesday to Friday: 08:00 – 18:00
• Check in pallets of cask beer stock in to the depot every Monday from a lorry
• Check out pallets of empty casks back on to the lorry
• Load your van on day previous to delivery or on morning (to suit activity and personal preference)
• Print off driver sheets and delivery run information from emails
• Deliver up to 28 casks of beer each day Tuesday to Friday, collecting empties and any payments from each stop.
• Unloading of empty casks from the van
• Scan and email completed driver sheets to main brewery each day
• Banking any payments made by customers

The majority of the week will see you operating on your own so it’s important you must be happy to work alone and be motivated to get the job done so that our customers and consumers can enjoy the beers they love. There will be a day or days each where you’ll be joined by at least one other member of the team.

Necessary skills:

• Hold a full driving license (preferably clean)
• Be comfortable driving a long wheel base Transit size van
• Good customer service and interaction
• Able to move casks of beer around (they’re 50kg each)
• Competent use of a computer (emailing, filling in a spreadsheet, printing etc)
• Diligently check in the stock to the depot and put in to place using a pallet truck
• Happy to be working alone for most of the week

The role is due to start imminently and this initial three month contract may well be operated on a self employed basis depending on the successful applicants circumstance, we’re a flexible bunch and would like to agree something that works for everyone.

Pay is to be agreed with the successful applicant but will be in line or better than the market and reflect the responsibilities of the role. We’re a brewery that is on the up in a very crowded market and you’d be an important part of that, whilst based in Warwick, there would inevitably be times to join the main team in Weston for business or social escapades. What’s more, there’s even free beer occasionally too!

To apply, please send a CV and covering email to Dave Turner on dave@pitchforkales.com

More information on us and our beer brands can be found at www.pitchforkales.com and www.3d-beer.com

Image provided by Designed by Freepik – Thanks fellas!

We’ve had a busy few weeks here at the brewery, some of it down to more pubs wanting more of our beer and some of it down to the two new brews we’re almost ready to be sending out!

First off, we brought back one of the beers that we used to brew when we worked for RCH Brewery – GoldBine!

GoldBine is a great modern beer, it’s our brew that showcases just what can be done with British hops when they’re used in the right way. Triple hopped over four hopping stages, GoldBine is really bursting with fragrance and flavour and there’s not a single international hop in sight! 3.8% ABV and sparkling gold, it’s a beer worth sampling!

The second new brew has an ugly name but is a beautiful beer! Frogbit is named after the beautiful and rare Frogbit plant that grows in the rhynes surrounding our brewery. We know the name is unconventional but as the beer is as beautiful as flowering Frogbit and is just as rare, we figured it was a good fit. Frogbit is 4.4% ABV and amber brown in colour as well as being triple hopped, there’s multiple layers of comforting malts interspersed with slightly spicy hop aroma and a fruity finish. No frogs have been harmed in the making of this beer you’ll be pleased to know!

As our beers are getting more and more popular, we need another hero and to come and join us on the team and pilot our famous “Beer Force 1” delivery van!

We’re looking for a delivery driver to help us get our beers out to pubs. We’re not ones to mess about so here’s what it’s all about, warts and all…

• Part time to start with (potential of full time coming up though)
• 2 days per week
• 12hr shift on each day (times depending on the delivery run)

This is to cover a short term requirement for some longer distance delivery runs we have. It’s based out of our brewery right by junction 21 of the M5. Driving a mid length wheel base Transit van, there would be two runs a week on a rotating two week schedule (days can *possibly* be organised to fit with you, we’re open to discussion)

Week A:
One day run to Devon / Cornwall and back
One day run to West Midlands / Warwickshire and back

Week B
One day run to North Wales and back
One day run to Bedford / Reading area and back

Let’s be honest, the role isn’t rocket science! But it is an important one – you’ll be an integral part of our mission to get more people to enjoy our beers! Physically, yes, it’s driving a van a decent distance, visiting on average 9 pubs to drop off an average of 3 casks of beer, collect payment from each pub (maybe collect some empty casks too) and then return to base.

The full beer casks weigh 50kg each, so there’s a degree of humping stuff about. You’ll therefore need to be used to the physical side of this role. Empty casks are only about 10kg each.

This role is currently part time just to cover these longer runs in the short term. Longer term, the runs will be taken over by a distributor based nearer those locations, at that point, we will then have a need for a full time, more local delivery driver and we’ll discuss with you about doing the same job on a full time basis but on a shorter distance and shorter hours in the day.

You’ll need to be…

• Easy to work with and personable (important for the team and for our clients)
• Not afraid of the two long days a week with a large amount of driving
• Accept that it will inevitably be an early morning start
• Fine with the physical aspect of getting heavy casks off the van
• Have a clean(ish) driving license
• Comfortable dealing with a small amount of paperwork at each drop and handling some cash (marking off what’s been paid and check that the payment is correct etc)

What can we offer you…

• A pay package that is at minimum in line with the market, probably exceeding it
• Joining a vibrant, fun and sociable team
• Being an important part of an exciting, growing brewery with awesome products!
• Some free beer on occasions too!

If we haven’t scared you off and you want the chance to pilot “Beer Force 1” to get our brew through, then please get in touch by sending a CV and covering email to beer@pitchforkales.com

We are literally bursting with excitement for this Saturday 21st October! It’s the annual “Eat: Burnham-on-Sea” food and drink festival and we’re going to debuting our pop up real ale bar!

We’ll have our three core beers on sale, Pitchfork, PG Steam and Old Slug as well as our current special, East Street Cream!

The festival is an amazing day out, there’s so much deliciousness to try it’s unreal, so if you’re free, pop down and come and meet the Pitchfork Ales team and enjoy a pint or two!

The food festival is open from 9am until 4pm, Saturday 21st October, it’s completely free and more information can be found here… https://www.burnhamonseafoodfestival.org/ 

Last week we had a very special brew day! It was the first time that Pitchfork Ales had brewed a special, limited edition beer and there was one beer that topped the list from our old RCH days that we just had to brew – East Street Cream!

It became a regular beer of RCH Brewery after proving so popular as a special that demand meant that it had to be brewed regularly. However, with increased competition and our own Pitchfork being our hero beer, East Street Cream’s dedicated following meant that the numbers just didn’t stack up and it had to be discontinued by RCH Brewery before they sadly disappeared.

Ever since that decision was taken though, there has been an outpouring of love for this delicious 5.0% ABV chestnut coloured premium bitter. Almost every enwuiry we’ve had recently has been asking when it was come back! So many of your wonderful beer lovers list East Street Cream as your favourite beer of all time – so when we looked at the brewing schedule saw we could sneak a special one in, East Street Cream was the unanimous decision amongst the Pitchfork Ales team.

So here it is – but not for long we’re afraid! It’s a one off brew, brewed by Graham the beer genius who developed it originally and what’s more, it’s been brewed to the very original recipe using Fuggles hops! Back in 2015, due to supply of Fuggles pretty much drying up, the recipe had to be evolved to allow production to continue with a suitable substitute, now though, as Fuggles is more widely available, this very special limited edition brew has been produced using that first, original recipe that caused so many people to fall in love with this awesome beer!

Tell your friends, badger your landlord and spread the word that East Street Cream is back – there’s only 60 casks available and they’ll go in no time! Show it some love and enjoy!

East Street Cream is available in 9g firkins, ready for dispatch from 16th October onwards.

Finally! After being granted our beer production license we can now brew back at our original home in the brewery at West Hewish! There’s been several hurdles to get over in order to get to this point, but with the first brew being our signature beer, Pitchfork, once it’s in the casks, it will all have been worth it!

We can now commence our regular brewing schedule and ensure there’s plenty of stock available for our fellow beer lovers to enjoy our stunning beers!

Can’t wait to be brewing even more for you!

It’s been a rocky few months, the demise of RCH Brewery where Mark and Graham used to work was an interesting time to say the least! What’s more it’s all very well and good setting up your own brewery, there’s the small matter of some brewing plant and all those casks required to house the beer!

The last couple of months saw Pitchfork Ales place a bid on the old RCH Brewery Assets (mainly the brewing equipment and casks) but it was unsuccessful, a disheartening outcome as there was little interest in the equipment and the cost of moving it to a new site for any other brewery would be prohibitive, however, with the lowest bid it was perhaps not meant to be.

Anyway, to cut a long (and frankly, quite boring!) story short, lady luck was smiling and so it came back to Mark and Graham, who of course were able to do a deal to purchase all of the old RCH Brewery equipment – what this means for you, our fellow beer lover, is that the beers you’ve loved for so long, Pitchfork, PG Steam and Old Slug will continue to be brewed by the same awesome brewing hero (Graham) as they always have been and in the same place on the same equipment – we’re passionate about consistency of quality and this seals it completely.

So Pitchfork Ales is alive! We’re super excited about getting the beers back out there for you all and meeting you at various beery type places, but most importantly, we sincerely thank you for your ongoing support and love for what we do, knowing you guys love our beer as much as we do, is what helps to motivate us to do even more and of course, there will be!