Linlithgow brewery launches unique Crowdfunder

Strangers Brewing co founder and head brewer Brett Welch.

Strangers Brewing Co is offering rewards to those who pledge, including the chance to win a year of beer, and to become a ‘Founder Member’.

The community crowdfunder project has an initial target of £15,000 and a stretch target of £20,000. The stretch target represents about half the amount needed to purchase microbrewery kit, fermentation tanks, fruit trees and the plants to create a wetland area at Narrowboat Farm, where they are based.

In the first five days more than £8,000 was raised, with supporters from Linlithgow and across the UK.

Brett Welch, founder and head brewer, said: “We’ve been really blown away by the support we’ve received so far.

"This is a great opportunity for people to help create something really special, and is just the start for the community that we’re creating here at Strangers Brewing Co.”

The brewery is designed to be a sustainable venture, in keeping with the eco-friendly market garden, Narrowboat Farm.

Many of the rewards on offer in the crowdfunder are designed with more eco-conscious consumers in mind.

They include: Native wetland plants, to create a new wetland habitat which will increase biodiversity on the farm, as well as managing the drainage of water from the brewery; Fruit trees, to provide delicious, local ingredients for the beers and create habitats for birds, pollinators and animals.

The microbrewery will start brewing in the autumn after crowdfunding the kit.

Strangers Brewing will produce a range of beers which will be influenced by the seasons and include craft-brewed lagers, pale ales, bitters, red ales, porters and stouts. Each beer will be flavoured with something grown on the farm or foraged from the surrounding Scottish countryside.

Once the microbrewery is up and running, customers will be able to buy subscriptions to receive a mixed case of beers each month.

To learn more about Strangers Brewing, visit www.strangersbrewing.co.uk or for more information and to pledge in the crowdfunder, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/strangersbrewing.