Crafty Beers are brewed in a small microbrewery at The Carpenters Arms in Great Wilbraham. The first ales went on tap in the pub in November 2012. The brewer, Robert Beardsmore, brewed the first ales with very small scale, pilot brewery equipment that meant having to brew 3 times in a long, 18 hour day to produce enough beer to ferment just 5 firkins. However, by the end of January 2013 Robert was able to start using his “new toy”, a brand new, 1½ barrel, shiny stainless steel brewery. It still only produces 6 firkins at a time, but that is in a single brew and involves rather fewer hours than before. All the ales are made using a single infusion mashing technique and are casked or bottled without filtration or pasteurisation; they are real ales. Due to Robert's experience in the wine industry, he uses stainless steel throughout the brewery and fermentation is in a sealed conical fermenter. “I'm not keen on open fermentations, “ comments Robert, “I like to control everything that goes in or out of the beer!” To date, three ales are being brewed. Carpenter's Cask is a best bitter and is already establishing itself as a favourite with the locals. Sauvignon Blonde is a golden ale made with Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand. These provide fresh flavour and aroma characteristics reminiscent of the Kiwis' most famous wine. The third ale is a pale ale with a clean citrusy nose it is called Sixteen Strides, because that is how far it has to travel from brewery to cellar. One innovation that Robert is trying with these ales is to avoid the use of isinglass so that they can be enjoyed by vegetarians as well. Isinglass, a fish extract, is used in almost all cask ales to help the yeast settle quickly after the beer has been churned up during transportation and then “dropped” into the cellar. With precise production techniques, almost no distance to travel and careful cellar handling, Crafty Beers have been on tap in the pub since November 2012 without any isinglass being added to them.