The Winchester Brewery History The Winchester Brewery was formed in the last quarter of 2004, and formally launched in January 2005. Brewing began in earnest in March 2005. The idea began when the brewer, David Wealleans, decided that his 13-year long stint as a business adviser and trainer was long enough and it was about time that he did something himself, rather than just tell other people how to do it. After looking at a number of possibilities and rejecting them as not interesting enough, when the idea of a brewery cropped up it became the immediate obvious choice. A lifelong interest in beer and brewing and an immediate rush of creative concepts meant that everything else seemed pale by comparison. David originally sought the assistance of a friend who had an equal interest in beer and many years involvement in supply to the pub trade. The plan was then complete and we set about establishing the brewery in the summer of 2004, with plans to be brewing in October of that year. The brewery didn't quite launch that quickly, mainly owing to let-downs and disappointments over premises which upset us rather, so that we finally moved into our first premises in Southampton in December 2004. We had help from an existing small brewer who helped with early training and recipe development, as well as valuable advice from various people including publicans and other brewers, to whom we owe various levels of thanks. Our initial brews comprised 2 beers, recipes for which were developed before we even had plant! These were Best Bitter and Trusty Servant. Trusty Servant, our rich dark flagship brew, has won two awards: overall winner at Southampton Beer Festival in 2005 and third prize at Alton Beer Festival in 2006. Further recipes have arisen/will arise as part of our developments and recipe trials in our own brewery. David has had assistance and support in various ways in getting the business going and people to whom thanks are owed include Graham Moss, Phil Ambrose, John Hurley, Nick Harper Sue and Neville (former landlords of The Guide Dog) and Charles Oliver, plus various others who I hope won't feel offended that I have left off their names.