Wicklow Wolf are delighted to announce John Allen as our new Production Manager
2018 was a record year at Wicklow Wolf with rapid growth that saw us begin construction on our new brewery, launch a new website, brew a shed load of great and interesting beers, establish our own in-house distribution company – Alpha Beer and Cider Distribution, open new export markets and now we are delighted to announce that we have welcomed Master Brewer John Allen to the Wicklow Wolf team.
John will take the role of Production Manager and will oversee the development of our new 17,000 sq ft, 35hL BrauKon brewery in Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow.
“We at Wicklow Wolf are absolutely thrilled to have John join our team as Production Manager. John has a very impressive pedigree in brewing in both Australia and the UK. We are on a journey to grow our business and our brand in line with the key principles that we hold highly, the first and foremost being the quality and consistency of the beer that we produce. John is a big addition which will help us to move to the next stage in our adventure. We look forward to brewing more great beer and of course having a bit of craic with John leading the way!” says Managing Director, Quincey Fennelly.
John, a Roscommon native, returns to Ireland after spending the last 12 years in some of the world’s leading breweries. He began his brewing career after graduating from Maynooth with a degree in Biotechnology, his passion for brewing blossomed which led him to completing a Masters of Brewing at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
John has spent the last 6 years at BrewDog in Scotland where he rose to the role of Brewing Manager. John’s extensive brewing background extends to time in Diageo’s R&D sector just outside of London, Fuller’s in London, and Little Creatures in Australia.
“Having only ever worked in the brewing industry outside of Ireland I always had notions of coming home at some stage to ply my trade on home soil. Working in some of the most well-known breweries across the world has allowed me to gain a very unique insight into brewing high quality beers in challenging environments alongside some phenomenal people. This has instilled a real passion in me for helping grow and improve brewing people and processes with the ultimate goal of consistently producing beer that brings joy to people who appreciate great beer and helping non beer drinkers discover the variety of flavours and experiences that come with great beer. I have always aspired to work with people and businesses who share this passion. In my brewing career so far I have been lucky to see how outstanding beer brings a common joy that transcends borders & brings people of all ages and backgrounds together. In the team at Wicklow Wolf I have found people who live and breathe this philosophy and have aspirations to create high quality beers that have real soul and purpose at its heart. They are all about brewing good honest beer and have the determination to do what it takes to achieve this. As Hunter S. Thompson said “good people drink good beer”, in an industry that has a never ending variety of beer & people this simple statement still rings true. At Wicklow Wolf good people are striving to make good beer and have given me the opportunity to come home and be part of that journey.”
Wicklow Wolf and John will be at Craft Beer Rising (https://www.craftbeerrising.co.uk) in London this February pouring some new Wicklow Wolf limited edition beers. Stop by and have a beer with John and the team. We will also be hosting a number of Tap Takeover’s around Ireland in the coming months.
About Wicklow Wolf
Born and Bred in County Wicklow, Ireland, Wicklow Wolf was founded in 2014 by Quincey Fennelly and Simon Lynch. Four years on, Wicklow Wolf has grown from strength to strength. Our multi-award winning beers include our Alpha Pack (core range), Endangered Species (Limited Editions), Crossbreed Series (Collaborations) and The Locavore Project (Fresh Hop Seasonal) – visit www.wicklowwolf.com for more about our range.
At Wicklow Wolf we are very proud of having our very own 10 acre hop farm located in the Wicklow mountains. The hop farm are overseen by the expert eye of co-owner Simon Lynch. Simon has spent over 20 years working in the horticulture business and his passion, expertise and drive is what helps to make our hop farm flourish. The Wicklow Wolf Hop Farm is the first commercial hop farm in ireland in over 20 years. Here we grow over 12 varieties including Chinook, Cascade, Perle, bramling cross, Fuggle. Challenger, Apollo.
Wicklow Wolf is working on exciting plans for our new, purpose built brewery, opening in 2019. We have begun construction on the new home of Wicklow Wolf. Located in Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow, this new brewery will be state of the art. Built on a 2 acre site the new 17,000 sq ft brewery will be home to our new 35hl brewhouse, tanks, canning line and bottling line.