BISON BEER
In the words of hell raising Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson
Beer, it’s the best damn drink in the world.
Beer in Britain probably hit its low point in the 1970s. With small independent brewers crushed and homogenised by the evil corporation that spawned Watney’s Red Barrel. But from loss comes regeneration. And in this case, the seeds were sown for Britain’s micro-brewery revolution.
Embryonic in the late 1970s as men in socks and sandals concocted their home brew using kits bought from Boots the Chemist (weird). Emitting aromas so pungent they were often despatched to the garden shed by ‘er indoors. Then under cover of darkness, the fermenting moonshine smuggled into the airing cupboard to speed up the fermentation process. Dewy eyed men within 200 yards raising a nostril like the Bisto Kid at the hoppy aroma wafting across the neighbour’s back gardens.
The Macc Lads captured this zeitgeist with their 1985 hit Barrel’s Round – “beer, beer we want more beer....”. Couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
Fast forward to the mid 90’s and good beer had become a hot commodity. Micro-breweries were popping up left, right and centre. The US championed this trend but like the plucky underdogs us Brits are, we weren’t far behind and now the British craft brewery business is booming.
When we open a new Aubin store, we always like to make friends and meet the locals. And we were over the moon to meet two aficionados of this brilliant industry round the corner from our new East Street store in Brighton - Jack Cregan and Nick Vardy, co-owners and founders of Bison Beer.
Their bottle shop is legendary in the local area, so pull up a stool and crack open a cold one as we delve into their story. Think excited kids in a sweet shop as we sat chatting to the two of them.
WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR BISON COME FROM?
We set up Bison Beer in 2014. We’d sit over a few beers and talk about developing something challenging together, but not really having any real idea of what we wanted to do. We certainly enjoyed the shared activity of getting into craft beer in London at the time, so it felt like a natural progression.
There was something in that industry which was super creative. The art work was really cool, there didn’t seem to be any particular rules as it was emerging as a trend in popularity and we thought there was an opportunity for us to do something in our own way. We basically ‘winged’ it from there.
We found a location in Brighton which was the perfect place to open a little bottle shop. We were probably part drunk, but we thought we’d give it a go anyway and the rest is history really.
We opened up Bison as a beer specialist shop on East Street, the other end of the street to the Aubin store. It was the perfect location. By the original entrance to Brighton Old Town and it’s part of the Lanes which is full of independent businesses, giving people a chance to shop local. The more people we could meet in the shop and be linked to, the more people we could collaborate with.
OBVIOUS QUESTION, BUT WHERE DOES YOUR PASSION FOR CRAFT BEER COME FROM?
First and foremost, we are into it because of the product. It’s far superior to what we were having elsewhere and available in the supermarket. Then secondly, it’s the whole collaboration and creativity behind craft beer.
Everyone who works in craft beer seems to know each other and have worked together at some point. This would extend out to the artist for the label and design. It’s an exciting industry to be involved in, primarily led by a superior product.
WHY DID YOU GUYS CHOSE BRIGHTON?
We both knew Brighton from university days. We love the city for its creativity and its exuberance. It’s kind of edgy, not having set rules. It has a great food and bar scene and felt like a great place to be a student. We wanted to capture some of that spirit. It’s a city that supports independents and if we were going to give it a shot it would be a space where we’d have the best chance.
HOW DO YOU PICK WHAT’S STOCKED IN THE SHOP?
Initially, we always select by taste. Taste test everything! Research and development was incredibly important. It’s a tough job....we still adhere to this theory, why wouldn’t you?
You need to be able to trust that you’re selling the best and we and the team can also pass on our opinions when we get first time buyers in the shop.
Originally, we stocked a lot of stuff from the US and the UK craft brewery scene was developing. Now we predominantly sell over 80% of UK production with a sprinkling of European, not so much US anymore. The quality is here now, much closer to home. There’s a tonne of amazing breweries in the UK. It’s simple, someone makes a great beer, they share it with us, we like it, we sell it. We don’t like it, we don’t sell it.
When we first started there were 60 micro-breweries in Sussex. That number has now doubled. We are now able to support these local breweries. The local fridge is the go-to, 80% of our custom comes from that. It’s the easiest one to replenish. It’s all about keeping things local, the sooner you can drink a craft beer, the better the quality is.
WHAT IS THE BISON MASTER PLAN? ANY FUTURE PROJECTS?
The next goal is to go a bit larger but keep the local ethos at the heart of the business. Our team are really important and enjoy what we’re doing. We want to maximise the network of amazing creatives we’ve met and worked with over the last decade and give that the chance it deserves.
The Beach bar that we opened in 2018 has been a massive opportunity. It gave Brighton something to be proud of in an area that needed regeneration at the time. Again, it was a collaboration with local businesses in the area and it gave us the opportunity to take the craft beer experience onto a bigger scale.
Next up we’re doing another beach bar, but this time in Hove Actually under the Babble umbrella with our chef Sam Lambert from SLAM…
One thing is for sure, the Aubin team can't wait!
