Turning a campervan into a mobile brewery has to be one of the most unusual transformations undertaken by any owner. Yet this is exactly what has happened in Scotland. Paul Gibson has even used its distinctive status as the business name: Campervan Brewery.
“Campervans have been a passion of mine for many years. I have traveled around Australia in a VW camper before going to University. Always in the back of my mind was the idea that I wanted a van of my own,” says Paul.
It was the summer of 2015 when his life changed.
“I had led a fairly normal life, married with two kids and following the 9-5 corporate rollercoaster, living for the weekend and those occasional trips away. Then my life turned on its head, never to be the same again.
My wife and young daughter both required major surgery, which resulted in me taking a six month career break to look after them. It was tough, but it also offered an opportunity to reflect on life and choose the road I wanted to follow.”
“During those difficult months, my respite came in the form of brewing beer. I had always been a home brewer and beer fanatic so I decided to take my passion to the next level. I started brewing in my garage at every opportunity.”
In the meantime Paul had gone back to work only to find that that the family business he had been working for sold out to a corporate organization. After spending several months fighting for his job, he accepted a redundancy package and moved to another business.
“I brought the VW van out of my package, and planned to use it for family holidays. It was a way of getting out and about. I used to take my mobile brewing kit, forage for materials to add to the yeast and try new brews. I also started looking at my work life balance and wasn’t sure that working for a company was what I wanted. I wanted a better work life balance. My passions are my family, brewing and my camper van. I asked myself how all these could be combined. I was brewing in the van and had started to see how I could turn it into a business,” said Paul.
“Over time I perfected my brewing techniques, gained as much commercial experience as possible, attended courses throughout the country and dreamt up the idea of The Campervan Brewery.”
It combined everything about which he was passionate: craft beer, classic VW campervans, surf, the great outdoors, travel, food and family life.
“VW campervans are iconic. Lovely to use and rest one’s eyes upon. We have got a bit of history with this vehicle – it is older than me having been built in 1973. The conversion was straightforward. Nothing special was needed, because we were going to use it for family holidays so we made sure it had a good kitchen and cooker. I have added a generator so I can brew wherever I go.”
Paul Gibson, founder of Campervan Brewery, with his equipment. [Photo/Paul Gibson]
He converted his garage into a small brewery in order to hand craft small batches of beer as Customs & Excise were not happy with having nowhere to store the beer securely. Paul also set about converting his 1973 VW Campervan, which was quickly nicknamed ‘The Hoppy Camper’ by his kids. “I used to go out and find ingredients, brew it in the van, then come back and allow it to ferment in the garage for a few weeks until it was ready. I started selling at events from a portable bar beside the campervan, and often had beer brewing in the van as well. Word got out and demand grew.”
It proved to be a winning combination of the right time, and an unusual idea. Demand for craft beer was increasing rapidly, and Paul was ready for a change of direction. With his wife and daughter recovering, he had the time to devote to a business idea, which would give him more flexibility and additional time with his family.
The Brewery quickly became a popular fixture at events and festivals, and demand for the beer grew. The campervan’s mobile brewing unit allowed him to brew 50 liters at a time, enough to sell at events, and discover what people liked. If a brew was popular, then he would go and brew a larger quantity in the garage. Two years ago, Paul took a lease on a business unit in Leith, just outside Edinburgh, and it made the Customs people very happy. This enabled him to brew on a bigger scale. But the campervan model is set to continue as Paul explains.
“We still do our own thing in the vans. We go out and about for much of the year foraging for materials and creating new brews. I use lactose sugar and yeast in the brewing, then infuse the brew with whatever mixtures I am trying. We like to be different and often get places coming to us and asking for our van. I want to do more this year.”
One of the botanical gardens in town had an event and asked Paul to come brew whatever he’d liked using materials from the garden. Rhubarb was in abundance so he used that. Paul pureed the rhubarb stalks and added it to the tank as an infusion. In August, he went to a fruit farm and made beer using their strawberries.
I go with a bit of a plan, an idea as to what is available but I am always interested to see what’s there, Paul tells The Buzz. “I made some beer using seaweed while I was still working and experimenting – I went to the beach in the van and brewed some. Mara Seaweed asked me up there, and I would like to have a go. One of the most quirky brews was with Loch Fyne where I did a brew based on oysters. Forty oysters went into that brew!”
Campervan Brewery holds a passion for quality beer and a thirst for travel. Their adventures take the family on the quest for unusual places to brew, discovering flavorsome ingredients along the way, direct from their source.
So what type of beer does the Campervan Brewery offer? Typical brews include a Revolutionary Milk Stout (chocolate and coffee infusion and vanilla flavoring combined with the addition of roasted coconut at the conditioning stage- said to be great with chili beef nachos); the Scottish specialty Haggis; Allshook Up (a Champagne style beer ideal for use as an aperitif, salads and nibbles); and Leith Juice, an orange zesty IPA.
Last year, the brewery raised about 30,000 euros or $34,000 within a month via Crowdfunding to create a community tap room above the brewery, providing meeting and exhibition space that could be used by people in the area. Paul said, “As a new business it’s so easy to be ‘all consumed’ in day-to-day activities and not have time to lift our heads above water. So it’s amazing to receive such positive feedback from our supporters and to know that we have their help to bring the local community together.
As the brewery website states, “At the Campervan Brewery we firmly believe there is a journey inside all of us. When’s yours going to start, and where’s it going to take you?”
For Paul, his campervan has proved to be invaluable, helping create a better life/work basis and a business that is definitely popular! He says “I think what I am doing is totally unique. It has allowed me to merge two hobbies – camper vans and brewing – and make a living out of it, which works well with my family. There is demand for my brews. People like the story around them. I don’t like making the same beer all the time as it gets boring. I like to experiment and that appeals to my customers. They like trying something different, and finding out what I have got available each time.”
“Over Christmas and New Year, trading was very good and we were very busy. It has now calmed down a bit in January, and it is out of season for the campervan as it is too cold. I plan to bring it out again and start trips in February/March meeting producers, and talking to people.”
“My kids are now 7 and 9. I don’t brew in the van when we are on a family holiday. I want to relax with them, not work. We go away for a couple of years in the van during the warm months, usually around the Highlands and Borders, and have been down to Northumberland. I would like to go further afield and overseas at some point. We keep it fully stocked with everything we need during the summer, so we often just throw a couple of bags of clothing in, collect the girls at the end of the school day and go on our travels at weekends.
He concluded, “2019 will be a pivotal year for the business, upscaling to higher quantities. What I would love to do is have a second, more modern VW camper, so we can do all the deliveries in it. We do some deliveries to new clients using my existing van as it is good for social media.”
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