Lords of the dance in Southampton
By: JimOldfield
February 3rd, 2012
An historic Southampton pub has opened a new on-site micro-brewery, and celebrated its arrival with… Morris Dancing!
The Dancing Man Brewery – the only brewery of its kind in the city – officially launched in the Platform Tavern last week (January 25), with the night of dancing.
Landlord Stewart Cross spent £9,000 converting the pub’s former kitchens into a 72-gallon per week brewery, after his bar manager Aiden Lavin hit upon the idea.
Brewed to Aiden’s own recipes, the Dancing Man has four ales – Big Casino IPA, Fiddlers Jig, Troubadour and Pilgrim’s Pale Ale.
But brewing is not new to the tavern. It housed an early micro-brewery, more than 125 years ago, before the building became a pub in 1886!
The new beers are already proving to be a hit, with sell-outs over the Christmas and New Year period when the ales were given a test run.
