Full Circle Brew Co: meet the founder, Ben Cleary
Full Circle Brew Co has just celebrated its fifth anniversary. And it is going at full pelt. From supermarket listings to a wedding venue, exports into ten countries, a flagship airport deal and collaborations with The OddBalls Foundation charity, local metal band Rituals and businesses Hoi Polloi and Deep North, the company is moving forward at great pace. Here, Colin Young sits down with founder Ben Cleary to learn more about the business’ growth story and how it is planning to boost its progress yet further.
January 17, 2025
Photography by Meg Jepson
There was always a pretty good chance Ben Cleary would work in the drinks industry – and not just because of his obvious love of beer and wine.
His parents Tony and Veronica are the owners of Lanchester Wines and the wider Lanchester Group.
Now in their 70s, they’re still driving a business that will next year celebrate its 45th anniversary, and remains one of the leading lights in the sector.
Prior to that, his grandparents were just as well-known figures in the pub world, across the North East and North West.
The name of Ben’s craft brewery – Full Circle Brew Co – is a nod to that family history.
He says: “I’ve come back to beer, and essentially pubs, so it’s gone full circle as a family.
“But the other version is more of a promise, which is the sustainability side of things.
“That has always been important to me and our parent company The Lanchester Group.
“This is just the beginning of carbon-neutral, I believe, and we’ve tried to reflect that and stay ahead.”
Full Circle Brew Co is based in Newcastle’s Hoults Yard, which stands within peering distance of the Tyne Bridge.
It has developed into a cove of drums and vessels producing more than one million pints a year, with a nitrogen generator that has reduced overall CO2 usage by 83 per cent and a team of dedicated brewers who’ve worked hard on efficiencies to increase yields by 25 per cent.
Ben is also constantly looking at ways to re- use yeast and grain, developing ideas around protein bars, briquettes and animal feed.
He says: “We put sustainable practices in place when we started, and we’re continually aiming to become greener every year and target net- zero in the near future.
“Lanchester Group is super sustainable.
“The headquarters, at Annfield Plain, have wind turbines, they’ve just completed a new custom-built facility for Greencroft Bottling with three megawatts of solar power across the roof, and they’ve developed this incredible system that pulls geothermally heated water from mineworks below two of the group’s warehouses in Gateshead, which then heats the warehouses and puts the water back into the same mineworks.
“It’s very impressive.
“We’re the first commercial business to do that, and Gateshead Council has since done the same thing.
“But we don’t want to jump on and benefit from those sustainability links, because while we’re the same company, we have always wanted to do it for ourselves.
“And that’s a key thing for me.
“I know it’s going to be a big driver for the future; supermarkets will increasingly need to see operators having those sustainability credentials.
“We’re ready for that.
“We work with decarbonisation software, that links to our brewing system, which allows us to see our overall CO2 usage – people driving to work, how many staff, how our system works, the lot.
“It’s quite an in-depth system, but it shows where we’re going and proves our promise.
“We’ve already had a big reduction in CO2/e per litre produced by economies of scale, and increased efficiencies across the board along with our nitrogen generator.
“It is a great piece of kit.”
After studying business management at Leeds University, Ben worked briefly for Majestic Wines and then Lanchester Wines, becoming a regional manager.
But he always had the entrepreneurial spirit to open his own business.
Initially, he set up his own store in a disused Morgan garage near the family home and business, concentrating on wine, spirits and beer.
He called it The Pip Stop.
“No one understood the name,” he laughs.
Alex Redpath, who had trained in commercial brewing at Brewlab, in Sunderland, became not only a regular customer but a home brewer capable of concocting better products than the professionals.
And so a friendship, and a partnership, was born.
Ben says: “It was about ten years ago, and the boom was taking place, so I was buying and selling more beer.
“Wine was a big passion for me, but it faded, and beer became the thing I wanted to do.
“Lanchester Wines had reps on the road and Greencroft Bottling had engineers and expertise in production, and it seemed like a match made in heaven to set up the beer division in the business.
“Then we found the right person in Alex; his sample beers he shared with me were fantastic – they were better than the stuff I was selling.
“Alex was offered a job with another brewery at the same time, which was well established.
“I was concerned he’d go with them, but he liked the vision I’d set out and we managed to secure his signature.
“We set him up with a 100-litre kit in a cold little warehouse in Annfield Plain for a year.
“He produced lots of different iterations, sold it through our mini-bar, and we tested designs and tastes on our customers.
“Then we got to the point where we said, ‘this is our core range, we’re ready to go’, and we invested in finding a site.”
Ben is the front of the brewery, and often the ideas man – ‘mostly stupid ones’, he admits – whether it is flavours, recycling ideas or new product development.
He says: “I try and run the brewery in the most democratic way possible.
“The majority of our decision making is voted on, and I have a team I trust, which is of utmost importance.
“When I go to festivals, people quite often ask, ‘Where’s Alex?’
“And I’m fine with that. The quality of his beers resonates with people.
“Many things will have set this business apart but, ultimately, the pillar stone is the beer quality.
“Alex and his team focus on quality and efficiencies, and I’m in charge of export sales, running the business and the creativity side.
“We never stand still; we’re always seeking further improvement, otherwise you’ll never grow in this highly competitive market.”
The team moved into Hoults Yard in 2019, which coincided with the lockdown-inspired explosion of home deliveries.
At first, there were three products: Repeater IPA, Hoop American Pale Ale and Looper, a 6.4 per cent IPA with citra, mosaic and cashmere hops.
There are now two to four seasonal beers coming out of the yard a month.
In addition, there are pizza nights, run clubs and weddings planned well into next year, with specially-brewed unique beers for couples as part of the package.
Looper is the flagship brew, Ben says, “the one we’re fiercely protective of”, and it is also a global award-winner.
The Society of Independent Brewers named Looper best national keg IPA twice in the last three years and its sibling Dooper its best national double IPA, with Full Circle Brew
Co celebrated as the best independent craft brewery web shop.
Looper has also won gold at the Asia Beer Awards and FHA Beer Awards.
There are now 22 employees at Full Circle Brew Co, and all of the names, tastes, can designs and ideas are discussed between them.
Ben says: “You need to produce something new and exciting, something unique for the craft beer market, and we’ve scheduled about 12 months’ worth of seasonal beers for next year, doing two a month.
“We’ve done the styles and Alex will work out the cost for me.
“We build the names and the designs, to try and get ahead of ourselves.
“We do everything in-house, always a nod to the North East, and we’re very proud of our designs, and the constant diagonal in the logo.
“Our customers have always identified with that.
“Jordan, our marketing manager, does a lot of our designs, and we also have a group designer, who does the more crypto science stuff.
“But we all get together to come up with names and designs – some of which make no sense whatsoever.
“It’s a really fun part of the process.”
Year six promises to be one of continued development and expansion for the business, including the development of non-alcoholic options and building on the success of its partnership with the OddBalls Foundation charity and its messaging around regular checks for testicular cancer.
It became the first independent brewer for several years to launch in Newcastle International Airport – there are five Full Circle products across two bars – and it is exporting to ten countries.
The company is also becoming a serious player in supermarkets, recently confirming a listing for its Butterfly Effect Hazy IPA in more than 200 Sainsbury’s stores, which will increase to 376 in January.
Northern Tesco stores stock the Stardust Hazy Pale and Magic Eye IPA, while Asda is launching its very first own label series with Full Circle Brew Co in January.
It has also won a listing in Stonegate pubs and six beers are available across the North East, with a national listing with Mitchells & Butlers through a collaboration brew – Hippy Jungle – with the OddBalls Foundation.
Ben adds: “I’m very happy where we’ve got to.
“I see us as one of the best breweries in the North East and with the growth nationally, which was our key goal for the year, we have managed to get everyone who drinks craft beer to recognise our brand.
“It is very competitive and very crowded, but we have that national presence; supermarkets are interested and taking notice.
“Furthermore, we want to look at promoting a more balanced lifestyle over the coming year.
“We have a run club on a Thursday with 60 people, which has become a bit of a beast – in a good way – and that is going to be a huge part of our future and story.
“We believe in drinking in moderation and balancing this with a healthy lifestyle.
“And we are going to conduct numerous external events in 2025 to offer exciting activities to promote this with our new, Full Circle Balance off-shoot brand.
“The first will be in January, with a DIP Club in the sea in Tynemouth alongside the release of our very first Cold Double IPA.
“The idea is to go for a dip with a cold DIPA.”
January 17, 2025
- Feature