A Cwmbran brewery is continuing with expansion plans, including a bar in Caerphilly, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
A licence application by Brew Monster for the sale of alcohol and playing of recorded music for a new bar in the centre of Caerphilly is currently under consideration by Caerphilly Council.
The application would allow alcohol sales and the playing of music between noon to 11pm on every day of the week, with Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve having extended hours until 2am.
If approved, Brew Monster will open its fourth bar at Lon-Y-Twyn, near Castle Court shopping centre, subject to planning permission.
The Torfaen-based brewery has had a busy year. It opened its first bar at the end of last year in the centre of Cardiff before taking over The Atig Micropub in Llantwit Major early this year.
Alongside his expansion plans for Caerphilly, the company’s managing director Glenn White is also focusing on the Mermaid Quay Taphouse in Cardiff Bay, which will open for the first time later this week.
Mr White said: “We went into it all learning as we went along. It has been quite a rollercoaster.
“We are in really unprecedented times. Luckily we were already working on Cardiff Bay before lockdown happened.”
Unlike a lot of other companies, Brew Monster hasn’t been selling during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We still think we have a good strategy,” Mr White said.
“We have spent lockdown focussing on when things get back to normal and making sure we are in the best possible situation. We are using this time to accelerate. We haven’t brewed or sold for a few months.”
Instead Mr White has been allowing everything to catch-up given the brewery has expanded so quickly in such a short space of time.
As long as there is no second wave of coronavirus, Mr White is hoping to have the Caerphilly bar up and running by Christmas.
