The Flowerhorn Story
Flowerhorn is trying to put Cardiff on the craft beer map! Set up in the summer of 2019 by
two friends, Andrew and Arran. They first met through mutual friends while at university and
both shared a love for drinking which evolved into a passion for great beer. After graduating,
Andrew landed a job in a local brewery and when Arran finished university 9 months later he
jumped straight into the industry as well. Each with two years experience under their belt,
they decided to get to work on building their own brewery. They spent some money on a
homebrew kit and started brewing in Arran’s parent’s garage. It was there the first three
recipes were developed and they received enough positive reviews from friends and family
that they decided they were ready to jump on the big kit, which started out with gypsy
brewing our recipes at existing breweries and converting the garage into a warehouse!
Flowerhorn launched the business on August 31st 2019 with a big launch party in Cardiff
where friends and family travelled from across the UK to try the first commercial batches!
Things started off very exciting, with the brewery attending Food Festivals, local markets, tap
takeovers, Brew LDN beer festival and being named as one of Beer Hawk’s top 10
breweries to watch out for in 2020. All that happened before March 22nd 2020, after that the
country went into lockdown and the brewery continued to grow by setting up a local delivery
service to the people of South Wales.
After a difficult few months, Andrew and Arran decided it was time to expand out of the
garage and the day after their first birthday they collected the keys for their very own
industrial unit in Cardiff. They ordered a bespoke 5BBL brewery set up and got to work
decorating their new home. Since then we’ve added an additional 30BBL of fermentation capacity which has allowed us to get our beers out to bars and bottle shops across the UK.
Taproom
Opening up the brewery for people to drink beers just metres from where it was brewed has
always been part of the dream. The taproom is situated inside the brewery floor and features
artwork from the team, a big pink Flowerhorn is situated just 2 miles from the City Centre, in
a small industrial estate that is home to 9 other independent businesses. The taproom
opened up alongside the on-site street food trader who specialises in cheese toasties and
chicken burgers and a small wine bar. This paired with a large beer garden and live music
meant they have been able to establish a truly unique venue in Cardiff! If you’re visiting the
city, you can catch the team for a pint every Friday and Saturday!
The Beers
Flowerhorn is brewing a range of exciting beers with the best fruit purees, zests and hops
they can find. The core range includes:
Yawn – 4.7% Mosaic Pale Ale
Capo – 5.1% Citra Pale Ale
Bits – 5.5% Orange Juice IPA
They are also brewing a range of specials, with some of the most exciting including
Sprinkles, a 9% Doughnut Stout which was filled with 60 Doughnuts, 9kg of Rainbow
Sprinkles, 40kg of Raspberry Puree, 2L of Madagascan Bourbon Vanilla and 8kg of Cacao
Nibs! Other specials include Crack, a 6.5% Citra, Mosaic and Strata NEIPA and
Pharmaceutical Stimulant, a 6.3% Coffee Milk Stout that is brewed with locally roasted
coffee beans and cacao nibs! More recently the brewery has collaborated with Matthew Pritchard of Dirty Sanchez/Dirty Vegan and SWYD Tattoo & Barbershop to make a 5% Citra,
Amarillo and Idaho 7 New England Pale Ale!