Driftwood Spars Brewery in St Agnes appoints new head brewer

Mike Mason, formerly head brewer at Brewhouse and Kitchen in Lichfield, was appointed before the Covid-19 lockdown but has only recently been able to begin work on a full-time basis due to interruptions to brewing supplies.

The young brewer joins the team with the remit of continuing to grow the brewery’s reputation at a local, national and international level.

Mike said: “Heading up a microbrewery by the Cornish coast is a dream job for me, and I am so pleased to be getting stuck in now. There is an incredible legacy of brewing here at Trevaunance Cove and I will be working very hard to live up to that.”

The brewery and its conjoined pub, The Driftwood Spars, lost a much-loved colleague and friend earlier this year when former head brewer Pete Martin sadly passed away following a short illness.

Before he became unwell Pete had been in contact with Mike who, keen to relocate to Cornwall, had visited the brewery and been offered a job as second in command.

Sadly they never got to work together, but the fact that Pete effectively chose his replacement is a great comfort to Louise Treseder, landlady of The Driftwood Spars and owner of the brewery.

Louise Treseder

Louise said: “Microbrewing is such a personal thing, and it was really Pete’s wonderful talent and great palate which dictated the style and character of our ales. I’m so lucky that he found someone who shared his vision – it made appointing a new head brewer much easier.

“It is obviously a very challenging time for pubs and breweries, but we are staying positive and selling plenty of beer direct from the brewery in bottles and mini kegs."

Mike began as an experimental home brewer. He has already won several industry awards, including two SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers Awards) Silver awards, and was a judge at the World Beer Awards in 2019; he also presented a beer and food pairing to MPs at Parliament on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group in 2019.

Mike and Louise have pledged to work together to keep producing Pete’s core range - including Alfie’s Revenge and Lou’s Brew - alongside seasonal specials, ensuring consistent future production of these unique and award-winning ales, all of which are gluten free.

Mike will also be experimenting with new varieties of English hops and is already developing an exciting new series of small-batch craft beers. He wants The Driftwood Spars Brewery to lead the way when it comes to home-grown British ingredients.