A SMALL tribe of cavemen have been busy in the cellar of a Swanscombe pub and are now ready to launch a trio of beers.

 

Caveman Brewery is ready to launch its first ales at the George and Dragon in Swanscombe, which recently won the Gravesend and Darenth Valley CAMRA Pub of the Year.

The brewery, which grew from Dartford businessmen Nick Byram, 45, and 30-year-old James Hayward’s passion for a top pint, set up shop at the pub in April.

 

The name of the brewery and the beers was inspired by the 1935 discovery of 400,000-year-old bone and tool fragments in Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe, which were the oldest remains found in Europe.

The three beers Caveman Brewery has launched are Megalithic, a 5.9 per cent American style IPA, Mesolithic, a 4.5 per cent hoppy pale ale made with Australian hops, and Prehistoric Amber, a 4.6 per cent pale ale with amber malt.

 

The drinks will be launched above the brewing cave at the George and Dragon in London Road, which is celebrating its award on Thursday (May 16).

Brewer Nick Byram said: “Congratulations to our Landlords the George & Dragon on winning the Gravesend & Darenth Valley CAMRA pub of the year.

“We rather cheekily have piggy backed on to the night taking the opportunity to showcase our first ales out of the cave, we can’t wait.”

 

Pub freeholder Bronwen Veal said: “It’s great to be recognised for all the hard-work we have done over the last 18 months.

“When we took over the George and Dragon in December 2011 the pub had been closed for almost a year and had fallen into disrepair however we fell in love with the place and decided to go down the real ale route encompassing breweries from all over the country, to try and attract the more discerning drinker, the kind of people who come out to enjoy the product, not to simply get drunk.

 

“We hope this will be the first of many accolades.”

Go to cavemanbrewery.co.uk for information.