Yes it's been done a fair few times recently, but here's my take on it. This had been somewhere I wanted to go since I set eyes on the first set of pics from it a few months back. Visited 2 weekends ago with Obscurity and Frosty.
A little bit of History.
The Berkshire Brewery opened its doors in 1979, and at the time was cutting edge with the technology and materials used. Right up until its closure it was still regarded as one of the most modern and efficient breweries in the UK, as most are significantly older than this place. Unfortunitely since the time of its opening, beer sales have steadily fallen meaning a brewery which was built to produce 6 million litres of beer was running at only half that capacity.
On 12 February 2008, Scottish & Newcastle announced its intention to close its Berkshire Brewery Operations by early 2010. Fast forward 2 years, and the place closed its doors for the last time on 2 April 2010. It was a simple question of economics at the end of the day which forced the site to close, a brewery running at half capacity is just not economic to run, couple that with the higher than average wages for the berkshire area and it was obvious what its fate would be.
If you like industrial sites full of pipes and big shiny metal things, then this place is like heaven for you. It's absolutely pristine on the inside which you would expect really given it's only been closed 5 months. It also has that smell that you only get in a brewery, which was just brilliant!
However, a note of caution to anyone else planning a visit. No matter what other reports may state about not seeing security, they most definitely are there and they most definitely do patrol inside the building. Hence unfortunitely our visit was cut short after 40mins as we literally opened a door right as a security guard was going to open the same door from the other side. Totally bad luck and bugger all we could do except leg it out of there.
Was a fun explore for the time we were there.
And here our short but sweet explore of this place ended, just up the corridor from this plant room was where we got spotted. We know there's lots more to see, so we shall return at some point.
A little bit of History.
The Berkshire Brewery opened its doors in 1979, and at the time was cutting edge with the technology and materials used. Right up until its closure it was still regarded as one of the most modern and efficient breweries in the UK, as most are significantly older than this place. Unfortunitely since the time of its opening, beer sales have steadily fallen meaning a brewery which was built to produce 6 million litres of beer was running at only half that capacity.
On 12 February 2008, Scottish & Newcastle announced its intention to close its Berkshire Brewery Operations by early 2010. Fast forward 2 years, and the place closed its doors for the last time on 2 April 2010. It was a simple question of economics at the end of the day which forced the site to close, a brewery running at half capacity is just not economic to run, couple that with the higher than average wages for the berkshire area and it was obvious what its fate would be.
If you like industrial sites full of pipes and big shiny metal things, then this place is like heaven for you. It's absolutely pristine on the inside which you would expect really given it's only been closed 5 months. It also has that smell that you only get in a brewery, which was just brilliant!
However, a note of caution to anyone else planning a visit. No matter what other reports may state about not seeing security, they most definitely are there and they most definitely do patrol inside the building. Hence unfortunitely our visit was cut short after 40mins as we literally opened a door right as a security guard was going to open the same door from the other side. Totally bad luck and bugger all we could do except leg it out of there.
Was a fun explore for the time we were there.
And here our short but sweet explore of this place ended, just up the corridor from this plant room was where we got spotted. We know there's lots more to see, so we shall return at some point.
