IN the twentieth century Chesham was a well-known brewing community and the Red Squirrel Brewing Company has put it back on the map.

In 2013 their first craft beer venue opened there, with a vast selection on tap and bottled for you to enjoy in-house or take home.

Alongside some of the best beers from around the world and a selection of craft ciders and wines, they sell 14 own brand brews and even have traditional yet reusable and bespoke Growlers, which can be filled straight from the tap to take home.

In May last year they opened another shop in Berkhamsted, where there is a newly planted hops patch which they hope will enable them to brew a beer unique and exclusive to the location.

They opened another in Amersham in November. With a good feeling about the area and no solid business plan, the Red Squirrel Brewery purchased a bridal shop and the 300 remaining wedding dresses which they then had to sell on.

Each shop has been a great success and this innovative company is now hoping to raise £500,000 through an online CrowdCube funding campaign so that they may spread their offering across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and other Home Counties.

Recruitment and development director Michael Laws explains: “The idea is to grow the main two sides of the business, the brewery itself and the shops. The plan is to triple the size of the brewery and get from three shops to ten as quickly as possible.

“One of the downsides of this business is in order to grow you need significant capital. To get to where we want to get to we need people to join us.”

Talking with the key shareholder and managing director Greg Blesson, it is abundantly clear how committed the team is to creating the very best beer that they can.

“We started in quite humble beginnings, to put it mildly. We’ve gone from primitive brewing equipment to pretty sophisticated brewing equipment, the brewery is all stainless steel.

“The brewery should be in a warehouse three times the size, the reason we’re here is because I have my own borehole. Water is 90 per cent of beer, the better quality the water the better quality your end product.”

The team at the Red Squirrel Brewery are all committed to creating modern products with some traditional elements. Greg explains: “Most people who work here tend to be modern thinkers - but not complete mavericks. We’re slightly different to the typical mentality, I’m all about making sure the beer is great quality.

“One of the reasons why we’re crowdfunding is because we’ve got to grow substantially in space. That will require for us to employee at least another eight people. For a company our size that’s quite a big jump for us.”

This is not just a business about profit. They have an innovative ideology with their customers in mind.

Michael adds: “What makes us different from some other people who are doing similar things in London is that in London you can aim craft beer at the aficionados, people who are crazy about craft beer and they sell weird and wonderful bottles that cost £25-30 from California and Japan and stuff.

“Our business is much more inclusive. We get traditional ‘real ale’ drinkers; we get people who are cutting-edge, nutty craft drinkers; and we get loads of people, both men and women, who just come in and say I heard this place was good and I want to try something.

“The people in this country are looking for more interesting drinks than your cheapest lager. They can come in and try what they’re going to take away.”