JULIE, NEPTUNE BREWERY
Julie, co-founder Neptune Brewery / founder Ladies That Beer. Neptune’s new Beerhouse opens April 2023 at 23-27 Liverpool Rd North, Maghull L31 6HB.
“My background in beer started years ago just going to beer festivals with my husband, Les. I was a cider drinker, and he was a beer drinker. Because I drink coffee and red wine, he said I should try a porter or a stout because those types of flavours would lend themselves to coffee and red wine. I did, and my interest in beer sort of grew from there! I started drinking lighter beers, fruity beers, and then started educating my palette across lots of different beers: IPAs, Saisons, Sours, Golden Ales...
At that point we were home brewing, and I was working as an NHS manager. Then Les said he wanted a change of direction from his family business in aquatics to open a brewery. The business was called Neptune aquatics, so we decided to keep the name and that’s how Neptune Brewery began. And that’s why the names of our beers are usually to do with being surrounded by water - ship names, seas, fish names, mythological creatures, that kind of thing. The brewery started in 2015, and it grew and grew until Les said to me, ‘we need you on board’. Already a co-owner, I joined as a full-time employee in 2018. My role isn’t just focused on one thing: I brew when I can, but I also deal with the sales side of things, admin, staff management, and I deal with our events.
So we’ve been brewing modern beers since 2015, and we’re known for our consistency. All our beers are vegan, so if you see a Neptune beer you know you can have that beer without any animal derivatives in it. We’re different because all our beer goes through secondary fermentation in the vessel. We also keep the yeast in, which we think enhances the taste. All of that means we have to educate our buyers and customers as it’s not like dealing with other carb-forced beers. It’s unfiltered, unfined, and unpasteurised, so you have to treat it differently and let it settle prior to putting on the bar, and when pouring we advise there may be sediment in the can.
We outgrew our old brewery space in Maghull, and we fortunately found this place where we brew now. In our old site we had a tap room, but because it was attached to the brewery, we could only open on a Saturday so that limited us. To manage the brewing operations here at the new brewery without any issues, we decided not to have a taproom, so instead we’re opening a new bar in a few weeks which is more central to Maghull. It’s been a lot of work getting everything ready but we’re nearly there, and it’s going to be great to see our regulars again. We really care about people that we deal with, who we brew collabs with, who supply us, who we supply. For us, it’s not just about business - it’s about the ethical side of things and supporting our community.
I learned about brewing by educating myself watching videos. Les is the head brewer, so he would say ‘this is what we do’, so we grew together and educated ourselves. Les went and did some work at breweries, read books, talked to people and he passed that knowledge onto me. But I’m still learning - it’s just so amazing to think about what happens at the end of the brewing process. You have to educate yourself on all the different types of grains, because each have different jobs that they do and they can each make the beer taste different. And there’s so many amazing hops, from the UK, Europe, Southern Hemisphere and America - they’re all so different. We’re like a kid in a sweet shop whenever we get new hops in! We never stop being amazed how these four ingredients make up this liquid that people like to drink.
I’ve been really lucky that I’ve not had any major negative experiences being a woman working in the industry. On occasions when we’ve done brews, sometimes I’ve found maybe that a particular brewer will direct most of his conversation to Les, but then Les will bring me in, so that it’s the two of us that’s talking - not just him. But on the whole in the industry and working with other breweries I’ve not really had anything negative, people have been quite welcoming and positive, they’re interested in my thoughts, and what I think is good, how we can work together. There’s been a rare occasion where I’ve maybe been in a pub and someone’s tried to mansplain to me, but they’ve not done it to the man who they’ve just served about ‘how strong this beer is, and you have to be careful’ kind of thing. And whilst I appreciate that they’re trying to make me aware what I’ve ordered i.e an 11% barrel aged stout, they’re not doing it to the man. So to me it has to work both ways, you also have to tell the man. They can get drunk as quick, they need to have that beer knowledge too. Or you know, sometimes it’s been about what type of glass they serve me my beer in. I’ve only had it once, ‘sorry we don’t have little glasses’. I’m not bothered! There’s no such thing as a ‘woman’s glass’. And I know a lot of women who’ve had that as well.
I’m passionate about supporting other women in the industry. And there’s lots of women in the industry who don’t just brew: there’s women who are training to be beer sommeliers, or cicerones - like Natalya Watson. I’ve done one of her courses, and she’s amazing; she’s educated a lot of women in the industry, and she’s now wrote a book. And then there’s the stalwart who started all this in the industry: journalist Melissa Cole, who’s written many books on beer and food pairings - she’s a force to be reckoned with for her beer knowledge. She’s been so supportive as well. Even Chess here who works with us, she’s gone that step ahead - I did the first part of the cicerone, but she’s done the second part and it’s great to have her here as part of the team. But there’s so many women in the industry who are passionate about beer and are doing great things. Even women who sell us hops as well, we speak to them…there’s just so many it’s so hard to mention everyone. I’ll try and support everyone including the women in beer groups that have come about now. I started Ladies That Beer in 2015 through wanting women to be educated on beer, to have that beer knowledge, to be able to challenge that it’s not just a man’s world and a man’s liquid to drink, to stamp out misogyny, and to support the LGBTQ scene as well. We have members in our group who are part of that community. So for me it’s a passion - if I can lend a voice to support those who need it then that’s great. There’s a lot more women in beer groups now, like Crafty Beer Girls, Women on Tap, and Brum Beer Babs and there are some who’ve attributed Ladies that Beer as giving them the drive and passion to say ‘yes, I can set something up, I can do this!’
It's dealing with different people that I enjoy the most. It’s such a diverse range of people in the industry. The majority of people I’ve come across have been supportive and helpful; they’ve passed their knowledge on and that’s a great thing to have. We’re all in business to sell our beer and of course we want to get our beer in before anybody else. But at the same time people will give you information to help or guide you. If you’re short of a couple of sacks of stuff, you can pick up the phone. Everyone helps each other out.
This week is our 8th birthday. We’d normally brew a special beer for our birthday but we’re so busy getting ready to open the new bar we’ve decided that getting it open will be our birthday present this year! We didn’t think 8 years ago that we’d have our own stand-alone bar as well as the brewery. It’s very much been a project where all of the team have been involved and put extra time in. We can’t wait to open.”