Mark and Lesley took ownership of The Strands Inn, on June 2006 and within the year established The Strands Microbrewery, with the aim to begin brewing craft ales exclusively for their inn. Their first beer, a light hoppy amber ale called 'Errmmm...', is still served today and a firm favourite with most of the Nether Wasdale locals.

Where did the inspiration for the sudden move into alchemy of beer brewing?
Mark, in his own words, got a little bored and thought he'd have a go. This initial curiosity and plan to brew "just one beer", has now developed into a passion for brewing beers that range in styles from favourite session ales like Errmmm..., Green Bullet and Scafell Summit, to the strong yet delicious Strands' Russian Imperial Stout and Barley wine (an award winning ale).

The whole process of producing our ale is now in hands of our two full-time brewers Mark Corr and Dan Horsefield. Together they produce anywhere from 240 to 4000 litres of beer per week depending on the time of year and beer style. Thanks to their hard work, we can all enjoy some stunning speciality beers at our very own Beer Festival every year in May and all the regular beers all year round, knowing that the beer we are all drinking was created less than 20m from the bar in The Strands Inn.