City's largest independent brewery set for move

The biggest independent beer maker in Nottingham has confirmed it will be moving its main site after planning permission was granted for a new brewery.

Castle Rock Brewery said it will close its current brewery off Traffic Street once the lease expires next year, and open a new base at Percy Street in Basford, in a 19th Century Grade II listed building once home to Prince of Wales Brewery.

The company - which also operates pubs around Nottingham and across the country - confirmed the Vat and Fiddle pub next to the current brewery will stay, with both sites set to brew while the transition takes place.

Marketing manager Jessica Bailey said the move "represents a big opportunity for us".

Castle Rock began in 1977 when Chris Holmes opened the Old King's Arms in Newark, and started brewing 20 years later.

In 2010 its beer Harvest Pale was crowned the overall Champion Beer of Britain by Camra (Campaign for Real Ale), and the company was named pub group of the year at the National Pub and Bar awards in 2024.

Bailey said the brewery will also be investing in new kit as part of the move, with the Basford site's brewing history an added bonus.

"It's a shame that we haven't been able to buy [the current brewery] and stay here, because we have loads of memories here, but at the same time we're moving to a really nice, exciting new site," she said.

"It's always been our priority to keep brewing, and to keep brewing in Nottingham, [and] this new site is only a few stops away on the tram away from where we are currently, so that was really important to us."

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