Inside the Shrewsbury brewery which pays tribute to its region and provides quality, fruity and much-loved beer

Breweries have been a part of the region for centuries, providing the welcoming aroma of hops and yeast in the air across the region and many different types of beer loved by thousands.

In the wake of the news of the planned closure of Banks's Brewery in Wolverhampton, the Star wants to support our local breweries and show that there are still many out there producing quality beers to be enjoyed in pubs across the region.

As part of our Backing Our Breweries campaign, we are going to look at what different breweries do, how they grew and built up their reputation, what their products are, how they continue to run in what are difficult financial times and what makes them special.

A brewery can be an extension and a celebration of its town, its community and its county, paying homage to where it came from through name, taste, setting or personnel.

One brewery which almost acts as an ambassador for its homeland is Salopian Brewery in Hadnall, near Shrewsbury.

Nestled in the heart of the Shropshire countryside, Salopian has become known as one of the most recognised and awarded breweries in the UK with a reputation gained across 30 years.

It was established in 1995 by Martin Barry on the site of the old Onions Dairy in Shrewsbury, having had a previous life of brewing in Snowdonia in Wales, and started out with a small and rudimentary setup of two barrels and just 550 pints.

Over time, the brewery began to expand as news of the high quality brews being made started to come out, with an investment in the brewery seeing an updated kit and larger facilities to brew in.

In 2014, Salopian, which derives its name from Salop, meaning a native of Shropshire or its county town, Shrewsbury, moved into its new location in an industrial unit in the village of Hadnall, where it now produces more than 150 barrels a week for distribution throughout the Midlands, and further afield.

To capitalise on the small pack market, the brewery has invested in its own canning plant and also has its own taproom on site where it showcases four cask and four keg beers across the first weekend of each month.

Managing director Trevor Hourican said the year 2025 was a huge year for Salopian as it celebrated its 30^th year and spoke about what makes the brewery so special.

He said: “Cask ale is at the heart of what we do, and we are uncompromising in ensuring our core values of drinkability, consistency and dependability are in everything we brew.

“From our permanently available core range and regularly changing specials, to our envelope pushing collaborations with other brewers and acclaimed Black Range, we use the best ingredients and innovative techniques to make beer that is both interesting and enjoyable for the drinker to savour, and the publican to serve.

“With a bespoke 80hl brewhouse, it has evolved to house both our bottling and canning facilities, alongside our renowned taproom and from where we distribute across the country and beyond. Continually innovating and never compromising,

“Salopian is a brewery built on passion, experience, and integrity.

“We have been quietly brewing beautiful beers since 1995 and hope consumers enjoy drinking them as much as we love brewing them.”

Salopian has also won more than 350 awards locally, nationally & internationally and are getting set for the SIBA National Awards in Liverpool next month where they are up for awards in three different categories.

Head brewer Luke Edwards spoke about the brewing process and what it was about Salopian that made it so drinkable.

He said: “Our philosophy is around hop forward beers which are very drinkable.

“In our brewhouse, we have a full size hop back, which allows us to put our boiling wort over the hops at a slightly lower temperature and extract some more of the aroma of the hops.

“That means we get a fruity taste, which is a combination of the hops we use and the hop back, and I think people love it because of the reliability of the cask beer, with a lot of people telling me they love Oracle and Cashmere.”

Mr Edwards said that as a proud Salopian himself, he had drunk the beer in the past and said he was very proud to work for an independent brewery right on his doorstep.

He said: “It’s nice to walk into so many bars and see Salopian on it there and it’s very nice and pleasant to work with good ingredients on a daily basis.

“It also means a lot to me because it’s consistent and Shropshire Gold and Oracle need to taste like they do because people know what they taste like, so it’s just very enjoyable to work here and know how well loved it is.”

Salopian’s best beers

Oracle 4%

A crisp, sparkling sunflower gold ale with a striking hop profile. Dry and refreshing with a long citrus aromatic finish

Shropshire Gold 3.8%

Golden, with a floral aroma and a full hoppy flavour that is balanced by a crisp dry maltiness and a rich finish.