no. 029 | Two Flints
batch no. 029’s feature brewery, Two Flints, has just entered its second year of operation. Basing themselves out of Windsor, they’ve lofty ambitions and beers to match.
The historic market town of Windsor has played host to many nobles and notables over the years, including the Royal Family and current King Charles III. Other former residents include Michael Caine, Billy Connolly, Chesney Hawkes and, perhaps the most illustrious of all, Jeremy Kyle. More recently though, it’s home to batch no. 029’s Two Flints brewery.
Established in 2022 by founder Alex Kerr, the journey towards Two Flints began in Singapore in 2017, where he began home brewing in his flat. As his passion grew, so did his desire to learn and in 2020 he completed his Institute of Brewing & Distilling general certificate, quickly following that with his diploma the next year. As Alex spent the next 12 months taking steps to open a fully-fledged brewery, he used the 12 months to work in several breweries across the country in a bid to gain as much commercial experience as possible.
Employing a full-time team of 4 people, the name Two Flints reflects the contrasting lines of thinking that are essential to the brewing process — the combination of art and science that, when combined, produce something greater than the sum of their parts. It’s inspired from a quote in the Louisa May Alcott novel, Little Women: “It takes two flints to make a fire”.
When it comes to Two Flints’ approach to brewing, Alex is clear about their ethos. “We’re methodical, detail oriented and innovative. We respect the brewers and techniques that have come before us but also engage in the latest products and experimental hop varieties to create beers with intention. We currently focus on hop forward beers and lager with drinkability always at the forefront”.
To do this, they commit to using the best raw materials and ingredients, although this isn’t without its challenges. “Rising cost of raw materials combined with a shrinking number of free of tie lines [which allow landlords to buy beer from whomever they choose, rather than pre-agreed breweries] in pubs present our two biggest challenges”, says Kerr before quickly returning to the positive. “We’re still in our infancy, but the focus for us in 2024 Is dialling in our core range and collaborating with some of the UK’s best breweries. We also want to make more lager!”.