AN INNOVATIVE pub owner has brewed up an idea he hopes will impress customers.

Tom Gee, the owner of Cricklade’s Red Lion, has spent £50,000 building an on-site micro brewery, which will be unveiled to the public next week.

He intends to make his own beer at the town’s only brewery and he also plans to serve customers inside it.

It may be a micro brewery but it is far from pint-sized, with room for a private dining table inside and a beer hatch to serve customers from on weekends.

“I don’t know anywhere else that has this, so it really is unique,” he said.

“Our plan is for the Brewers Table to be an exclusive dining space with a special beer-themed menu.”

For Tom, brewing his own beer onsite is all part of his business model to source as much produce as locally as is possible.

He even goes as far as keeping his own pigs and sending out foragers to collect wild ingredients.

“Unfortunately ‘locally sourced’ is an overused buzzword now for people,” he said. “But we really do champion it.”

The new brewery and unique dining space will be unveiled at the Red Lion’s annual beer festival over the jubilee weekend.

Along with a hog roast, homemade ice creams and jubilee cup cakes, the family fun event will feature 30 different beers from around the country to wash it all down with.

However, customers will have to wait until Cricklade’s annual festival on June 17 to try the Red Lion beer.

Tom said: “We will have a lot of experimenting to start with, but we’re planning on having a standard pale ale and best bitter, a seasonal rotating beer on the bar’s third pump and other experimental ales.”

Tom said the Red Lion will soon be starting up its own beer club, where members can brew their very own pint.

The Red Lion’s beer festival runs from noon to 9pm on Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 3 and from 12pm to 4pm on Monday, June 3.

For more details call 01793 750766.