The city of St Albans is one synonymous with great beer. Home to the headquarters of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, St Albans was also once famed for having the most pubs per square mile than anywhere else in the country.
But in recent years, the county of Hertfordshire where St Albans is based has become known not just for a place to drink excellent beer, but it’s home to many breweries producing this fine beverage, too.
For four friends Jon Howarth, Josh Kitt, Jordan Manfre and George Sanderson, all shared that appreciation of a good beer. And before long, knew they wanted to play their part in making their own.
Launched by those life-long friends who met at school, Lost Boys is the culmination of a group that have juggled full time jobs as policy advisers, policemen and as a CAMRA employee to build a craft brewery that now supplies some of Hertfordshire’s great pubs.
With no formal investment or business background, against the backdrop of a locked down hospitality sector and increasing supply chain costs, they’ve gone from brewing in a kitchen to having a small brewing facility in St Albans.
In this episode, we speak to Jordan Manfre, the company’s head of marketing, about the brewery’s origins, fitting into the growing Hertfordshire beer scene, meeting customer demands and exciting festivals it will debut at later this year.