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Hart started life as a bootleg brewery until Mr Paul Hayhurst of customs and excise got a call from Preston police asking him if a new brewery had opened locally.
(NO!)
Police were informed that large numbers of casks were disappearing over night from a repair yard.
So they decided to wait and follow the night raiders, you guessed it... back to my house.
Now what would a semi detached house want with 50 beer barrels?
So CID watched the goings on, people leaving my house with 4 pint take outs and 8 pints for the greedy ones.
My next customer was a CID and being a good salesman with a good product sold them a barrel of beer and 3 bottles of champagne. They had no idea that there were 1500 bottles waiting to go.
A raid followed and Mr Hayhurst (Senior Customs Officer) took me to court where I was fined £3,500.
Leaving court Mr Hayhurst, (now a good friend) told me, no- insisted, I meet his local landlord who had the foresight to realise that a pub needed its own brewery.
While talks took place, more good fortune took place as Preston council gave me permission to brew from home as long as I pissed of ASAP.
History now knows I spent 12 great years with Andrew and his family at the Cartford and I was taught a lot by a man who not only had one of the best pubs in the country but knew his cellarmanship.
Now I have new landlords and we are going through an exciting new phase. Patrick and Julie have changed the pub into a restaurant / hotel and real ale bar.
Their professional attitude has rubbed off on me and I think I'm making the best beers of my life.
I'll let you be the judge of that....
Regards
John Smith (Brewery Owner)
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