I visited Stourbridge Green Duck brewery with a community ethos – and great beer too

Breweries have been a part of the region for centuries, providing the welcoming aroma of hops and yeast in the air across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton 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 Express & Star wants to support our local breweries and show that there are still many out there producing quality beers to be enjoyed in pubs from Aldridge down to Smethwick.

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.

Our first brewery to feature is the Green Duck Brewery in Stourbridge, a brewery started by a group of friends in 2013 and which has become a firm favourite for the quality of its beer and the warmness of its welcome.

The brewery, which is based in the Gainsborough Trading Estate on Rufford Road, was started by Alan Preece and Paul Williams as both had a shared love of beer and a desire to produce beer that they and other people would like to drink.

Head brewer and director Alex Hill has been part of Green Duck since 2016, managing the Taproom among his other duties, and spoke about how the brewery had grown over time.

He said: "It was set up by Alan Preece and Paul Williams, although Paul had to leave not long after set up due to a young family and other commitments, and over time, various people have come on board and it's been an organic growth.

"None of us have come from money and there's no investors, everything we've done has been invested back into the business in terms of equipment and we've been going for 11 years, which is quite remarkable.