Hawkshead Brewery has been variously described as: a micro-brewery, local brewery, beer factory, small independent, small regional, new wave brewery, craft brewery, artisan brewery. We are certainly hands on and labor intensive. We have very little automation. The brewers do keep fit - lifting and shifting and digging out. Every day we handle, taste and smell our raw materials - malt and hops. We hunt for hops all over the world. We have visited hop farmers in the UK, Slovenia, USA and New Zealand. We are always learning and improving. We brew what we would like to drink. We never design a beer by cost. So what is a craft brewery? You know it when you see it.