BRITISH BREWER UNLEASHES HELLS IN NEW YORK BARS

Camden brewery was founded by 41-year-old Aussie Jasper Cuppaidge, who ended up in London when he missed a connecting flight between Africa and Mexico on a surfing trip

Annual revenues grew tenfold, from £900,000 to nearly £9m, in first three years

The firm sells more than 12m pints a year – its original bestseller was called Camden Hells

In December last year it was bought for £85m by giant brewer AB InBev

Soon it will be moving its brewery to a £25m site in Enfield, marking the largest investment in London brewing for a generation CRAFT beer maker Camden Town Brewery is taking its flagship Hells lager to New York this month.

Offering the tipple to American drinkers is part of a major expansion funded by parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev, which brews Budweiser.

The drinks giant snapped up Camden in late 2015 for £85m after it became one of the frontrunners in Britain’s craft beer movement.

Now it is spending £25m on a new brewery in Enfield, which represents the largest investment into London’s brewing industry for 30 years.

Founder Jasper Cuppaidge, who set up the business from the cellar of a Hampstead pub in 2007, said: ‘We’ve always been inspired by New York. It’s a buzzing city filled with incredible places to eat and drink, so it felt like the right place to launch Camden into the US.

‘Hells is a killer British lager we think drinkers across the world will love.’

The company has grown on the back of a craft beer movement which has driven an explosion of small breweries across the UK, rising by 8pc over the past year to 1,700.

The lager will launch in 40 bars, but Cuppaidge said the company plans to reach further into the US.