Brewer hopes Full Toss will be the ideal delivery for drinkers

FORMER Cheadle Cricket Club all-rounder Don Toft is preparing a full toss – but this time to the delight of his old teammates in the pavilion.

When Don was made redundant by Stone-based QVF process systems in 2006, he decided to spend his redundancy money setting up Toft Brewing, a small time operation he could run from his garage.

Now the 55-year-old, of Tuscan Close, Cheadle, has developed a new pale ale he hopes to serve up to pubs around the town.

With an alcoholic content of four per cent, the cricket fan has called it The Full Toss.

And Kieran and Conor Devine, landlords at The Huntsman pub, in Town End, have already expressed an interest with getting the beer on tap.

The '1 British Barrel' brewery Don uses is usually operated by brewery bosses to experiment and invent new drinks – producing high-quality ale in a relatively low quantity.

A huge step-up from the student-friendly £20 home brew tubs, the kit is used by only a handful of individual enthusiasts across the country.

And the actual pine clad stainless steel apparatus Don purchased from a fellow connoisseur in Bury was used by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey on his show The F Word.

"The interest in my pension fund is pretty negligible so I thought this could provide me with a little bit of pocket money when I eventually retire," explained the grandfather-of-one, who now works as a design engineer at Gough Engineering at Newstead, Trentham.

Foul-mouthed cook Ramsey created his own beer to complement a veal dish and was delighted by the finished product.

Don quipped: "I tried to barter for a reduction as it was second hand but I'm afraid I wasn't successful."

The equipment can fill four barrels, creating 288 pints from each brew every fortnight.

Each stage in the brewing process has needed to be regulated by officials from environmental health, the water board and trading standards.

Planning officers from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council now need to give the green light for a change of use of the Toft family garage into a micro-brewery.

Don said: "It is only a hobby but there is a huge amount of red tape.

"Two barrels will be delivered to a pub each week from the back of my car. Bass isn't coming to Tuscan Close, it is a pretty low key operation with no noise and no smell.

"But some of the development hasn't been the toughest job in the world – all the quality testing has required a lot of tasting."

Yet, despite all the effort required to brew the ale – "similar to Pedigree with a slightly hoppier taste" – Don still won't be able to sit down in his garden to enjoy a smooth glass.

He said: "Once you open a barrel you have to drink all 72 pints within the next seven days to get the best flavour. To drink it myself I'd need to organise a party."