BEER lovers in Bournemouth are looking forward to raising a glass to the town's new craft brewery which is due to open its doors next month.

Brewster Jennifer Tingay of Southbourne Ales plans to produce around 5,760 pints a week as well as running a public bar and tours of the micro brewery.

Jennifer who worked as the quality manager at Ringwood Brewery for seven and a half years, launched Southbourne Ales in 2013 and started brewing at Town Mill Brewery in Lyme Regis.

"My Godmother reckons I like beer so much because when I was born my parents were living with her at the time.

"Apparently she was brewing eight gallons of beer a week so the house smelled of beer the whole time so I obviously got the smell of fit."

Jennifer has worked in the licensed trade for 20 years working behind bars and in off licences before she started at working in the lab at Ringwood Brewery.

Although it was traditionally a male dominated industry, Jennifer says it is amazing how times have changed.

"If you want to increase your market and you want to target female drinkers, then the best way to do that is to employ women.

"Traditionally women traditionally were in the lab because technically our palates are better are picking up flavours."

Jennifer launched Southbourne Ales in 2013 but failed to find suitable premises which is why the new micro brewery is now based in Bournemouth and is crowd funded.

Works started at the beginning of 2017 to open the 20 barrel brewery with a tourist’s visitors' centre and public bar in what was once Arnett’s Rolls Royce and Bentley garage on Poole Hill, Bournemouth.

The property had been empty for twenty years and the biggest task has been reinstalling a traditional style frontage.

"We uncovered some original 1880’s cast iron columns made at the Coalbrookdale foundry in Iron Bridge; these were boxed round in the 1960’s and by modifying the window designs they will soon be proudly back on public display."

Jennifer currently has eight ales with glorious sounding names such as Grockles, Beach Comber and Stroller with artwork also designed by Jennifer.

"It takes at least four weeks to develop a particular brew. I spent about a month drinking everyone's else light ales and working out what colour, level of bitterness used that to calculate hop consistency - some add earlier in the brew to give bitterness or later in brew - calculated and work it out.

"First big brews will be experimental and you then have to tweak it. The challenge is to be able to make a beer consistently so it is always the same flavour, colour and alcohol content.

She adds: "Hopefully there will be something for everybody in the range."