As a teen in a small village near Galway, Ireland, with just 2000 inhabitants “and your related to half of them” the chances of using fake ID to buy booze were zero.
But for a 15-year-old Mike Jones it presented an interesting challenge involving Aldi apple juice, sugar, water, baker’s yeast and an old office water cooler.
Soon the teen was producing something that could almost be described as cider and a life-long love of brewing and fermentation was born.
Mike said: “School never worked for me, I needed to get my hands on it to understand it. But I was into biology and chemistry, that tickled my brain in the right way, and so (with the cider) I changed a bit here and there and saw results.”
Now Mike and wife Char (pictured above), both 32, head up The Fermentorium in Ramsgate’s King Street – a space almost as quirky as its owners with ‘weird, wacky and different’ beers, ciders, wines, fermented foods and, in the basement, The Dungeon for board games, events and whatever else the community might suggest.
The venue, housed in a former pizza takeaway, has been open for four weeks and Mike says the aim is to be “community driven” and a place where you can say hello without “people looking at you like you’ve got three heads.”
Mike said: “We really want to be a place for locals, whether they have just moved here or lived here forever, where they can chat to each other.”
On offer are craft brews, drinks on draught, stouts and always something a little bit different, such as Irn Bru Sour (5.3%).
It has been quite a journey from the water cooler brewing days of ‘gut rot’ cider to getting the keys for the King Street venue and spending a year refurbishing the building.
Mike’s first move was from Ireland to York in 2011 when he joined the Army. While there he met wife-to-be Char who was studying a chemistry masters at the university.
Suffering a broken back during a four day combat exercise resulted in discharge from the Army and the couple, who married in 2015, spent a decade in London with Mike working in creative tech.
An unexpected redundancy came at the same time as Char completed her accountancy training and so, after a month in Australia, the pair set off on an adventure travelling to Asia, North America and then spending two years in Canada.
During this time Mike was brewing professionally and also acting as a consultant.
A return to the UK in 2020 coincided with covid and the pair decided to move out of London and into a property in Canterbury.
The Fermentorium became the next adventure with the couple picking up the keys in April 2024.
Mike said: “We had to redo the water, electrics, gas. Three of the four roofs have been replaced with the fourth one to do, there were structural works, about 90 tons of material came out of the building in total.”
Mike’s passion for brewing has extended to an interest in fermented foods – preserved and transformed through microorganisms like bacteria, yeast, or mould- such as sauerkraut, kombucha and sourdough which are also on sale at The Fermentorium.
He said reading made him realise the brewing was “just a sliver of a much wider world.”
He hopes people will come and try something new but says there is no ‘beer’ snobbery, adding: “If you are a Fosters drinker then I will find something that you’ll enjoy.”
He is also hoping people will pop in, ask questions, see what’s on offer and make use of the basement for all sorts of gatherings and events.
Char can be found at the business on Fridays and Saturdays when she is not at her ‘real job’ and Mike hopes eventually to be able to take on a member of staff.
The Fermentorium is open 2pm-8pm Thursday and 1pm-9pm Friday and Saturday with Monday to Wednesday for anyone who wants to book in an event.
Find The Fermentorium at 38 King Street, Ramsgate
Very cool that this place is finally open, I look forward to checking it out
As a pensioner I can only treat myself to a beer in Wetherspoons on a Monday and Wednesday as it is 50p off a pint of real ale and 50p off a pint with my CAMRA token,half the price of theese establishments but I wish them good luck.