‘Baptism of fire’ for new owners of Horsham brewery WJ King

Niki and Justin Deighton took over WJ King, in Foundry Lane, in June and hope to use their extensive background in the music industry to continue and build the business.

They have re-branded the company and have split its products into two brands, Kings Heritage, which will contrinue the more traditional beer, and Kings Evolution, which will target the ‘edgier’ market.

Mrs Deighton said: “We wanted to find a business that chimed with us and would make us passionate and would interest us.”

She added: “It’s been a bit of a baptism of fire, but it has been great fun and we have really enjoyed it.

“It has been an interesting and exciting first few months.

“We feel like we are really getting into the DNA of it all.”

They have retained Ian Burgess as head brewer and he is an equal owner in the business.

While cask beer will always be a focus for the company, Mrs Deighton said that there was a ‘huge demand’ for local bottled beer and it was something they would be looking at.

Another avenue they were exploring were tasting notes on their beers where beers could be matched with different foods, and they were hoping to work with restaurants to see their beers paired with different foods.

She added: “A lot of people really do enjoy our beers and we really do some fantastic beers.”

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