A successful brewery that started life in Brentwood celebrated 20 years in business this week.

The Mighty Oak Brewing Company, which now produces 34,500 pints a week, was set up by John Boyce and Ruth O’Neill in 1996.

John had been made redundant three years earlier after working in the brewing industry for 17 years and, with Ruth’s encouragement, decided to pursue his dream of running his own brewery.

The company's name was born on a long journey from Brentwood to north Wales when Ruth suggested calling it The Acorn Brewery and John replied: “With a name like that we’ll always be small – we’ll call it The Mighty Oak Brewery!”

His ambition proved justified as the brewery is now 10 times its original size, and its beers – which have won a host of Camra awards - are served throughout Essex, as well as in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Kent, London and Hertfordshire.

The company invited about 150 landlords to a party at the brewery, which is now based in Maldon, on Tuesday, September 20, to thank them for their support over the years.

John said: “We couldn’t have done it without the support of our early customers, many of whom are still with us, who accepted their first deliveries from the back of a Fiat Panda named Boris.”