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Up Front Brewing is an independent brewery based in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire. Founded in 2015 by Jake Griffin, it spent many years operating as a nomadic brewery before bringing production in-house and establishing its own brewery. Run as a one-person operation, Up Front combines experimental brewing with distinctive artwork and a constantly evolving approach to ingredients, yeast, bacteria and brewing techniques.
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Brewery story
Up Front Brewing was founded in 2015 by former homebrewer Jake Griffin with the aim of combining his enthusiasm for exceptional beer with distinctive artwork.
Jake established Up Front without loans, outside investors or crowdfunding, an approach reflected in the brewery's name. Operating as a one-person business kept overheads low and allowed him to devote considerable time to researching ingredients, yeast, bacteria and brewing techniques.
For much of its early life, Up Front operated as a nomadic brewery rather than from a permanent brewhouse. Beers were produced using spare capacity at other breweries, including Overtone Brewing Co and other breweries around Glasgow.
This flexible approach allowed Up Front to develop a changing range of beers without the expense of establishing a brewery of its own. Production was predominantly packaged in cans and speciality bottles, with cask-conditioned releases appearing only occasionally.
After many years of nomadic brewing, Jake brought production in-house in late 2023. At the same time he began experimenting with small batches of mead for a related project called Up Front Meadery.
In 2024 Up Front acquired its own brewing equipment and a small canning line, marking another significant step towards becoming a fully self-contained brewery.
The brewery relocated to Strathaven, south of Glasgow, in early 2025. By early that year the new equipment had been installed and the brewery was fully operational, bringing Up Front's long period as a nomadic producer to an end.
Up Front remains deliberately independent and small-scale, with Jake continuing to oversee the operation himself. The permanent brewery also provides a home for the developing Up Front Meadery project alongside beer production.
Jake has plans to develop the Strathaven site further, including the possibility of opening a taproom where Up Front's beers and meads could eventually be served directly to visitors. For now, however, the taproom remains a future ambition rather than a current public venue.
