Trigger’s Broom Ale House opened on Saturday 23 May in Broadstairs.

A sweeping change to what was the Four Candles Alehouse with a new name and a new interior layout.

But let us first recall the Four Candles – owned by Mike Beaumont and opened in 2012, it was the 12th micropub in the UK and the third in Thanet. After a couple of years of selling other people’s beers Mike began to brew his own at the pub with paid assistance from brewer Paul Wenham-Jones plus some advice from Eddie Gadd of Ramsgate Brewery.

One time he had to ask JD Wetherspoon to desist from using a logo of crossed fork handles on one of their pub’s social media pages. Mike had created this logo for his business, was using it and had officially trademarked it, Wetherspoon did comply with the request and apologised.

Having acquired the Conqueror Alehouse in Ramsgate just in time for Covid Mike was then forced to relinquish it in late 2023 as post-Covid trade was too slow in picking-up. During this time it sold only Four Candles beers. The Conqueror has since re-opened under new management but still has much of the external signage that Mike put up referencing his William the Conqueror French roots.

Beer wise Mike produced mainly cask beer with a not so long period of bottled beers. He used simple descriptive names, sometimes claiming that no beer was ever brewed more than once. Names included; Pecan Porter, Citra Session, Stout, Pacific IPA, Waimea IPA, Green Hop IPA, Target Bitter, Juniper Rye , Wheat IPA, Best Bitter plus many others. The ABVs were almost all between 3.5% and 5%. A Four Candles beer was the first to run out at the Planet Thanet Beer Festival three years running. The pub was in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2015,17,18,19,20,21,22,25 and 2026. All in all, what a great achievement.

All this said, the pub is now called Trigger’s Broom and is run by Paul Wainwright and Albert Berry, who also run the Albion Inn which is twenty feet away on the other side of the road. Incidentally, Mike Beaumont also stepped in once as licensee for the Albion Inn while some legal difficulties were ironed out under previous management there. Mike didn’t want the Albion to close, lose business impetus and then be converted to a house.

 

Today Trigger’s Broom is not a brew pub though it does continue to be of modest size with its large windows, including a newly revealed window, that give it a sense of space. It has a mix of high and regular tables including some outdoor seating to the front. Due to limits of floor space only assistance dogs are allowed to stay inside. It has two hand pumps for cask ale plus some racked casks with cold water fed cooling jackets by the bar.

Trigger’s Broom, 1 Sowell Street, St Peters, Broadstairs, CT10 2AT.

 

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