About Us

Dead Weight Brewing Co. was created by Dale Punnett (L) and David Tomkins (R).

Friends for over 15 years, we met at university doing the same course (Media and Film Production). During this time, David sipped on Budweiser and Dale was teetotal! Oh how things have changed! Over the years our love of beer and, in particular, the craft beer scene, has grown exponentially. It became a ritual to hunt down and sample different ales together, discussing what we enjoyed and what we looked for in each particular beer.

Like all great ideas, Dead Weight Brewery was founded at the local boozer, after far too many beers! We figured it couldn't be too tricky to make our own beer, so decided to give it a crack! Many years later, here we are! It wasn't as easy as we thought!

The name ‘Dead Weight’ comes from the nautical term for the total weight of cargo, which a ship carries or can carry. The nautical theme of the brewery stems from our maritime links through family - Dale’s father served in the Royal Navy for many years and David’s Jamaican heritage is full of sea captains on his mother’s side.

Our company’s logo of an anchor is symbolic of the years of hard work that we have put into our respective careers, that have held us back from steering forward with our dream venture of owning and running a successful craft brewery. Now is the time for us to lift anchor and sail forwards.