BOLTON’s Dunscar Brewery has gone into administration and is up for auction.

Rising costs in an increasingly competitive industry have been blamed.

Based in Dunscar Business Park, Blackburn Road, the company had been trading since 2008 and operated a 27-barrel brewing plant. It also incorporated The Bleachworks private function room which was a popular party venue in area.

Ian McCulloch, of administrators Begbies Traynor, said: “Dunscar was a well-established and highly regarded brand supplying products to the local area and beyond. Unfortunately, it has ceased to trade as a result of rising costs in an increasingly competitive industry.”

He added: “We are currently in the process of marketing the business and assets for sale in order to identify interested parties that may wish to continue the business.”

It has already being advertised as a “high calibre brewing plant” which had a turnover of £349,000 last year.

The business began as a small 3.5 brewers’ barrel plant in The Brewhouse pub in Dunscar Bridge. The whole brewery fitted in one end of the pub behind a glass wall so that customers could watch the brewers producing what they would shortly be drinking.

Initially, it produced a large range of beers which gained early praise from customer and trade organisations alike, including the Campaign for Real Ale and the Society of Independent Brewers, which gave the brewery an award.

When it moved to the Dunscar Business Park site in 2012, the new brewery had approximately ten times the capacity of the old one, and a new team was built to both perfect the beers and begin to develop the distribution across the northwest.

By 2015 the brewery was owned by a combination of family members and best friends who set about the task of improving both practices and processes to international standards.

New recipes were introduced and, only this year, its ‘Big D’ range of edgy, craft beers was launched with great success.

As well as producing quarterly special brews and special event beers for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s day, the company also held popular tours of the brewery.

A spokesman for CAMRA said: “It’s always sad when a brewery with a long tradition falls upon hard times.

Anyone who has pre-booked events at The Bleachworks is requested to contact Begbies Traynor on 01772 202000.