LIKE so many good ideas, the Black Iris brewery came about as the result of a chat over a pint…

Someone knew someone who knew someone and, as a result, keen young brewers Alex Wilson and Nick Folkard have been handed a great chance to launch a successful business.

The two are to be the new brewers at the Flowerpot, the iconic Derby real ale and music pub.

When Terry Evans, the widow of former owner John, took over the running of the pub, she initially mothballed the Flowerpot's brewery, with the view that there was so much to get her head around with the business that she would take one aspect of it at a time.

It wasn't as if the beers were being supplied far and wide; generally they were only available at the Flowerpot and the Smithfield in Derby and at beer festivals.

But then came a chance meeting with Alex and Nick, who have been working at the renowned Lincolnshire Poacher pub in Nottingham.

Both have home brewed and Alex has an NVQ in brewing. They were not and are not the type of micro-brewers who are going into it as a glorified hobby. They mean business and it's unlikely Terry would have entertained them if they didn't.

But they are happy to admit they would not have been able to afford to start at this level if they hadn't met her.

"It would certainly have taken us a lot longer and been a lot more difficult," says Alex.

"The size of the brewery – a six-barrel plant – is just perfect and we'd certainly have been looking at a smaller size if we'd been funding it ourselves."

They have been helped along by Alistair Moffatt, who was previously part of the brewing team at the pub and says that his explaining of the plant's quirks has saved them a lot of time.

As a result, the boys expect their first brew to come out of the plant on Tuesday and the official launch will be at the next Pot Fest, the Flowerpot's beer festival, which runs for four days from August 26, over the Bank Holiday weekend.

They aim to hit the ground running: "We intend to get straight into hitting as many pubs as we can within a decent radius," says Alex.