An East Anglian brewery is to launch itself into the draught beer market after specialising in bottles of its brew for the past 15 years.

St Peter's Brewery, at South Elmham, near Bungay, in Suffolk, has developed a niche for itself by focusing on its uniquely shaped bottled beers, currently some 95pc of its current production.

More than half of that is now exported to countries from the US and Canada to Russia and Mexico.

However, the firm has seen increased demand from pubs to sell its beer on draught and now chairman John Murphy thinks the time is right to meet the market.

The firm is to invest in two to four new brewing vessels and has started working on Saturdays to increase production from from between 200 and 210 barrels per week to 250 to 260 barrels per week. This could also be increased further.

Mr Murphy, a branding specialist who founded the now global agency Interbrand, said it is not just the increasing trend for the consumption of ale that sparked the move.

'We have focused quite deliberately on bottled beer because, in our view, it is only possible to truly establish a new beer brand through the 'packaged goods' route,' he said.

'Consumers need the experience of handling a bottle. advertising can't do this job and the draught route, on its own, simply cannot convey enough brand messages.

'We determined that we would not go the draught route until our brand was firmly established. Now we believe the time has come.'

Mr Murphy said, as a result, he would expect the firm's UK draught beer sales to outsell its UK bottled beer sales several fold within a few years.

Initially the firm's beer will be sold on draught in the South East but it plans to go nationwide soon after.

It already sells its bottled beers in Asda, Waitrose and J Sainsbury stores and it has its own pub in London.

St Peter's is also looking to increase the amount of keg beer it ships overseas.

The firm's result to the end of February this year showed revenues of �3.4m, up from �3.3m the previous year.

'Substantial cost increases', including a 50pc price rise of its bottles, mostly caused by the weakness of the pound against the Euro, had impacted the firm's margins, resulting in an operating loss of �11,928.

However, in his chairman's report, Mr Murphy said trading and profits were, so far this year, well ahead of the previous year and that this was expected to continue.