A CWMBRAN brewery is continuing with expansion plans, including a bar in Caerphilly, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A licence application by Brew Monster for the sale of alcohol and playing of recorded music for a new bar in the centre of Caerphilly is currently under consideration by Caerphilly County Borough Council.

The application would allow alcohol sales and the playing of music between midday and 11pm every day of the week, with Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve having extended hours until 2am.

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If approved, Brew Monster will open its fourth bar at Lon-Y-Twyn, near Castle Court shopping centre, subject to planning permission.

The Torfaen-based brewery has had a busy year. They opened up their first bar at the end of 2019 in the centre of Cardiff before taking over The Atig Micropub in Llantwit Major early this year.

Alongside his expansion plans for Caerphilly, the company’s managing director Glenn White, is also focusing on the Mermaid Quay Taphouse in Cardiff Bay, which will open for the first time later this week.

Mr White said the past year had been “quite a rollercoaster.”

He said: “We went into it all learning as we went along.

“It has been quite a rollercoaster.

“We are in really unprecedented times. Luckily we were already working on Cardiff Bay before lockdown happened.”

Unlike a lot of other companies, Brew Monster hasn’t been selling during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We still think we have a good strategy,” Mr White said.

“We have spent lockdown focussing on when things get back to normal and making sure we are in the best possible situation.

“We are using this time to accelerate. We haven’t brewed or sold for a few months.”

Instead Mr White has been allowing everything to catch-up given they have expanded so quickly in such a short space of time.

A second peak, however, is a concern, Mr White said.

“We are trusting the local authorities.

“A second peak is a concern, a second peak would hurt us and could come back to bite us.”

Baring any second wave of coronavirus, Mr White is hoping to have the Caerphilly bar up and running by Christmas.