EVERY beer has a story, but few more so than those created by Andy Skene.

The Canadian brewer has lived in Colchester since 2008 and supplies beer to The Waiting Room and GO4 Market Cafe but has now decided open up shop himself.

The Queen Street Brewhouse, in the former Tin Pan Alley, is set to open on Friday and will offer about 50 beers, including 40 Belgian craft beers and up to ten micro-brewed real ales, each of which has a long back story.

Mr Skene, 52, said: “Basically, it has dropped into my lap.

“I was in the Black Buoy, in Wivenhoe and I was told this place was up, so I thought ‘why not? I’ll go for it’.”

The brewer has signed a seven-year lease and is determined to offer Colchester real ale and craft beer drinkers something completely different.

He added: “It is a big punt and for me there is a lot riding on it.

“I wanted somewhere with a part-Belgian, part British beer and as soon as I walked in here, I knew this was the place.

“The counter screams Belgium for starters and the building is 14th century England so it’s a great match.”

Mr Skene, who is a member of the Society of Independent Brewers, began brewing life as a homebrewer but when he moved to England, he joined Pitfield London Brewery in 1987, which he still rents.

But he has since started his own Dominion Brewery, which was based for a time in Great Horkesley but has now moved to Moreton.

The brewery was initially included in Bunting & Sons controversial Stour Valley Visitor Centre, which is why the Toronto native initially moved to Colchester.

He added: “Dominion beers are all about fun.

“They all have a back story to them.

“We don’t create beers on a whim, there has got to be a reason for them.”

One example is a recent re-make of a 1947 ale called The Few.

It was born after one of Mr Skene’s friends happened upon a recipe book in an antique shop in Aldeburgh, which detailed how former brewery Cobblers brewed an English ale.

Many Tin Pan Alley revellers will remember the bar as a live venue and Mr Skene intends to keep the stage, but it will instead be thrown open to the public.

Anyone will be able to perform music, dance or spoken word and movie nights will also be laid on.

Customers will also be encouraged to bring their own vinyl records to play on an old-style record player.