Abbey Bells Brewery

The same way that you judge its success in every other way: by the taste, actually.

That is the philosophy that guides Jules Dolan, whose Abbey Bells Brewery is spending its fifth year as a one-man operation in a converted garage in Main Road, Hirst Courtney, near Selby.

It is also what guides him as he enters the Small Business Of The Year category in The Press Business Of The Year Awards 2007.

He says: "I'm not aiming to break any financial records. More important are the three factors I set out to achieve five years ago.

"Namely, the production of a quality product, the enjoyment to be derived from the process and keeping small.

"I believe that there is a point of growth at which a product becomes mass- produced and loses the charm of craft production."

That charm is to be found in all ten of his products, including The Leper Squint, a straw-coloured bitter named after the place in Selby Abbey to which lepers were once banished to watch the sacrament through an aperture.

Pubs all over the north and as far south as Essex buy in his slightly less potent, but tasty bitter, dubbed Monday's Child.

His first five years was a steep learning curve, making the transition from hobby to craft to business. "But I now have a business capable of becoming reasonably successful financially," he said.

"The real joy for me is the variety of the work as a sole trader - one day head brewer, then delivery driver, then salesman or accounts clerk, then credit controller or pump clip designer.

"And, of course, someone has to taste the stuff. I let the cleaner do that."