It’s a brave man who sets up a business during an economic downturn, but Mattias Sjoberg’s virtual brewery, which he established in 2009, is going from strength to strength. He is now producing three different beers: Baltic Night Stout (4.8 per cent), The King’s Shipment IPA (6.0 per cent) and Isis Pale Ale (4.9 per cent), which are stocked in stores such as Oddbins, Eynsham Cellars and other small independent off-licences in the county.

Swedish-born Mattias has been brewing his own beer since he was 16. As a young man he became so fascinated with the chemistry and biology of beer that he went on to take a degree in brewing and distilling at the International Centre of Brewing in Edinburgh. He lives in Oxford now and has founded the Compass Brewery, having been made redundant from Scottish & Newcastle’s Reading brewery when it closed.

He admits that setting up a business at present is a real challenge, but is convinced that starting with a clean slate means that one can adapt more easily to change.

“The good thing about setting up a business during an economic downturn is that if it works you know that you have a business model and a product that can survive future hardship. If it doesn’t work, you can blame the downturn!”

His aim was to ensure that his product would appeal because it was different from anything offered by competitors.

He said: “A new business has to be innovative. The easy way that everybody else is doing it is not the way to do it if you want to be different, which is why I established our popular bespoke beer programme, which I believe is the only one of its kind.”

Mattias’s programme enables clients to brew a beer to their own specifications. The idea grew out of the beer tastings he ran before beginning to brew his own beers, having rented space from the Cotswold Brewing Company.

His main clients are a group of Oxford dads known as the Father’s Folly Brewers who met through the Satdads group at Grandpont Children’s Centre. When Mattias began attending the centre with his daughter, talk among the fathers present finally turned to beer. It wasn’t long before the dads hatched the idea of calling on Mattias’s expertise to brew their own.

They began meeting regularly at The Folly Bridge Inn to plan their beer, and soon Father’s Folly was born.

Producing the first of three beers has been a real team effort, with Mattias creating the recipe and brewing the beer and the dads designing the label and visiting the brewery to inspect and sample their beer in progress.

Mattias said: “The idea proved so popular that 20 dads were involved in planning their most recent brew, White Rabbit, which is now on sale at three Oxford Oddbins shops.”

Apparently, the dads were so enthusiastic about bringing out their third beer that they braved the freezing temperatures of the English winter during December to hand-label their latest creation and take it home just in time for the Christmas holidays.

The entire process takes about ten weeks from the first meeting with Mattias to taking delivery of your own beer. Because Mattias is creating an entire batch, the minimum volume amounts to 200 cases, though if clients are happy to have customised beer labels for a special occasion (wedding, birthday or stag nights) on an existing brew, this amount can be reduced considerably.

Mattias says that setting up a virtual brewery is unusual, but renting space from another brewery has enabled him to start up without a major outlay of capital. He says he founded Compass Brewery to be profitable in the long term and not as a short-sighted, get-rich-quick company. Beside, he wants to enjoy and embrace the creative process that he has become involved in.

“Sitting around a table with the dads, tasting various beers until we come up with one we like is a great experience. I enjoy analysing and discussing the various flavours as much as they do.”

He chose the name Compass for his company because this simple tool has been pointing people in the right direction since the 8th century. So what better instrument to name a brewery that is dedicated to guiding people like the dads through the maze of beer.

Mattias says that the past year has proved an incredibly happy time. The thrill of watching customers picking his beer from a local off-licence and watching the joy on faces of his bespoke beer customers has been second to none.

Although these are difficult times, particularly now that the VAT has increased, he feels sure that he has set the foundations for an innovative brewery that will survive the growing phase and become an established Oxford brand. And, when the time is right, he is confident he will be able to buy his own brewery plant.