A new craft brewery with a beer garden will launch in an iconic landmark mill in Farsley.
Amity Brew Co has signed a 10-year lease at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley, following an injection of £50,000 from the Business Enterprise Fund and raising £25,000 from family.
The 2,500 sq ft brewery and bar, due to open in autumn 2020, will be based at Sunny Bank Mills’ Festoon Rooms with a paved outdoor beer garden overlooking the newly developed £2million Weavers Yard, a 5,000 sq ft outdoor space with 96 car parking spaces.
Gaining experience at BrewDog, North Brewing Co and Beer Hawk, Co-founder and Director of Amity Brew Co, Russ Clarke dreamt of using the USA brewery model to open his own brewpub. Russ said:
“We are a group of friends who met on the craft beer scene having worked in the UK’s best breweries, so we know our stuff.
“We are inspired by the US model of a brewpub, making limited batch beer on-site and getting it into the hands of the community fresh and fast.
“Launching a business post covid-19 really adds the pressure on but we’ve been heartened to see how the local community has rallied together and we feel the brewpub is exactly what the community will embrace at this time. We are adaptable and nimble enough to make sure that our plans can quickly change according to any government restrictions that might be passed in the future as we all adapt to the world with C-19.”
Due to C-19, Russ moved the launch forward so that he can start to build a community locally and within the craft beer scene before physically opening doors.
Using cuckoo brewing – a practice where breweries hire out their kit – Head Brewer Greig Swanson, formerly of Top 100 breweries Buxton Brewery and BrewDog, has created a core range of beers including a “helles” lager, an extra special bitter and an American pale ale, all named after Farsley landmarks.
John Gaunt, joint managing director of mill owners Edwin Woodhouse and Co Ltd, said:
“Just as the mill was home to manufacturing some of the best cloth in the world, we can’t wait to see Amity Brew Co brewing and selling high quality craft beers. Amity Brew Co will be a superb addition to the Mill community, complementing Grumpy’s and The Mill Kitchen and making it an even more attractive place to visit and work.”
Sunnybank has been extensively renovated to provide quality space within an environment steeped in heritage for small and medium-sized businesses in West Yorkshire. Altogether 70 companies are now on site, creating 350 new and sustainable jobs.
To find out more about the launch and to keep informed of future announcements visit the Amitybrew website.