TWO beer enthusiasts have joined forces to bring brewing back to a North Yorkshire town.
Cameron Brown and Aron McMahon have set up Turning Point Brew Co in Kirkbymoorside and will officially launch their first beers at The Falcon Tap in Micklegate, York, from this Thursday to Saturday.
The Turning Point brewery is based at Kirkby Mills Industrial Estate, in a unit previously occupied by Moorside Brewery.
Respected brewer Keith Sheard, who had worked for 30-years for Bass Brewers Ltd in Tadcaster and Joseph Holt Brewery in Manchester, had set up Moorside in late 2014, but died a year later before he could fully realise his dream.
The equipment at Turning Point Brew Co in Kirkbymoorside
Mr McMahon said: “We had heard about Moorside and got in touch with Keith’s widow, Helen, who owns the site and we told her about our plans.
“We want to be a really well-run, professional brewery, producing modern beer for modern drinkers.”
The brewing site has its own freshwater well, guaranteeing consistency in the water ideal for brewing, and the Turning Point founders said the welcome from other local businesses had been fantastic.
The pair said they sought to emulate the success of breweries such as Northern Monk in Leeds, Magic Rock in Huddersfield and Almasty in Newcastle.
Mr Brown said they weren’t “trying to take over the world” but wanted to gradually see their beers reaching drinkers across the UK.
Mr McMahon, 39, of Duggleby in the Yorkshire Wolds, had worked for Brass Castle Brewery in Malton then Half Moon Brewery at Ellerton, east of York.
Mr Brown, 23, who lives in the Bishopthorpe Road area in York, had worked at The Maltings in Tanner’s Moat for two years then spent another two years as licensee at The Falcon Tap, while also home-brewing.
The pair met through their work, struck up a friendship, and discovered they had a shared enthusiasm and ambition.
Mr McMahon said: “It’s a turning point for our careers, and we hope when customers discover our beers at the bar it will be a nice turning point in their evening.”
The launch event is in the downstairs room at The Falcon Tap from 6pm on Thursday until last orders on Saturday.
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