An ambition brewing duo swapped classrooms for casks — and they’ve never looked back.
Tara Mallinson founded Mallinsons Brewing Company in Huddersfield in 2008 and has seen the brewery go from strength to strength, moving into larger premises and delivering ales across Yorkshire and beyond.
Tara and Mallinsons co-director Elaine Yendall were both teachers before they decided to have a go at brewing their own ales.
Tara said: “We were in The Star pub one night and we were fed up. Elaine said, ‘what do you want to do?’ and I said ‘I want to run a brewery!’. So we looked into it, went on some courses and saved up.”
Click below for for a peek inside the brewery
A brewer from Bury helped them to set up their first set of brewing equipment — then left them to learn their way through the world of real ale.
“It was quite scary,” Tara said. “For the first few months we were nervous but we got used to it.”
Two-and-a-half-years later, the brewery found itself selling out of beer before it had even brewed it – and decided to expand.
The team moved from their premises in Lindley to the former Autoglass garage in the Waterhouse Mill, Lockwood Road.
“In 2010 we were brewing up to four times a week,” Tara said. “Everything was sold before we were able to brew it!”
Taking advantage of the extra space, the brewers added former Elland Brewery brewer Nick Briggs to their team and have also welcomed Tara’s son Callum Johnston, who cleans the casks ready for re-filling and maintains the brewery yard.
Mallinsons now brew 130 casks of ale each week, equivalent to £10,000 pints, delivered to pubs across Huddersfield, including the Star, the Sportsman and the Shoulder of Mutton in Lockwood.
Pallets of casks are also delivered as far as London, as well as to customers in North Yorkshire and Leeds.
The brewery also produces around 648 bottles of ale each week, with some sold in the Mallinsons bottle shop at their premises in Lockwood Road.
Tara said Huddersfield offered a supportive brewing community — Mallinsons’ former premises was taken over by brewers Hand Drawn Monkey, who also purchased their old kit.
“We’ve got so many great breweries in Huddersfield, it’s amazing,” said Tara. “And there’s quite a lot of pubs like the Picturehouse, Northern Taps and Herbert’s that have opened in premises that weren’t originally pubs — though some pubs are shutting, you’re getting these micro-bars opening.
“I feel lucky, we’ve got a decent real ale scene. You’re spoilt for choice.”
