Brewery of the Day: Thwaites

Welcome to Thwaites. The family has been brewing in Lancashire since 1807 and, six generations later, they’re still at it – although these days the beer comes from a smaller, modern brewery at Mellor Brook in the beautiful Ribble Valley.

And small really is part of the appeal. Thwaites made a conscious move away from big industrial brewing and back towards doing things on a more human scale. The brewers describe using their senses to guide every brew from grist to cask, producing the bitters and ales drinkers know and love alongside a rolling line-up of seasonal and small-batch cask beers. In other words, there’s usually a very good reason to have a look along the handpulls and see what they’ve been up to.

That feels like a pretty good way to round off our Brewery of the Day celebrations. More than 200 years of family brewing, proper Lancashire pubs, a modern little brewery making cask with plenty of character – and four enormous horses keeping an eye on proceedings. If you spot Thwaites on the bar this Cask Ale Week, give it a try. You may just find a new favourite. And yes, we think all breweries should come with Shire horses too.

Discover more: Visit Thwaites and explore the story of more than two centuries of Lancashire brewing.