Cloudwater Brew Co

Cloudwater Brew Co is an independent craft brewery based in Manchester, England. Established in 2014, the brewery began making beer the following year and quickly gained a reputation for the quality of its products. In 2017 and 2018, Cloudwater was ranked among the ten best breweries in the world by beer scoring website RateBeer, becoming the only UK brewery ever to be featured. Several Cloudwater beers have also received accolades at the same awards.

Cloudwater Brew Co
IndustryBrewing
Founded13 January 2014[1]
FoundersPaul Jones and James Campbell
Headquarters
Manchester
,
England
ProductsCraft beer
Non-alcoholic beverages
Websitecloudwaterbrew.co

Besides beer, the brewery also produces its own range of non-alcoholic sodas, as well as operating brewery tap rooms in Manchester and London and organising an annual beer festival, Friends & Family & Beer. Cloudwater Brew Co is a member of the Society of Independent Brewers.[2]

History

Cloudwater Brew Co was founded in 2014 by Paul Jones, who had no prior experience in the brewing industry,[3] and James Campbell, formerly the head brewer at fellow Manchester brewery Marble.[4] The pair secured premises in the Piccadilly Trading Estate, which they furnished with a 20 US barrel (roughly 14.3 UK barrels) brewing kit imported from the United States.[5] The size of the operation, relatively large for a new UK brewery, attracted considerable anticipation in the British beer press and on social media. The name "Cloudwater" was chosen as it combined two simple English words in a novel way.[3] It is also a translation of the Zen Buddhist term unsui ("cloud, water"), taken from a Chinese poem about the philosophy of wandering Buddhist monks.[6] The brewery's minimalist logo was inspired by the branding used by wine producers; Jones specifically wanted to avoid the "macho" imagery used by other breweries at the time.[3] The colours used in the logo change seasonally along with the brewery's beer ranges.[4]

Brewing commenced on 14 February 2015 and Cloudwater hosted a launch event the following month at the Port Street Beer House in Manchester, a well-known local craft beer venue.[4] The brewery soon gained recognition for the quality of its beers and within two years of opening was named the fifth best brewery in the world by beer scoring website RateBeer, becoming the first and (as of 2020) only UK brewery ever to make the top 10.[7][8] At the 2017 awards (held in 2018), Cloudwater climbed to second place, with only Hill Farmstead Brewery of Greensboro, Vermont ranking higher.[9][10]

Cloudwater received national newspaper coverage in 2017 after it was reported that one of its beers, NW DIPA, was on sale for £13.40 per pint at The Rake pub in Borough Market, London.[11][12] At the time, the average cost of a pint of beer in London was £4.20 according to The Good Pub Guide.[13] Jones defended the higher price, explaining that the quantity and freshness of hops used to brew the beer made it expensive to produce.[12] He also stated that at 9% alcohol by volume the beer was not intended to be served by the pint, and that due to its strength the number of units of alcohol by price was equivalent to weaker, cheaper beers.[14]

Head brewer and co-founder James Campbell announced he was leaving the brewery in September 2018 in order to work as a brewing consultant and raise funds to create his own brewery.[15] He later went on to launch nanobrewery Cervezas de Autor.[16] Since Campbell's departure, Cloudwater have continued without a head brewer, which is unusual for a British brewery.[15]

In 2019, the brewery organised a not-for-profit festival, Friends & Family & Beer, featuring 59 breweries from around the world.[17] The event was well-attended, attracting more than 1,500 visitors. However, it was closed down by police on the first evening after it transpired that the venue, Upper Campfield Market, did not have a licence permitting the sale of alcohol.[18] Following interventions from the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, and the city's "night-time tsar", Sacha Lord, the festival was allowed to continue for the rest of the weekend.[19] Friends & Family & Beer returned for its second incarnation in 2020, in a new venue at Manchester Central.[20]

Products

Beers
Cloudwater was one of the first UK breweries to sell its beers in 440 ml cans.

From its inception the brewery has produced a wide range of beers, from traditional English styles such as mild, stout and India pale ale (IPA), to international varieties such as Helles, grisette and cream ale.[5] Unlike most British breweries, Cloudwater opted not to brew a core range of beers, instead creating a seasonally changing selection using hops and malts available at different times of year.[4] The brewery's range of Double IPAs, a heavily hopped and stronger version of the traditional IPA, have received particular acclaim;[9][21] four beers from the range were named among the Best New Beers of 2017 at the RateBeer awards in Santa Rosa, California.[22]

In January 2017, the brewery announced that it was to cease production of cask-conditioned ale.[23] Co-founder Paul Jones cited inadequate profit margins and unacceptable levels of variation in the final product due to differing cellarmanship standards among the reasons for the decision.[24] After an 18-month hiatus, Cloudwater returned to cask brewing in October 2018 with the stipulation that it would only be sold at a small number of venues approved by the brewery.[25] The move was welcomed by the likes of the Campaign for Real Ale and beer writer Roger Protz.[26]

Cloudwater was one of the first British breweries to market its beers in 440 ml cans,[27] having previously predominantly used 330 ml glass bottles.[28] This decision led numerous other UK microbreweries to follow suit, and by October 2018 the larger cans accounted for 40% of all packaged craft beer sold nationwide.[27] The designs featured on Cloudwater's cans have also received recognition; in 2019 the brewery was featured in the BEER+ART event at the Tate Modern in London.[29]

As of November 2020, Cloudwater Brew Co has released more than 700 different beers, including collaborations with national and international breweries such as BrewDog, Magic Rock, Lervig, Jester King and To Øl.[30] On the popular beer scoring app Untappd, the brewery's beers have an average rating of 3.95 out of 5, making Cloudwater the 12th-highest rated English brewery.[31]

Cloudwater Soda

In addition to beer, the brewery also produces a range of non-alcoholic beverages. Originally marketed as "Good Call Soda", the brand was debuted in 2019 at the Mindful Drinking festival in London.[32] The name was deliberately chosen to distinguish the drinks from Cloudwater's usual offerings, but also to clarify that the product was not alcohol-free beer, despite incorporating ingredients often found in beer such as hops and fruit.[33] However, the company was accused of copyright infringement by Heineken, who claimed the name was too similar to the "Good Call" slogan associated with its Foster's Lager brand. The range was subsequently rebranded as simply "Cloudwater Soda".[34]

Locations

Initially, Cloudwater operated two brewery taps: one at the brewery itself on the Piccadilly Trading Estate, and another nearby in a railway arch beneath Manchester Piccadilly station. The latter was known as the Barrel Store and focused on the brewery's more experimental offerings such as barrel-aged beers and sours.[4] The on-site brewery bar closed in early 2017 to allow for extra production due to increased demand.[35] In July 2018, Cloudwater also closed the Barrel Store and opened Unit 9, a dedicated tap room adjacent to the brewery with 20 draught beer lines.[36][37]

In 2018, Cloudwater announced plans to launch an additional tap room on Enid Street in London. The venue is located on the so-called Bermondsey Beer Mile, a collection of around 15 breweries and bars dedicated to craft beer.[38] Jones cited the Bermondsey scene as one of his inspirations when originally establishing the brewery and explained that his desire to be able to sell the freshest possible beer to drinkers there was a key factor in opening the bar.[39]

References
  1. "CLOUDWATER BREW CO LTD - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  2. "North West - SIBA". Society of Independent Brewers. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  3. Cornell, Martyn (1 August 2016). "The secrets to Cloudwater's success". zythophile.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. Clarke, John, ed. (April 2015). "Cloudwater Launch" (PDF). Opening Times. No. 367. Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA. p. 13. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. Bottomley, Erin (12 June 2015). "New breweries to watch in 2015". Ferment. No. 13. p. 5. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  6. Smith, Michael (26 April 2018). "Craft Beer Supernova: Why Manchester is leading the modern beer renaissance". esquire.com. Esquire. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  7. Lovell, Lucy (5 March 2017). "Meet Cloudwater Brew Co - the Manchester brewery voted among the best in the world". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  8. Howell, Madeleine (2 March 2020). "The top 10 British breweries, named among the best in the world by RateBeer". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  9. Heward, Emily (30 January 2018). "Manchester brewery Cloudwater rated second best in the world". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  10. Beeson, James (30 January 2018). "Cloudwater named second best brewery in the world". Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  11. "Pub defends charging customers £13.40 for a 'smashing' pint of ale". The Telegraph. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  12. Siddiqui, Sophia (26 August 2017). "It's your round... The Rake pub in Borough Market charges £13.40 for pint". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. Siddique, Haroon (7 September 2017). "At £4.40, Surrey becomes most expensive place in UK to buy a pint". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. Beeson, James (30 August 2017). "Cloudwater boss defends craft beer prices after £13 a pint uproar". Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  15. Jones, Paul (26 September 2018). "Farewell and may the best be yet to come". cloudwaterbrew.co. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  16. Norbury, Darren (19 March 2019). "New project for former Cloudwater head brewer". beertoday.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  17. Norbury, Darren (19 December 2018). "Cloudwater to stage Friends & Family & Beer in Manchester". beertoday.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  18. Smith, Simon (2 March 2019). "Dismay as Cloudwater beer festival cancelled after first day because 'venue doesn't have alcohol licence'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  19. Keeling, Neal (2 March 2019). "Cloudwater beer festival saved at 11th hour in a victory for 'common sense' - as punters urged not to get drunk". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  20. Norbury, Darren (6 August 2019). "New venue for not-for-profit Manchester beer festival". beertoday.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  21. Bullen, Claire; Ferguson, Jen (2019). "The Cult of the Hop—Garage Project, Wellington and Cloudwater, Manchester". The Beer Lover's Table: Seasonal recipes and modern beer pairings. Ryland Peters & Small. p. 263. ISBN 9781911026969.
  22. Woolfson, Daniel (2 February 2017). "Cloudwater named Best Brewery in England at RateBeer awards". Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  23. Protz, Roger, ed. (2017). "Cloudwater". Good Beer Guide 2018. Campaign for Real Ale. ISBN 9781852493493.
  24. Jones, Paul (1 January 2017). "Looking back whilst pushing forward". cloudwaterbrew.co. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  25. Ashworth, Louise (9 October 2018). "Cloudwater Brewery returns to cask". Cask Marque. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  26. Protz, Roger (April 2019). "Returning to the cask fold" (PDF). What's Brewing. Campaign for Real Ale. p. 6. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  27. Keightley, Chris, ed. (November 2018). "Online beer distributor sees huge shift in packaged sales trends". Craft Beer Magazine. No. 1. p. 25. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  28. Jones, Paul (28 July 2016). "Cans are not cool". cloudwaterbrew.co. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  29. "BEER + ART | Tate's last Tap Takeover of the year". beerguild.co.uk. The British Guild of Beer Writers. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  30. "Cloudwater Brew Co Beer List". RateBeer. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  31. "Top rated breweries from England". Untappd. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  32. "What's new? Fresh brands at our July Mindful Drinking Festival". joinclubsoda.com. Club Soda. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  33. Waite, Lily (1 March 2020). "The U.K.'s Cloudwater Brew Co. is starting conversations over alcohol-Free 'Adult Soda'". vinepair.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  34. Hancock, Edith (24 September 2019). "Heineken puts legal pressure on Cloudwater to rename low-calorie soda brand". The Drinks Business. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  35. "Barrel Store Tap Room". cloudwaterbrew.co. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  36. Clarke, John, ed. (September 2018). "Cloudwater Tap" (PDF). Opening Times. No. 400. Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA. p. 17. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  37. Norbury, Darren (26 July 2018). "Cloudwater launches its new taproom". beertoday.co.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  38. "The Bermondsey Beer Mile: Cloudwater". bermondsey-beer-mile.co.uk. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  39. Thomas, Deanna (16 April 2018). "Cloudwater Brew Co to set up shop in Bermondsey". confidentials.com. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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