Part of the Meet New Mills project.
Torrside Brewing: Meet Chris, one of the team behind New Mills’ iconic and much-loved local brewery.
Name of business:
Torrside Brewing.
Where did the name come from?
We had a long-list of probably 200 names, but at least one of the team seemed to hate each suggestion. We really wanted something local, but wasn’t too niche to put off anyone else!
What do you offer?
Our own cask, keg, and bottled beer. The cask mostly goes to the pubs, but we have a really wide range of bottles. We mostly sell to independent pubs and shops – our furthest delivery at the moment is in York.
How many people are in your team?
There’s 7 of us really, including 3 couples – myself, Sarah, Peter, Emma, Nick, Angharad, and Barney. We all muck in with the various different jobs at different times. Sarah and Barney are doing most of the actual brewing at the minute. Angharad and I also took over Beer Shed on Market Street and have been running that too since 2023.
How long have you been open?
Ten years in August! It was basically part time for the first two years, alongside day jobs.
Are you from New Mills?
The majority of the team are from Stockport, but Angharad and I are from Wolverhampton. We moved to Manchester a long time ago for work, but spread the net a bit and ended up here. But the whole team has been here, local, for around 18 years now.
What do you like about having your business in New Mills/living in New Mills?
It’s just a lovely place – there’s hills, it’s green, it’s gorgeous. There’s a really great community – everyone is super supportive, there’s a very friendly local vibe. We didn’t know anyone when we moved here – now we feel such a part of the community.
Is there anything exciting going on at the moment?
We’ll be opening up our Taproom again over summer on the last weekend of every month – right on the Marina.
You can find Torrside Brewing on Hibbert Street, online at https://www.torrside.co.uk, on Instagram (https://instagram.com/torrsidebrewing) and on Facebook (facebook.com/torrside). Â
