Established in 2012

BREWoRKS IS FATHER AND SON TEAM PHILIP AND TRISTAN HALL.

Tristan is our head brewer while Philip is the owner of our original outlet and effectively our tap room, The Black Swan, in Birdgate, Pickering. Our story didn’t begin as a simple desire to create beers we love; it came about through a happy accident, a serendipitous move to the gateway to the East, Istanbul.

The family relocated in 2006 because of Philip’s job as a chemical engineer. His love of real ales that he could no longer source while in Turkey and his professional understanding of the chemical process involved in brewing led him to create his own micro-brewery, starting with two small stainless steel tanks. Philip taught himself how to brew and researched recipes for his favourite tipples.

A LITTLE OF OUR STORY

THE EUREKA MOMENT CAME QUITE BY ACCIDENT, TOO!

At the international school Tristan attended at the time, community days were occasionally organised where parents would cook and sell their national dish, with the proceeds going into the coffers of the Parents and Friends Association. One year, next to the Italian pizza oven and the Indian curry stall stood an English pub, fully stocked with roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and tasty, traditional beer.

We’ll gloss over the highly spirited evening that ensued. What happened next was that parents of other children – Danes, Belgians, Brits and more – were all asking Philip to brew up their favourite beer from home. There was an ex-pat market thirsty for something different to the three mass-produced lagers that were available at the time. Philip opened up a pub restaurant and built a brewery, producing 8,000 to 10,000 litres each week. In 2011, Tristan joined the family business and in 2012 the Bosphorus Brewing Company was formed, the first micro-brewery in Turkey.

Despite its popularity, changes to regulations made it impossible for the business to continue in the country and the family moved back to the UK in 2014. Later that year, Philip took on the Black Swan hotel and pub restaurant in Pickering, North Yorkshire.

Tristan got fully involved after finishing university and – despite studying for and aspiring to a career in broadcast journalism – it was creating beautiful beers that he turned his hand to. Breworks began life in 2016 in one of the outbuildings of the Black Swan, before expanding into its current premises in 2021.

Our brewery is in the town of Kirkbymoorside on a small industrial estate. With an overall capacity of approximately 7,000L – four 1,800L tanks – we currently produce 1,800L a week with the ability at maximum capacity to produce about 3,600L weekly.

We source water for our beers directly from a borehole on the property which is fed by a spring which originates on the moors, meaning everything we create is imbued with the spirit of this famous national park.