Brightside Brewing Company

The beginnings of Brightside Brewing Company can be traced to 2009, when the family started experimenting with home brewing during the depths of the recession. The period also helped inspire the Brightside name, alongside a fondness for The Killers, while the brewery's distinctive branding and pump clip design began to take shape.

During 2010 the idea developed into a serious brewing business. The team designed and built its first 2.5-barrel commercial brewing equipment, installing it in the back of the family's bakery. For around a year they used the small system to scale up recipes and learn the practical side of commercial brewing.

Brightside began selling beer to local pubs in 2011, with Solstice Golden Ale becoming its first commercial beer when it was supplied to The Trackside in Bury that July. Later the same year, Maverick IPA brought the fledgling brewery its first CAMRA beer festival award.

Brightside subsequently grew into an established Greater Manchester brewery and today operates a 20-barrel brewing plant in Radcliffe. Its range spans cask-conditioned ales, craft keg beers and lagers, with new seasonal cask beers regularly introduced alongside its established core range. Brightside beers can be found around Manchester and across much of the North West, with wider distribution through wholesalers and brewery exchanges.

The brewery has developed a particular focus on gluten-free beer. Since January 2022 its beers have been brewed to meet the UK's gluten-free standard of less than 20 parts per million, using an enzyme during production to reduce gluten from grains including barley and wheat. New recipes are laboratory tested, with established core beers also tested regularly.

Brightside's range is also designed to be suitable for vegan drinkers, although the brewery advises customers to check individual releases because occasional ingredients such as lactose or honey may be used. The brewery also aims to minimise its environmental impact by recycling, reusing brewing by-products and limiting unnecessary energy consumption.

Alongside its brewing operation, Brightside runs an onsite brewery shop for collections as well as an online shop offering local and national delivery. The business remains family-run, with brewing, recipe development, customer service and production handled by a small team at its Radcliffe brewery.