Joseph Holt

Joseph Holt was founded in Manchester in 1849 by Joseph Holt, beginning a family brewing business that has remained independent for more than 175 years. Born in Unsworth in 1813, Holt had worked as a carter at Harrison's Strangeways Brewery, where his elder brother William was a brewer, before establishing a brewing business of his own.

Joseph's wife Catherine Parry played an important role in the beginnings of the business. Originally from Llandderfel in North Wales, she moved to Manchester and established her own school before marrying Joseph in 1849. Following their marriage, Joseph rented premises behind a pub on Oak Street, where his career as an independent brewer began.

In 1860 the brewery moved to Empire Street in Manchester, which remains the home of Joseph Holt today. The site has evolved considerably over more than a century and a half, but retains elements of its historic brewery alongside modern brewing equipment and technology.

Joseph Holt continues to draw on traditional brewing methods while operating at a substantial scale. The brewery has three different-sized mash tuns and three coppers capable of producing up to 500 barrels per day. English malt and UK-grown hops are used alongside Slovenian lager hops, while the brewery maintains a yeast strain with a history stretching back around 175 years.

Its ales are top fermented in enclosed square fermenters, while lagers are bottom fermented and cold conditioned before filtration and packaging. Cask beer remains an important part of production, alongside keg beer, lager, bottled beers and five-litre mini kegs sold through the brewery's online shop.

Over successive generations, Joseph Holt has also developed an extensive estate of pubs across Manchester and the wider North West. The combination of brewing and pub ownership has kept its beers closely connected to local communities while the brewery's bottled range has reached customers nationally and internationally.

In 2024 Joseph Holt celebrated its 175th anniversary, marking more than six generations of continuous family ownership. Today, the business remains rooted at its historic Manchester brewery while continuing to invest in both brewing and its pub estate, combining its nineteenth-century heritage with modern beer production and hospitality.