T|E|H – Meet The Brewers – An interview with Horsforth Brewery

Hello, my fellow beer lovers,

In today’s post, we are going to be talking to Mr. Mark Costello at Horsforth Brewery. Mark Costello founded Horsforth Brewery in 2015. Originally as a hobby, then part-time, and finally to a fulltime venture just before Lockdown. Mark started from the humble beginnings of producing beer in his garage, but now has his own premises and taproom which is no small feat in just 5 years.

Mark, thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, can you tell us a little about the first beer you brewed and how your process has changed over the past 5 years?

Our first beer was a single hopped Citra IPA. We had recently lost our dog on New Year’s Eve (and found on New Year’s Day thankfully), so naturally the beer was named Lost Dog! We’ve obviously changed our brewing processes a decent amount to try and be more efficient, reduce oxygen exposure, etc., but the fundamentals of the process remain the same as when we started – we aim for balanced beers that are very drinkable. We do do the occasional “juice bomb” but even those tend to have a bit of bitterness to balance the beer out. The very first batch we brewed was 20 litres and our new brew kit gets around 750 litres, so that is definitely a big change!

You have clearly come along way in the last 5 years. But, what would you say are the biggest problems you have faced in recent times following the lockdown and your decision to take on the brewery full time?

Cash flow. Easy answer. We’ve moved premises, increased capacity by 5 times, rebranded and started canning our beers, all since August, so that’s been a massive drain on cash, all while the economy is getting worse and people are being more prudent with how they spend their money. Plus there’s now a team of four of us whilst at the end of 2019 there was just me. Since the start of the pandemic we’ve broken our record sales weeks several times, but we’ve also had weeks where we’ve sold next to nothing, and that makes it very hard to plan our cash flow.

That is a considerable amount of growth in a short period of time. One thing that has not changed though is your breweries name, Horsforth Brewery. Other than its name, can you tell us how your beer is connected to the local area?”

If I’m honest, I’m not a very creative person when it comes to things like names which is the main reason the brewery’s called what it is! However I have always made sure there’s a big focus on working with local businesses, community projects and charities, so that’s where the name comes in handy – it’s instantly recognisable for the local area.

With all of these changes, what can we expect to see next from the Horsforth Brewery?

A period of consolidation now I think. We’ve got new equipment and premises so I want to grow into those. The new premises has a bar and patio, so we’ll be making the most of those areas once we’re allowed. I’m really looking forward to the place being full and buzzing with people having a great time. I miss the tap days so I’m going to make sure we all enjoy them when they’re back!

Here, Here! I too cant wait to visit your new establishment when Bojo allows it. Given the current state of play, Can you tell us how you reach beyond the hardcore beer drinkers and into the general public to sell your beer?

I really try to be as competitive with our pricing, which means our margins are small, but I want to bring good quality beer to the market that doesn’t cost the earth. We do produce some relatively expensive beers and have to charge accordingly, but Horsforth Pale for example is priced below what it should be if we wanted to maintain the margin most people want to achieve, but that’s done intentionally.
Obviously we don’t have the economies of scale that many breweries enjoy, but we really do try and stay competitive! I also like sharing our story with people on the social media – we started as just me in the garage and we’ve built the brewery into a business that employs 4 people on a high street in Horsforth and we’re distributing the beer nationwide, with no external investment, so all of the growth has been earned through hard work and determination. It’s a story I’m proud to tell, but I would also be interested in it if I wasn’t directly involved in it.

Looking around online at the moment, it seems as though despite the pandemic and the lockdown, there has been a continual growth of craft beer, why do you think that is?

I think a big part of it is people wanting to support local businesses and appreciating a good product at home. Plenty of smaller breweries have started home deliveries, which we didn’t necessarily do before, but we haven’t much else to do with our time lately, so enjoying some fine beers at home seems like a good way to spend an evening!

Looking to the future, would you consider co-operating with another brewery, and if so who would you like to co-operate with and why?

I’m always happy to work with any small business. I’m all about trying to help other small businesses and grow the local economy. I always say I’d rather make the pie bigger than fight for a slice of it!

And finally, what in your opinion makes the perfect beer?

One that matches the mood you’re in. It could be a refreshing lager, hype juice bomb or an imperial stout, it always depends what I’m in the mood for!

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And that concludes our interview with Horsforth Brewey, thank you Mark for taking the time to sit down and go through these questions with us today.

For those of you looking to acquire some of the delicious tipples that Mark and his team create, just click this magic link here