Cloudwater opens 'taproom of its dreams'

The new venue, Unit 9, is next door to the brewery and includes a bar with 20 draught taps in a bid to showcase fresh releases and aged beers.

It is located at 9 Piccadilly Trading Estate in Ancoats and replaces Cloudwater’s previous taproom, the Barrel Store on Sheffield Street, which closed on 22 July.

Drinkers can also visit the on-site shop, offering cans and bottles to take away alongside latest brewery merchandise, directly from a walk-in cold store.

The taproom has been designed to highlight the artwork Cloudwater has commissioned over the years and aims to present its beer at its best, emphasising the importance of freshness.

Drinks options

All 20 draught lines are drawn from a 4°C cold store, which is immediately beneath the taproom mezzanine, via air-cooled, insulated ducting.

Take-out customers will be able to choose beer that has been held below 4°C since packaging from the same cold store.

Drinkers can also find local gin, low-intervention wine, small-batch soft drinks and a small selection of cold snacks.

There are also hopes to provide food in the future, if Cloudwater can convince its landlords to relax this restriction in the lease, the brewery said.

The initial opening hours will be 3pm until 10pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and 10am until 10pm on Saturday, with plans to open seven days a week after the completion of final installations.

'Taproom of our dreams'

Cloudwater director and founder Paul Jones said: “This takes us a step close to the taproom of our dreams and allows customers to enjoy our beer directly from the source in greater comfort than before.

“We make huge effort to champion freshness in beer and emphasise the need for beer to be cold-stored at every step of the journey between brewery and customer.

“It is exciting to be able to serve our beer from the same cold store it was moved to immediately after being packaged.

“Having worked closely with Chris Shearston from Textbook Studio, Joe Hartley and Ben Young from Oh Ok, our lead carpenter and joiner Rory Thompson, Yvan Seth from Jolly Good Beer, and a host of visionary craftsmen, designers, artists, and makers, we are thrilled to see our tap room vision launch with such a vibrant, spacious, creative energy, backed by the highest-quality workings behind the tap.”