Two Towers Brewery: Keeping up with tradition but looking to the future!

Last month we ran a Biking Brewery Tour that kicked off at the Two Towers Brewery who recently expanded and took over the Gunmakers Arms.

Mark started brewing in his early 20’s and met another brewer called Trevor Harris. Seeing the painful demise of Birmingham’s brewing industry, in 2007, they eventually decided to take the plunge and Two Towers brewery was formed.[su_row][su_column size="1/2]

[/su_column] [su_column size="1/2"]“We saw a gap in the market, Birmingham wasn’t really benefiting from the rest of the brewery explosion in the UK, so we felt that it was the opportunity to start."[/su_column][/su_row]

At the time there were also Aston Brewing Company and Beer Geek running but unfortunately neither are on the scene anymore.

“I think that we survived because we are very explicit profilers of Birmingham, tying in links to Brum’s history. We also take a traditional stance on out brewing, attempting to brew with the same methods and practices as 100 years ago."

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[/su_column] [su_column size="1/2"]But this has not come without its challenges, Two Towers have still found themselves joining a competitive market, with tight margins which was not very profitable at times.[/su_column][/su_row]

"We didn’t used to compete on price initially, but with new breweries now on the scene we have had to be competitive pricing-wise."

Trevor eventually left Two Towers for a more secure lifestyle but Mark continued and in November 2015, Two Towers relocated their brewery and pub (the Brown Lion) in the Jewellery Quarter to the Gunmakers Arms.

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[/su_column] [su_column size="1/2"]“We'd had our eyes open for an outlet for sometime, the Brown Lion was a nice place, but working with a pub company can be challenging because they drive a hard bargain and we were surviving but couldn’t grow."[/su_column][/su_row]

The Gunmakers Arms had its licence revoked in June 2015 and which was why it was up to rent.

“There was a lot of bad publicity about the place, so it was tough when re-applying for the licence. Initially the licence application was rejected but after an appeal, we eventually managed to convince local authorities that with the background we had, we were the right people to take pub this on.

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The number of brewing vessels stayed same, but with a few more fermenters Two Towers managed to increase their capacity by 30%.

Now Mark has a full team at the brewery which consists of Darren, Glenn and Chris. Sanjay who worked in the brewery now manages the Gunmakers Arms.

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“Thankfully Birmingham has started to catch up with the rest of the UK [growth-wise]. The new breweries on the scene tend to cater with the younger market in mind which is great. We attract a more traditional, middle-aged market which is great but we’re now looking at attracting a younger audience and are working on how to integrate new craftier products with the older traditional ones.”

Their best seller is Hockley Gold, but they’ve just decided to create a new modern-style brew using American hops called The Fellowship. This will be launched at the Middle Earth Festival.

So if you haven’t made it down to the recently renovated Gunmakers Arms, go and pay homage to the place that kicked Birmingham’s modern beer scene off!