Northern Monk Brew Co is set to increase its brewing capacity by a fifth following a £500,000 investment in new equipment and the main brewery site.

Northern Monk brewery
Northern Monk’s brewery site at Sydenham Road, Holbeck

The 20% increase in capacity will be equivalent to an additional 8,000 hectolitres, or 1.4 million pints, of beer per year.

Last year, Northern Monk, based in Leeds, brewed around 7m pints between its two brewing sites, Sydenham Road in Holbeck, and its original home, The Old Flax Store, just south of Leeds city centre.

“After ten years of brewing, we’re entering a really exciting new era for Northern Monk,” said Russell Bisset, who co-founded Northern Monk alongside head brewer Brian Dickson.

“The increase in capacity represents a really positive period for us as we continue to attract new customers enjoying our beers, like Faith, in their local, to picking up a few cans from the supermarkets, to our innovative special releases in independent bottle shops, which are enjoyed by beer lovers who have followed our journey since the start.

“Due to this growth, we were pushing the limit of what our current site could handle, and so this felt like the right time to make a significant investment in our facilities.

“It’s been a challenging few years for the industry as a whole with Covid, rising bills, political uncertainty, and supply challenges acutely felt by the sector. We’re deeply grateful to our consumers and customers for their continued support which has allowed us to continue to grow as a company.”

In the last 12 months, half of the ten best performing new craft beers in supermarkets were brewed by Northern Monk, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.