Arnside Silverdale AONB

The Old School Brewery has been crafting beer on Warton Crag since 2013. Based in Warton’s first school – the Boys’ Grammar – the beer is brewed in what was once the ironwork and woodwork building, and the Crag actually forms the back wall of the Brewery!

Originally the OSB team made cider using local apples, but were put off by the amount of preservatives and sugar needed, so sought a purer product. They launched their first beer in 2012; Detention. Carrying on the school theme with pale ale Hopscotch, blonde beer TextBook, best bitter Headmaster and numerous specials like Playtime and Truant. OSB now supplies pubs and supermarkets across North West England, and are a firm favourite at local beer and music festivals.

Barley, hops and malt are not grown locally, and the team: Ian Walsh, Managing Director; Ren Wallbank, Sales Director; Sean Fletcher, Brewery Manager; and Garth Whittaker, Head Brewer; carefully choose ingredients from all over the UK and further afield to create the distinctive flavour of each beer, blending with local water which is very clean and pure. Keeping it local, the leftover malt goes to the local farmer to feed the cows.

Sustainability is also important to the OSB team. Sean says: ‘We heat the brewery using a wood burner, fuelled whenever possible with found wood. During the brewing process, the hot beer needs to be cooled quite quickly – we use a paraflow system – where hot beer flows through one pipe, next to a pipe filled with cold water. As the beer cools, it heats the cold water – and the resulting warm water is used for other processes to conserve energy.’

As well as bottled beer, OSB beers are available on tap in some local pubs, including the OSB’s own bar which holds an open evening on the second Friday of every month, and live music nights on the last Friday of each month. Wine, cider, spirits and soft drinks are also available.