TURNING POINT
ON THE RIGHT PATH
A LOVE OF DRINKING GREAT BEER AND SHARING IT WITH THE MASSES, LED CAMERON MCQUEEN TO MEET HIS FUTURE BUSINESS PARTNER. AND IN FOUNDING TURNING POINT BREW CO WITH ARON MCMAHON, THE BREWERY IS CREATING FANTASTIC BEERS FOR AN AUDIENCE ALL OF THEIR OWN.
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SEPTEMBER~OCTOBER 2021
P
ubs are pillars of our
Unsurprisingly that was really fun!”
communities. Now, more than ever, we know how
And it was running The Falcon Tap
integral they are in the fabric
where McQueen would meet his future
of people’s lives and their
business partner Aron McMahon who, at
livelihoods. They are environments for
the time, was working for Brass Castle
people to eat and drink in but also, so
brewery, based in Malton.
much more. Now, more than ever, we know how integral they are in the fabric
He explains: “We’d chat during his
of people’s lives and their livelihoods.
deliveries, and he’d mention he was
They are environments for people to eat
planning on leaving the business. He told
and drink in but also, so much more.
he was planning on branching out on his own in beer and I semi-jokingly said ‘we
They are places to meet friends, both old
could start a brewery together’.
and new.
“I wasn’t sure if he took that seriously! Then two weeks later he called and
For Cameron McQueen, working and
asked if I was being serious about it. I told
running pubs would not only introduce
him ‘yes, of course’. But I’ll be honest, I
him to a whole new world of beer. It
wasn’t entirely sure…”
would be the catalyst for him starting his own business, too. And while some
But deep down, McQueen starting a
breweries go on to open their own pubs
brewery was something he truly wanted
and bars, some pubs and bars end up
to do, and it was only a matter of weeks
opening their own brewery.
before the duo found a secondhand kit, and also a premises in Kirkbymoorside
For McQueen, his role running a pub
that was previously home to brewery, too.
would end up with him being introduced to his future business partner. And in
McMahon would leave his role at Brass
meeting Aron McMahon, the duo would
Castle and McQueen would follow suit
go on to start Turning Point Brew Co in
at the start of 2017. By March they were
2017. Based in Knaresborough, North
brewing, and four years on, Turning
Yorkshire, the brewery has gone from
Point have a newer, bigger place to call
strength-to-strength in the four years
their own. Based in Knaresborough, the
since.
brewery and taproom operates from a facility formerly inhabited by Rooster’s
“I started working in a in a bar while I was
Brewery.
at university,” he says. “I needed to pay for
In running The Falcon Tap, it gave
all the tasty beer that I was drinking!”
McQueen an appetite for supporting
That pub was The Maltings in York, and
local independent businesses. But
to this day remains McQueen’s favourite
his passion for beer didn’t stop there,
drinking establishment. It was there he
especially when it came to sampling
really got into beer, offering the would-
venerable European breweries like
be brewer his first real exposure to craft
Browerij De Molen and Browerij Kees.
beer. “At lot of the beers I was getting in were “Upon graduating I ended up running
local. I was really, really interested in
my own pub in York called The Falcon
meeting those brewers,” he recalls.
Tap,” he says. “I really enjoyed it because
“There’s something about meeting the
it was a free house and I effectively
person who makes the beer and delivers
had free rein to stock the bar, making
the beer that really excited me. It was
each day a new beer festival for myself.
not something I had experienced in any
BREWERS JOURNAL
