TURNING POINT: BREWING IN NORTH YORKSHIRE

TURNING POINTON 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.

Pubs are pillars of our communities. Now, more than ever, we know how integral they are in the fabric of people’s lives and their livelihoods. They are environments for people to eat and drink in but also, so much more. Now, more than ever, we know how integral they are in the fabric of people’s lives and their livelihoods. They are environments for people to eat and drink in but also, so much more. They are places to meet friends, both old and new. For Cameron McQueen, working and running pubs would not only introduce him to a whole new world of beer. It would be the catalyst for him starting his own business, too. And while some breweries go on to open their own pubs and bars, some pubs and bars end up opening their own brewery. For McQueen, his role running a pub would end up with him being introduced to his future business partner. And in meeting Aron McMahon, the duo would go on to start Turning Point Brew Co in 2017. Based in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, the brewery has gone from strength-to-strength in the four years since. “I started working in a in a bar while I was at university,” he says. “I needed to pay for all the tasty beer that I was drinking!” That pub was The Maltings in York, and to this day remains McQueen’s favourite drinking establishment. It was there he really got into beer, offering the wouldbe brewer his first real exposure to craft beer. “Upon graduating I ended up running my own pub in York called The Falcon Tap,” he says. “I really enjoyed it because it was a free house and I effectively had free rein to stock the bar, making each day a new beer festival for myself.

Unsurprisingly that was really fun!” And it was running The Falcon Tap where McQueen would meet his future business partner Aron McMahon who, at the time, was working for Brass Castle brewery, based in Malton. He explains: “We’d chat during his deliveries, and he’d mention he was planning on leaving the business. He told he was planning on branching out on his own in beer and I semi-jokingly said ‘we could start a brewery together’. “I wasn’t sure if he took that seriously! Then two weeks later he called and asked if I was being serious about it. I told him ‘yes, of course’. But I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure…” But deep down, McQueen starting a brewery was something he truly wanted to do, and it was only a matter of weeks before the duo found a secondhand kit, and also a premises in Kirkbymoorside that was previously home to brewery, too. McMahon would leave his role at Brass Castle and McQueen would follow suit at the start of 2017. By March they were brewing, and four years on, Turning Point have a newer, bigger place to call their own. Based in Knaresborough, the brewery and taproom operates from a facility formerly inhabited by Rooster’s Brewery. In running The Falcon Tap, it gave McQueen an appetite for supporting local independent businesses. But his passion for beer didn’t stop there, especially when it came to sampling venerable European breweries like Browerij De Molen and Browerij Kees. “At lot of the beers I was getting in were local. I was really, really interested in meeting those brewers,” he recalls. “There’s something about meeting the person who makes the beer and delivers the beer that really excited me. It was not something I had experienced in any 48 | SEPTEMBER~OCTOBER 2021 BREWERS JOURNAL

Cameron McQueen started Turning Point Brew Co with Aaron McMahon in 2017

industry before. And that enthusiasm people have is pretty infectious.”

He adds: “I think a big part of why microbreweries continue to pop up left, right and centre is because people want that purpose. They are clearly busy and work all sorts of hours, but they absolutely love what they do. “I was really, really keen to support local breweries as much as possible, and my position at the pub meant I could do that. But I also got into lots of European breweries, too.”

McQueen cites a “beer pilgrimage” to Mother Kelly’s, a craft beer bar in Bethnal Green, London, as an eyeopening experience. It was here he was introduced to the beers of Brouwerij De Molen from Bodegraven in The Netherlands. A brewery he would swiftly begin to stock back home in Yorkshire, and one that would lead him to other regarded Dutch outfits such as Brouwerij Kees and Uiltje Brewing Co.

The ability to stock a diverse range of styles from a wealth of different breweries gave him an insight into the types of beers he enjoyed drinking and, in turn, the ones he’d soon like to brew.

And in those formative months and years of Turning Point Brew Co, the duo knew how important it was to focus on supplying beer to the cities and towns in and around Yorkshire they knew and loved. “We have a strong local connection to York and because it’s such a small city, and as long as you have a quality product, it doesn’t take that much of a footprint to really make a splash,” he says. “So before long, we found ourselves with a couple of permanent lines and were involved in lots of different events. In many ways it was home and I suppose it still is.”

McQueen describes Turning Point as something of a “hermit crab” brewery, each time moving to a vacated brewery site that they can then call their own. “We’ve done that twice now,” he laughs. “It allows us to keep the costs down, especially as we’re self-financed, and as a result, I feel that we’ve been able to grow to a decent size pretty quickly.”

Moving into the former Rooster’s site in September 2019, Turning Point operate a 50HL brewhouse, one that was double the size of their previous operation. But despite Knaresborough being home for nearly two years now, McQueen says the impact of the pandemic has meant there’s “rarely been a normal month” in that time. But they’re only looking forwards, not back. And that relates to the range of beers the team are brewing, too. “When we’re trying to come up with beers, we usually start at the point of what would we like to drink in the pub in about four weeks time?” he smiles. “That’s literally what we do. Early on, I suppose, we tried to work out how we can tick a box for each style. But we’ve evolved since then.”

Beers that remain part of their range include Disco King, a 5.1% American Pale Ale brewed with Mosaic and Chinook hops. While they have, and continue to brew a raft of hop-forward pales and IPAs, McQueen says they’ve taken a “stylistic turn” in 2021 which has seen them brew more traditional styles like barleywine and bitter, alongside their usual range of sours and imperial stouts. This also extends to its growing barrelageing programme. Its most recently release being The Ecstasy of Gold, a

10% Imperial Stout featuring cacao and vanilla, aged for 10 months in bourbon oak barrels. “We’re at the point where we can make more the beers we wanted to do since the very start, and we’re really enjoying getting stuck in to that!” he says.

While that side of the business continues to mature and develop, McQueen reflects on the ways the brewery has changed the ways it packages and sells its beers. “Our packaging has shifted quite a lot since we started out. We were probably 80/20 in favour of cask over keg and it was about a year down the line before we started canning our beers,” he recalls.

While the brewery’s keg output has grown in recent years, it is still committed to cask and McQueen says the team enjoy “challenging people’s preconceptions” over what styles and ABVs suit cask dispense. “Maybe it’s my pub background, but why can’t you have crazy cask lines on the bar?” he asks.

The brewery is committed to cask and keg but alongside that, its canned output has grown considerably. Especially in the last year when, nearly overnight, canning went from 5% to 95% of their distribution. While that has levelled out somewhat, canned beer plays a essential role in the brewery’s Disco Royalty subscription service. Launched during lockdown, it’s a way for the brewery’s fans to guarantee they get their hands on each of its new releases in addition to merchandise and access to online brewery tours and tasting events.

“We’re really proud of it. It’s been a simple, but effective, way to involve people in what we’re doing. I think it works for them and it works for us!” he adds. And while an evolving landscape has seen an increasing number of drinkers turn to subscription services, the team at Turning Point are also navigating an ever-changing trading environment.

“The market is still quite difficult to manage, but we’re excited about the future. “But like a lot of our peers, I suppose we’re trying to find what our our normal is. Because February in 2020 was probably the most normal month we’ve had so far… “So from a business point of view going forward, our aim is to discover what normal is for Turning Point, if such a thing exists!”

We’re at the point where we can make more the beers we wanted to do since the very start,” Cameron McQueen, Turning Point Brew Co

BUSINESSDELIVER RESULTS MORAG THOMAS HAS HELPED PROJECT MANAGE MAJOR BREWERY BUILDS, IMPLEMENT SUPPLY AND DEMAND PLANNING PROCESSES, TENDER BREWERY EQUIPMENT AND A LOT MORE ASIDE. HERE, THE FOUNDER OF ELSIE WAVES, EXPLAINS THE VALUE OF AN INDUSTRY EXPERT DIVING INTO YOUR FACILITY TO REVIEW THE AREAS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO YOU MAXIMISING YOUR OPERATIONS, BALANCING YOUR BOOKS AND DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

It’s hard to believe it has been seven months since my first article for Brewer’s Journal, and it has been a whole year since I set up my business Elsie Waves. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to share what I’ve been up to since then! It is fair to say, the pandemic has brought with it many struggles; however, it has given me the push to focus on improving my network, build relationships and learn as much as possible along the way. A year ago, when I set up Elsie Waves, I hoped to deliver operational projects and results driven by data, logic and determination. I had no idea where my expertise would land me and what exciting initiatives, amazing people and progress I would make in this short time. In the beginning, I wondered how I would find any prospects at all, but was amazed at the response to my announcement on LinkedIn when leaving BrewDog and received many generous offers of support, collaboration and job prospects to pursue. After some reflection, I decided that working for myself and getting involved with a wide range of businesses was the route I wanted to follow. I proudly set up my website and started promoting myself on LinkedIn. I was happy to find that with my experience in the industry and connections I already had, it became a great place to meet people and start the conversations needed to get my name out there more. Since starting my business, talking to other more experienced consultants and after my first few assignments, it became clear I needed to refine exactly what it was I was offering. So I spent some time fine-tuning my services and now focus on 4 main areas within the craft beer industry: u Planning & project execution (step by step project plans, project management tools & reporting). u Efficient ways of working (process transformation, waste cutting, digitising, value chain analysis). u Strategic planning (staying competitive, smart tools & global resources). u Operational excellence (including S&OP, forecasting, planning, procurement, manufacturing & logistics). I also developed a service package which was to be my ‘shopfloor review’ and aptly named it Crafts. This service allows me the opportunity to dive into your facility and review the areas that are critical to you maximising your operations, balancing your books and delivering exceptional customer experiences. I used this model recently for a client who was looking to acquire an existing brewery business with the brief of assessing its current capabilities and to make recommendations for improvements to deliver their 5-year plan. ALL THINGS HOPS! It was 2015 when Dr Susan Wheeler, founder of Hop Revolution, contacted me whilst I was at BrewDog and asked if I could provide some support to her campaign to help New Zealand hop varieties be more widely accessible. Fast forward two years, I travelled to New Zealand to spend time with her and their head farmer Jono as they sold me their dream of starting a new revolutionary hop farm. I was so sold I even got a tattoo of a hop whilst on a day trip to Auckland! When I left BrewDog, Susan was one of the first people to reach out to me to see if there was any merit in working together on our respective new ventures. I have had the pleasure of working with her and the team in NZ over the last 12 months as they launched their hops into the UK and Europe markets.

Capacity

Requirements

Analyse

Finance

Tactics

Systems Modelling equipment, storage, site logistics, people and distribution capacity to find areas of focus for improvement initiatives and/or providing recommendations for investment Review your forecasting processes, material requirements, supplier agreements, service levels, inventory policies, re-order points and planning methods, providing recommendations for improvements. Assess the data captured throughout your operation, the KPIs you have in place and analyse performance to find areas for knowledge enhancing and providing recommendations for improvement. Appraising your cost of goods modelling and management of budget vs actual, coupled with all the other focus areas to highlight cost and time savings potentials across the whole operations process. Dive into your range and planning cycles, finished goods inventory modelling and production scheduling to provide recommendations for tactical supply, delivering an excellent customer experience. Survey systems in place (spreadsheets, ERP or industry specific software) to co-ordinate and manage your operations and make recommendations for efficiencies, cost control and enhancing batch traceability.

Above: Morag Thomas has worked with Hop Revolution in New Zealand

It has been extremely exciting to spread the word of their flavour-intense hops processed in a highly innovative and sustainable way. Their harvesting & processing equipment is brand new and top of the range, brought all the way over from Europe, and I also feel it has been important to share their story and hops with the rest of the world. I am truly a fan of their quality and the team’s passion to work directly with brewers taking on board all feedback, “warts and all” to quote their CEO Jason Judkins.

So, I’ve been connecting them with breweries in UK & Europe to help promote and sell their hops. Hop Revolution released the final stock from their 2020 crop recently, and after an impressive first year on the market, they have seen some incredible sales and growing popularity across the world. Nelson Sauvin™ has just landed in the UK for direct from grower sales whilst their European warehouse now has very limited stock of Nelson Sauvin™, Motueka™ and Pacific Sunrise™.

The 2021 harvest went well but they were faced with some challenges due the global shipping crisis and are expecting some delays to it landing but are pushing out all the stops to get it here in the coming weeks. Riwaka™ is also included in their product range but it will be available on an extremely limited basis.

In 2022, further varieties such as Kohatu™, Waimea™, Wai-iti™ and Moutere™ will be added. Due to the limited quantities, and so the farm plants the right amount of each variety year-on-year, it is highly recommended to forecast (as best you can) and to contract the

Collaboration is so important! I would never try and blag my way through something, and if I don’t know the answer, I won’t guess,” Morag Thomas, Elsie Waves

minimum amounts you will need to avoid disappointment. You may remember from my last article that forecasting, and in particular hop forecasting, is something I have done quite a lot of in the past! It honestly pays so much to provide this information to your hop suppliers, farmers and/or brokers as it gives them the best chance of giving you the best deals & service you need to be able to pay that forward to your customers.

Over the last few months, I have provided a couple of useful tools to some breweries to assist with this when working with them on their operational planning processes.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

With my passion for improving operations and helping businesses find ways to save time, money and mistakes, I was lucky enough to meet with Starling Solutions, and was impressed to see the clever technology they have created to take away the day-to-day strains on our resources and issues with auditing/ training. Their digital work software is there to help: u Standardise processes and make the relevant staff aware of changes automatically with built in notifications. u Eliminate paperwork so that documents are always live and accessible from a variety of devices. u Automate training process by integrating your training and work instructions so that they always line up.

I have been working to support them by providing industry insights and feedback so would love to hear what you think about their tool. They also offer a free 30day trial which is great for checking it out and making sure it works for you before making any financial commitment. I touched on this earlier on in my introduction – I’ve learnt that part of the role of a consultant is to have a wide network of trusted contacts who you

Right: Brouwerij Frontaal in the Netherlands have ambitious growth plans in the next 3-5 years Starling Solutions help eliminate paperwork & standardise processes

can draw specific expertise from if you don’t have all the experience required to deliver a particular project.

Collaboration is so important! I would never try and blag my way through something, and if I don’t know the answer. I won’t guess. I will, however, find someone who can provide the answer or at least some direction if it’s not a black & white situation.

Over the last few months, I’ve been working with Brouwerij Frontaal, a young innovative brewery from Breda, Netherlands. They brew beer according to the philosophy that quality comes first and do not make any concessions in the use of ingredients to achieve this. This project is to support their growth ambitions over the next 3-5 years with the specifying of and tendering for brewery and packaging equipment, alongside providing various other technical, operational and supply chain initiatives.

Some aspects of this project are absolutely my area of experience and expertise but less so on the technical side except from a project management point of view, so I have drawn on 2 of my network to collaborate with me to deliver the best possible experience for Brouwerij Frontaal. I’m really enjoying working with their owner Roel Buckens on this initiative and I’m excited to see all the great beers they’ll be producing in the future. I think there is going to be a lot more to see from this brewery over the next few years so watch this space!

Finally on collaboration, I got to the point a few months ago that I felt like I was juggling so much in terms of potential clients, current clients, business opportunities and networking discussions, that even I, a planner, was beginning to feel like I was losing track of things. Luckily for me, I had been in close contact with Daisy Chillingworth from Daisy Chain Admin & Support Services as she started up her business around the same time as me. I felt like the time was right to reach out and get some extra support.

She has been doing a great job of project managing me whilst I project manage others whilst also taking on many administrative and creative tasks that would otherwise be left behind had things carried on the way they were going.

She has enabled me to continue growing Elsie Waves with a lot of legwork & initiative in the background assisting as and when required in the role of a “virtual assistant” which works perfectly with remote working becoming the norm now. This role has proved pivotal to me and I think is one that could be important to other SMEs out there where business is taking off and you all of a sudden don’t have as much time on your hands any more.

WHAT’S NEXT?

As I look to the next 12 months, I hope that Elsie Waves continues to grow and that the people I work with and for along the way continue to be happy with their results. It has been a crazy year, with lots of stops and starts and stops and starts again.

The industry has taken many steps forward and it’s so exciting to see new products and growing or evolving businesses across the world. Something I haven’t spoken about in this article is the additional importance and focus on sustainability coming to the forefront of everything we do.

This is an area I’m new to but I’m getting more and more involved across a number of industries and projects so my awareness is growing and with it comes a passion to do more. As for supporting you and your business, my door (or inbox!) is always open so please get in touch if you have any questions, want to discuss an idea or upcoming project or would just like to share your story.

It has been a crazy year, with lots of stops and starts and stops and starts again,” Morag Thomas, Elsie Waves