The Storm Brewing Company was founded in 1998 by two partners, Hugh Thompson and David Stebbings. The original name of the company was going to be The Bollin Brewing Co. (BBC), however whilst listening to a local radio broadcast one evening while installing equipment into the original Hurdsfield premises, the term ‘there’s a storm brewing’ was used by the commentator as Macclesfield Town were dispatched from the League Cup in a 5-0 drubbing by Birmingham City.
From then on the beer names flowed as friends and acquaintances offered their ideas with plays on words which gave us two of our original beers (g)Ale Force and Beaufort’s (sc)Ale.
Some local landmarks were obvious choices for the weather themed beer. Windgather was named after Windgather Rocks – a rocky outcrop near Kettleshulme, and Bosley Cloud – a prominent hill to the east of Macclesfield.
More obvious names were added - Typhoon, Twister and Tornado with Downpour to celebrate Wimbledon fortnight and Hurricane Hubert to mark Hugh’s permanent move to the brewery in 2003. A special German style beer was brewed for the 2006 World Cup aptly named Bekkembräu which has subsequently been renamed Pale Gale Ale. Seasonal ales have been added to the ever-increasing range such as Summer Breeze and the Christmas special – Looks Like Rain Dear.
Having used the old ICI boiler house in Hurdsfield as it’s part time brewing base, Storm moved in 2001 to its existing premises at Waterside. The building was originally The Mechanics Arms, one of four pubs on Waterside at the time, and was the last to close in 1937. From here 5000 pints of their champion ales are brewed each week. Fourteen beers are available at different times throughout the year with the award winning favourites Windgather, Bosley Cloud, PGA, and Silk of Amnesia comprising the core products with, of course, Ale Force, their original recipe.
Bespoke beers are produced for clients who wish to celebrate their own events with their own specially brewed ale. ‘AB150’ became well known in parts of Cheshire and Derbyshire, as Macclesfield’s famous furniture store, Arighi Bianchi, marked it’s 150th anniversary in 2005. In the previous year, Bollington’s five yearly festival celebrated in style with its very own ‘Festivale’ – brewed and bottled by Storm.
The Storm Brewing Company has been consistently busy since the beginning , and has become well known in the locality for producing a popular, ever expanding product range that always boasts quality, giving pleasure to the many beer connoisseurs that partake of it.
To coin a phrase, Storm Brewing invites you to ‘Come round to our way of drinking!!’
