Brass Castle

Back in Yorkshire, Saltonstall started small. Really small. His one-barrel setup could manage just four casks per brew. Yet within two months, Bad Kitty, only his second recipe, won Champion Beer at the York CAMRA festival. That chocolate vanilla porter became their calling card and remains a fan favourite.

Growth came fast. Within six months, brewing moved to a historic brewhouse on Lord Halifax's Garrowby Estate. Two years later, in 2013, Brass Castle landed in Malton, Yorkshire's self-proclaimed food capital. The 2023 expansion took them from a 12-barrel to a 25-barrel plant, with a proper taphouse attached.

What sets Brass Castle apart is their commitment to inclusivity. Every beer they make is vegan and gluten-free. No compromises, no separate ranges. Saltonstall picked up vegan fining techniques during his American apprenticeship and built the brewery around them from day one. The ambigram logo reflects this ethos: readable from any angle, so everyone sharing a table sees the same thing.

Their range spans modern craft styles with proper technical chops. The Helles lager took UK Champion Lager twice running in 2016 and 2017. Burnout, their smoked porter, claimed UK Supreme Champion Cask Beer in 2015. They brew NEIPAs, sours, imperial stouts, and everything between.

For alcohol-free drinkers, Life's AF Beach is a tropical pale at 0.5%, with pineapple and coconut upfront and a hoppy finish. Like everything else they make, it's vegan and gluten-free. A relatively recent addition to the range, though the core brewing approach is the same.

You'll find Brass Castle in independent bottle shops across the UK and through online beer retailers. The Malton taphouse is worth a visit if you're in North Yorkshire, with up to ten beers on draft and a crowler machine for takeaways.