A shorter version of this article was originally published in the Autumn 2023 edition of The Independent Brewer, the magazine for members of The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). This extended ‘director's cut’ has been published with their kind permission. If you’re a SIBA member, be sure to check out the articles our writers and editors are producing for the Independent Brewer over the next 12 months.

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“There was a level—I want to say [it was] self-confidence but ego is probably the right word—of ‘how hard can it be?’,” Toby McKenzie tells me. “Turns out it's a lot more difficult than you think it is.”

In 2010, Toby pretty much had it made. He was working in bioinformatics, and latterly as a director of professional services for a large IT firm. The money was good—so good in fact that his wife Caroline could leave her position as a research scientist at pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and focus on raising their two children. But it also required regular commutes from his home in the northwestern market town of Macclesfield, Cheshire, to London.

Those two hour rail journeys between work and home gave him plenty of time to think, much of which was largely dedicated to his two main passions: food and drink. Toby had aspirations to cook professionally, but he also confides that, deep down, he knew he would never end up as a chef. What he did find, however, were parallels between his love of cooking, and his other hobby, homebrewing.

“I ran money projects, I had big teams, and it’s still very difficult to pinpoint one thing where I can say that was 100% me, or even 80% me,” he says. “Brewing was something I felt I could do and I could have fun doing it. I wanted that completeness of being able to say: ‘this is me, this is what I’ve done.’”

When their daughter was born, Toby and Caroline decided on Willow for her middle name, after one of their favourite characters from popular 90s TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A couple of years later when their family was completed by the birth of their son, they asked their infant daughter what their newborn's middle name should be. “Red” was her answer, and shortly afterwards ‘RedWillow’ became the name of Toby’s blog, which he used to keep a record of his homebrewing activities. “Mainly for my own interest and records,” he tells me.

By the end of the year Toby’s hobby was beginning to get out of hand. In September 2010, the project had expanded from a leisurely passtime into a full-blown professional pursuit. He and Caroline leased a small warehouse a 10 minute walk from Macclesfield town centre and acquired a 10 hectolitre brewing kit. By the time Christmas came around they had begun selling casks into the trade.

“I was still working part time while also brewing three days a week,” Toby says. “I think my old company thought I would do it for a year, maybe 18 months, and viewed it as a sabbatical, or a midlife crisis. If I’m honest, I don’t think any of them expected me to carry on in that direction.”

***

In the early 2000s signs of the ‘craft beer revolution’ that had spent the past decade or so taking the United States by storm were beginning to wash ashore in the UK. Inspired by the vibrantly flavourful and powerfully hopped beers emerging from North America, small breweries such as London’s The Kernel, and (the now sadly defunct) Summer Wine in Holmfirth, Yorkshire were opening with increasing regularity.

Toby was hit by the same wave of enthusiasm. He cites beers such as Racer 5 from California’s Bear Republic and 90 Minute IPA from Delaware’s Dogfish Head as direct influences on his own brewing style; strong, powerfully hopped ales, the latter leaning as heavily on the sweetness of crystal malt as it does the potency of modern American hop varieties.

Despite these influences, RedWillow was initially a cask-only brewery—one located in a part of the country that was deeply wedded to pale and hoppy real ale. Locals were no stranger to the citrus-accented flavour of North American hops thanks to existing breweries such as Pictish in Rochdale, Marble in Manchester, and already-popular beers like Yankee from Rooster’s Brewery over the Pennines in Yorkshire.

Toby, sensibly, decided to lean into this. RedWillow’s first commercially released beer was a 4.2% cask golden ale called Directionless, perhaps named in a nod towards the fact he had left the security of a well paid job, deciding instead to plough head first into what he refers to—often and repeatedly—as a “mid-life crisis.”

““Toby was always one to brew what he found interesting, not necessarily what would be best-selling.””

— Brian Dickson, Northern Monk

“It had more crystal [malt] in it than you would put in that style of beer at the moment,” he says. “The strongest beer we made at the time was Ageless, a 7.2% IPA which was a little bit out there for the UK market when we started brewing it.”

“It was! We weren’t selling the casks of it,” Caroline interjects.

While it may have been a little bit full on for British cask drinkers at the time, it soon found itself a captive audience in beer venues that were willing to push the envelope such as (the now sadly closed) Mr. Foley’s in Leeds, and Huddersfield’s The Grove. A young, enthusiastic homebrewer called Brian Dickson was working at the latter, and he got a chance to brew a beer with Toby as part of RedWillow’s experimental ‘Faithless’ series of beers. Known initially as Faithless IX (as in the ninth iteration in the series), the black IPA would eventually become a seasonally released beer called Soulless.

“Toby was always one to brew what he found interesting, not necessarily what would be best-selling,” Brian, now the technical director at Leeds’ Northern Monk Brewery, tells me. “His enthusiasm was infectious to me as a 20-something beer nerd and we could chat about beer ideas for hours, so spending a few weeks over in Macclesfield felt like a no-brainer when I was learning the trade.”

Directionless gradually became less popular as RedWillow’s audience developed their palates and began to demand more up-to-date flavours in their beer. An evolution that ran in parallel with the arrival of modern North American hop varieties such as Citra and Mosaic. Wreckless, a 4.8% ABV pale ale, and Weightless, a 4.2% ‘session’ IPA gradually filled the space Directionless previously occupied in its core range. These were bookended by the 3.9% Headless, an accessible cask pale for traditionalists, and Contactless, a distinctively modern, hazy, 5.2% pale ale aimed squarely at the growing number of younger beer enthusiasts.

These pale and deeply hop accented ales are merely the vanguard of RedWillow’s ambition. There are few styles the brewery has not turned its hand towards, be they historic porters brewed with heritage varieties of malted barley such as Chevallier or Plumage Archer, or off-kilter recipes such as a Thai-inspired wheat beer flavoured with lemongrass and galangal. An eventual, inevitable move into keg allowed them to pursue more contemporary styles, while their cask beers kept traditionalists satisfied.

“Across pretty much the breadth of what beer can be, RedWillow have had a crack at it and usually hit the nail squarely on the head,” Cal Darley, manager at Manchester’s Café Beermoth says. (The bar rarely goes without an offering from the brewery on one of its 17 beer lines.) “I can't really think of many others who straddle the line keeping both sides of the market this well catered for.”

The incredible breadth of styles the brewery produces now includes a wide range of lagers, which were born out of necessity in 2013 when the brewery opened its first bar in Macclesfield town centre. These include Guileless, their signature pilsner, and a stronger, helles-style beer known as Godless. Much like their propensity to experiment within the boundaries of other styles, specials have included smoked lagers, and even a cask Vienna lager—the appropriately named Meaningless (should you happen to be a fan of Midge Ure and Ultravox, anyway.)

“We considered that we could just buy lager in, or we could make our own,” Caroline says. “That’s evolved into a whole new thing that’s just grown for us, and we’re now doing almost as many of those kinds of beer as we are cask ales.”

It would surely be easier to focus on a tight, focused core range; a handful of beers cherished by locals and regular visitors to their pair of bars in Macclesfield and Buxton—their second venue opening in the Derbyshire spa town during 2016. But Toby is rarely content, which is physically evident in that he never sits still, and when you get him talking about his twin loves of food and drink, he simply won’t shut up (and you won’t want to stop listening either.) Caroline, on the other hand, is the calm, measured hand of RedWillow, breaking her husband’s flow only fleetingly. At least in polite company.

In a way, their personalities reflect the two different sides of RedWillow. Caroline represents the steadfast core range—the beers that sell well and keep the lights on. Toby is the hyperactive, creative edge, always striving for better quality, or doing something bonkers like sticking an imperial mild fermented with Belgian yeast in some second fill Calvados barrels. What they share is an affinity for consistently well-made beer. But why expend such a great deal of effort in producing countless different styles of beer, including many that are difficult to sell? “Because we can,” Toby tells me.

“I can’t imagine eating the same food repeatedly, and I will happily spend hours browsing through my ridiculously large collection of cookbooks, planning what I am going to cook, and when,” Toby says. “The exact same applies to beer. The joy of being our size is we have the flexibility and capacity to produce styles that excite us, and more importantly, we want to drink.”

It’s a tired cliché, often spouted by owners of modern breweries. When Toby reels off the line with such conviction, however, it sounds convincing. Further evidence of this is tucked away in the original brewery site, up a narrow set of stairs behind the significantly larger site where RedWillow currently operates. Here, there’s a handful of former wine and spirit barrels, filled to the brim with maturing beer. Alongside them are two large oak vats (more commonly referred to by brewers using their Dutch name, ‘foeders’) that are used for ageing and blending tart, acidic beers that veer closer to flavours more commonly associated with wine or cider.

““The joy of being our size is we have the flexibility and capacity to produce styles that excite us, and more importantly, we want to drink.””

— Toby McKenzie, RedWillow

Toby credits two of his staff, Tom Lewis and Teg Farrel, as being the impetus behind this project, who have combined their passion for wild and sour beers with his latent enthusiasm for making, well, anything and everything. What has emerged from the foeders so far has been nothing short of exceptional. The best example is perhaps the annually released Bière De Coupage, a hybrid of young and old beer; an aged saison from one of the foeders, cut with another that has been freshly brewed, breathing life and vivacity into its tart and tannic forebear. The aroma is fresh and floral—cut grass and jasmine flowers—with a flavour that leans into a soft acidity, and tart, green apple finish. Its calibre has impressed many, including Adam Reid, head chef at The French, the fine dining restaurant located within Manchester’s Midland Hotel, where it graces the wine list, when available.

Around the corner from the extravagant setting of The Midland are the more proletarian surroundings of the City Arms—unreservedly one of the city’s best boozers. Here, more often than not, one of its eight hand pulls will be graced by Feckless, RedWillow’s best bitter. It’s probably my favourite beer within its vast range, and one that makes exemplary use of Fuggles grown by Hukins Hops in Kent. What draws me to it time and again is where most of the brewery’s beers work hard to grab, and hold your attention—much like Toby when he’s recounting the tale of a particularly excellent Hawksmoor steak—this one effortlessly sits in the background, making it perfect pub fodder.

“Feckless holds a special place in my heart,” Caitlin O’Shea, manager at the City Arms, tells me. “RedWillow's commitment to quality shines through in every drop, making it an enduring favourite for both the younger and older generation of ale drinkers. Which makes it the perfect house bitter.”

RedWillow’s mastery over pretty much every style they turn their hand to was ably demonstrated in March 2022. Perceptionless, a 6.6% New England IPA, softly, yet deliciously accented with flavours of fresh peach and apricot, was named the Society of Independent Brewers’ (SIBA) champion beer at its annual Beer X awards ceremony in Liverpool. Not only did the beer win outright in the Northwestern regional final, but it went on to become overall champion in both the keg and can categories in the national competition.

Toby recalls how he heard about his beer’s success while on the way to host a meet the brewer event at Stockport’s Petersgate Tap. As brewer Tom Lewis went on stage to collect the prizes, Toby was met with a flood of congratulatory text messages, making it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

“I just laughed like a lunatic. It took me quite a long time to actually calm down enough to make any sense at the event,” he says. “People kept asking me questions and I just kept looking at my phone and thinking, ‘holy shit!’”

***

Even without the influence of RedWillow, Macclesfield is one hell of a beer town. From traditional pubs like The Castle and The Waters Green Tavern, to more contemporary venues such as Five Clouds and R&G’s Beer Vault, there’s more here than even the most ardent beer ticker could manage in a single day. Although don’t let that put you off, I can assure you, from experience, that it’s definitely worth attempting.

It’s also easily accessible thanks to its railway station being located along the West Coast Main Line. This means that Mancunians can jump on a train at Piccadilly Station, and be sat inside RedWillow’s bar, belting back a Weightless inside less than half an hour. Even Londoners could manage the sub two-hour-each-way journey in a day, if they were feeling dedicated enough. Macclesfield is also surrounded by plenty of middle-class towns including Alderley Edge and Hazel Grove, while the Peak District national park is literally within spitting distance. That it’s so accessible by such a wide reaching, affluent clientele is undoubtedly why the town has become a hotspot for interesting hospitality venues, and ventures like RedWillow.

“There’s been a big evolution in the offerings in Macclesfield,” Rosie Start, co-owner of R&G’s Beer Vault tells me. “There’s something for everyone. And from an owner perspective, all of us local, independent businesses really have each other's backs.”

Visiting Macclesfield in late summer 2021, I got the feeling that this was a town that had already gotten back on its feet after what felt like an eternity of lockdown enforced closures. Sadly, even a thriving local scene like this hasn’t been able to escape the vile whims of inflation, and the ever-prescient cost of living crisis that has since followed the Covid-19 pandemic.

In August 2022 The Treacle Tap—an award winning local bar and one of RedWillow’s first ever customers—suddenly, and surprisingly announced it would be closing down. This seemed to run at odds with Macclesfield quickly finding its groove after lockdown, especially as just a few doors down another local brewery, Bollington, had opened a lavish venue called The Fountain between it and RedWillow’s bar just 10 months previously.

As recently as November 2023, Chris Stairmand, who ran a superb pub called The Wharf, announced he was putting it up for sale. Barely a 10 minute walk up the sloping streets that lead away from Macclesfield town centre, the pub has existed for almost 180 years, but when Chris took it on he lovingly restored what was then a run down, boarded up relic, transforming it into a welcoming, vital community local. On my most recent visit it was thronged with revellers, merrily sipping on pints while a local band hummed away in the back room. People were dancing, laughing, arm in arm—seriously, this is as good as a pub gets. But if one as good as this can’t exist here, in Macclesfield, a holy grail of a beer town, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

““RedWillow’s commitment to quality shines through in every drop.””

— Caitlin O'Shea, The City Arms

While it might be short supply, hope, it seems, is still important. Within days of The Wharf announcing its sale, Buxton Brewery, itself established in 2009, announced that it would be taking on The Treacle Tap, and converting it into a taproom. Evidence, perhaps, that things are not quite as bleak as they may seem.

“The Treacle Tap is something of a beer institution in the North West. [It was] one of the first sites in the UK to be recognised as an Orval ambassador—something we intend to continue,” Dom Metcalfe, who was appointed as managing director at the Derbyshire brewery as recently as November 9th, 2023, tells me. “The site fits perfectly with our ambition to grow our presence in our heartland.”

Both the brewing and hospitality industries in the UK are cruel victims of circumstance, with independents bearing the brunt of the hardship. Right now, even the most seemingly water-tight business models are at the mercy of the most unholy of storms. And yet, a town like Macclesfield, one that has proven to be such a great incubator for small businesses like RedWillow, is evidence that it might be worth clinging to the deck, even if it’s by the very tips of your fingernails.

RedWillow’s brewing site now exists across a pair of large warehouses sidled up against the West Coast Main Line, with trains between London and Manchester rushing past in either direction every 10 minutes or so. You can even purchase a RedWillow beer, Tilting Ale, on the trains themselves—something that gives Toby pause to smile when it’s mentioned, knowing how much of his life he spent commuting within those very carriages.

Capacity at the brewery has increased, having installed a 30 hectolitre, three vessel system at the end of 2021. It’s big enough to produce much needed volume, but still small enough to satisfy Toby’s ceaseless urge for experimentation. Plus there’s the addition of two 60 hectolitre tanks dedicated solely to lager production so they (in theory) never run out. On my most recent visit to the brewery earlier in 2023, there’s no sense that they intend to reel some of their more outlandish ideas in, but definitely one that indicates they're investing in what they know will sustain the business through a prolonged period of uncertainty.

Both Caroline and Toby are acutely aware of how tough things are at the moment. “That doesn't mean I am pessimistic but things will need to change,” he tells me, before adding they’ve recently leased the warehouse opposite the one that houses the brewery itself, and that the next stage of RedWillow’s plan is to open a dedicated brewery taproom here in Macclesfield.

Madness, surely, with their bar just half a mile away. But, as Toby and Caroline explain, the bars have always been about what the town wants, dedicated as much to food and cocktails as they are to promoting their own beers. The taproom is seemingly another indulgence, one that carries significant risk, but this is the attitude that has served the brewery well through its first decade, so really, why the hell shouldn’t they open it?

“If I was going to have a second midlife crisis it would be through this,” Toby says, drawing a deep breath. “It will be more of an extension of us as a brewery, rather than necessarily being part of the town. It’s our personality, not just Macclesfield’s.”