Seven Salford beer brewing brothers are asking people to donate to a new crowdfunding campaign, before they open a new craft beer bar in up-and-coming Ancoats to rival the success of BrewDog with a twist.
Despite brewing its first beer less than two years ago, the Seven Bro7hers brewery is now one of the largest in Manchester, but the founder brothers want to ferment a sense of community around their ale as well.
Siblings Keith, Kit, Guy, Luke, Dan, Nathan and Greg McAvoy are opening a new bar on Blossom Street in Ancoats in June, which Keith hopes will echo Glasgow brewer BrewDog.
“What they have done is nothing short of genius but we are determined to do it our way,” he told MM.
“Our brand is very different – we’re definitely not a punk brewer – our image is tied to family and accessibility.
“All our beers have clear labelling that informs people what a beer will taste like before they open it and that seems to appeal to women as well as men.”
While BrewDog have successfully opened craft beer bars in dozens of cities in the UK and abroad, family-owned Seven Bro7hers are planning to open a further five more craft beer bars in major cities around the UK.
“A sense of community is something that we’ve tried to build since day one,” added Keith.
“We want everyone to feel like they are part of the club and that means we want everyone to feel like they’re part of the family.
“Our beers aren’t just for people who are into craft beer, they’re for everyone. And the crowdfunder is a great way for people to buy into what we’re doing.
We’re #crowdfunding the next adventure! Who wants a share of @SEVENBRO7HERS? #jointhefamily pic.twitter.com/Hz1Jb26Nup
— SEVENBRO7HERS (@SEVENBRO7HERS) 31 March 2016
“The craft beer bar is something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time. The obvious place seemed to be the Northern Quarter, but it felt to us like that corner of the city was just full up.
“We see Ancoats as almost a natural spill over for the Northern Quarter – a lot of our customers live there and our site is in good company with lots of nice cafés, bars and pizzerias close by.”
But as Keith explains, working with so many siblings isn’t always easy.
“It’s definitely colourful working with your brothers. To say that relationships are pushed to the limit is an understatement, but at the end of the day we’re all brothers and that will never change.
“There are times when we disagree, usually over what beer to brew next, but because there are seven of us it means that there will always be a majority when we put something to a vote. So things tend to work out alright in the end.”
From their brewery base near Media City, the brothers host a ‘Brewback Friday’ event on the last Friday of every month. Inviting people to come and listen to live music and sample Seven Bro7hers beer at source is a big part of the brewery’s success according to Keith.
Another top brewback! Thanks @therush_band for funky-awesome music & @macdaddiesmcr for tasty-awesome food! #awesome pic.twitter.com/V38ZP0Osas
— SEVENBRO7HERS (@SEVENBRO7HERS) 26 March 2016
“Moving all the kegs out and inviting people into the brewery has helped us make strong bonds with the locals and hold onto our roots as a Salford brewery.
“I’m a musician and a couple of the other brothers are musicians too, so having live bands come and play is important to us as well.
“Live music is something we’ll try and do at the Ancoats bar too. Where we are on Blossom Street, there’s a little square just opposite so I think in the summer time we’ll try and do some outdoor events in collaboration with a few of the neighbouring businesses.”
Thx for the massive response for our #crowdfunding campaign! It’s brewing & ready to launch soon! Watch this space! pic.twitter.com/prNtWrz8Lh
— SEVENBRO7HERS (@SEVENBRO7HERS) 8 April 2016
You can register your interest in the crowdfunder here.
Image courtesy of Seven Bro7hers via Twitter, with thanks.
