Wild fermentation has been a passion for both of us since we started home brewing and we've had the dream of setting up our own brewery since soon after meeting. We are the only brewery in Manchester dedicated entirely to the production of barrel fermented, mixed culture beer and our focus is on high quality, complex yet drinkable beers made using British ingredients, sourced as locally as possible. All of our beer is vegan.

 

 

James’ first forays into making beer involved home brewing and some deeply weird creations. An obsession with lambic, and a visit to Cantillon, lead to a desire to produce beer on the wilder side. After working in pubs, James got his first job brewing at Alphabet Brewing Co in 2016. The following year he joined Chorlton Brewing Co. to pursue his passion for sour beer. Interestingly enough, this is where James and Will first met! James completed the IBD General Certificate in Brewing while at Chorlton before going on to be awarded the Diploma in Brewing in 2021.

 

 

Will's journey into brewing began whilst studying in Sheffield and frequenting, then getting a job at, the Sheffield Tap, a superb pub with a huge range of beers from all over the world. The complex, funky and sour offerings from the likes of Drie Fonteinen, De Cam and Cantillion were what really tickled his fancy. Fascinated by all things beer and fermentation related, Will studied for an MSc in Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, focussing on the microbiology and biochemistry of spontaneous and mixed culture fermentation throughout. It's a complex and fascinating world to say the least and to think that beers such as Lambic and farmhouse saisons have been produced for hundreds of years have so much diversity and complexity on every level is mind boggling. After moving to Manchester in 2016 and working at Chorlton Brewing Co. for a couple of years, Will made the move to Track Brewing Co. where he remained for four and a half years before jumping feet first into Balance.

We think it's safe to say we've got a good base to start from and we're really looking forward to being able to experiment and push our beer to new heights.