Bradfield Brewery marks 20 years of Farmers Ales from a Peak District farm

Few local success stories have quite such a pastoral beginning as Bradfield Brewery. Based at Watt House Farm in the picturesque Peak District village of High Bradfield, on the edge of Sheffield, the brewery has gone from milking 100 cows a day to brewing over 100,000 pints of beer a week.

The brewery was established in 2005 as a way to diversify, a side project to supplement the declining income from dairy farming. It soon took off beyond the family's expectations, and with not enough hours in the day to do both, they made the tough decision to stop milk production and focus entirely on brewing. As the brewery puts it, they have never looked back.

Twenty years on, there is a dedicated team of 25 at the brewery and another 20 at its pubs. The water comes from the brewery's own Millstone Grit spring, and the range is made up of mostly simple, classic beers. The biggest seller is Farmers Blonde, which became the flagship ale and is named after the Blonde d'Aquitaine breed of cattle, with many of the other beers following the same farming theme.

Bradfield's ethos is all about traditions worth keeping: meeting friends at the pub, a pint in hand and a good natter. Its session ales are made for exactly that, and Farmers Ales now travel across the UK, from Northampton to Northumberland, with fans even photographing them in Spain and Mexico.

Closer to home, the original brewery tap is the Nags Head Inn in Loxley, a short distance from the brewery. It has since been joined by the King and Miller in Deepcar, the Wharncliffe Arms and the White Hart in Bradwell, several of which can be reached by bus from Sheffield.

The brewery is a proud community supporter too. It has supported a local golf club, established in 1924, since 2016, and Farmers Ales are served at the club bar. The brewery is also sponsoring Wortley rugby club, which has men's, women's and junior teams, for the 2025/26 season.

The brewery shop at Watt House Farm is open Monday to Friday from 8am until 4pm and on Saturdays from 10am until 4pm, and it makes a fine stop after a walk around Bradfield. Beers, gift boxes and pub details are on the Bradfield Brewery website.