From Hop to Glass: A Reet Proper Day Out with Vocation Brewery

There’s an old saying in the trade that anyone can buy a barrel of beer, but it takes a village to serve a proper pint. The other day, a few of us shut the cellar doors, peeled ourselves away from behind the bar, and headed over the hill to Cragg Vale to see our good friends at Vocation Brewery for a grand tour of where the magic actually happens.
Tucked away up in the Calder Valley hills, Cragg Vale has that rugged, windswept Yorkshire beauty that makes you feel right at home the moment you roll in. It’s hard to believe that what started as John Hickling brewing in a chicken shed has grown into one of the sharpest, most respected independent breweries in the country. Seeing it up close is something else entirely. We weren’t just there for a jolly; we went to get our hands dirty and dive headfirst into the serious science and engineering that sits behind every single drop that ends up on our handpulls, keg lines and cans we sell.
Walking through the brewhouse, you quickly realise that brewing world-class ale isn't just about throwing hops into a kettle and hoping for the best. It’s a masterclass in precision engineering. We followed the journey right from the grain being crushed and the precise mash temperatures, through to the furious boil, the cold whirlpool, and the sheer mountain of hops they pack in to get those punchy, clean aromas. Seeing their high-tech canning and kegging lines in full swing was a proper eye-opener. It connects the dots between a stainless-steel tank up on the moors and the bright, foaming pint sitting on our oak tables.
Of course, we couldn’t visit without finishing up with a bit of a knees-up Old Bridge In. Style! Once the tour was done, we wandered down into Hebden Bridge to Vocation’s taproom for some much-needed scran, a proper chinwag, and a few well-earned fresh halves straight from the source. Feeling fully inspired with new ideas for our great customers.

Days like today are brilliant fun, but more importantly, they’re the lifeblood of running a proper independent pub. A pint doesn’t just pour itself, and an inn doesn’t survive for generations by accident. It’s all about the people turning the cogs every single day.
Having Russell with us today was spot-on. Russell is the chap down in our cellar through the week, quietly working in the cool and damp, keeping our lines immaculate, our temperatures dialled in, and our casks resting just right. You can buy the finest craft beer in the world, but if your cellarman doesn't treat it with respect, it’s ruined before it even reaches the tap. Seeing the brewers' obsession with hygiene and temperature firsthand just reinforced why Russell’s meticulous cellar work is second to none.
Then we have some of our bar team: Ruth, our brilliant bar manager, alongside Tania and Emmaline, who are so often front of house caring for our customers alongside the rest of our great team. Sadly, we couldn’t take everyone with us today as we would’ve completely taken over the brewery, but getting these three out on the road was vital. Without taking the time to educate them on the craft and graft behind what we sell, they wouldn't be able to enthuse the rest of the team back home, or spread that genuine knowledge and excitement to customers who pop in wanting to know what we have on tap. Having smelled the raw hops and watched the canning lines run, they aren't just reciting pump clips anymore these ladies can speak with real passion, share that spark, and help guide folk to their next favourite pint.

Quietly keeping everyones feet on the ground behind the scenes is Me. Questioning everyone and everything EVERYDAY and comparing figures and crunching numbers. What is flying out of our cellar? What is wasting precious space? Great beer is an art, but keeping the doors open across the years is a discipline Dad is teaching me and it’s imperative to keeping our business engine ticking smoothly behind the scenes.
Every part of the puzzle matters. From the hop grower to the team in Cragg Vale and our wonderful Sales Rep Tom, from Russell keeping cellar standards sky-high, to Ruth and the whole team pouring with genuine pride and care, every single one of us keeps this place ticking. Without the team we have around us, we simply wouldn't be where we are today. Even though this was a day out for cellar and bar training we would be crazy not to mention our kitchen team Managed by Ellie and Sammi - their story will come up later when we go to the food shows. Again, without them being part of the puzzle we wouldn’t be where we are on the journey.

Next time you’re in, ask the team what fresh Vocation brew we’ve got on tap Or our exciting Christmas range of cans! They’ll be more than happy to talk you through it and trust us, they know what they’re talking about. Cheers! xx