It’s exciting times for the Paisley beer scene as a new brewery opens in town.
Two Towns Down Brewing opened on Back Sneddon Street last month and will soon be welcoming keen drinkers in to see how the magic happens.
The business is the result of hard work from its 31-year-old owner, Sandy McKelvie who after around a decade in the industry working for other breweries, decided to step out on his own and create Paisley’s first brewery in more than a century.
He studied brewing and distilling at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University before working for the likes of Black Isle Brewery in Inverness, Fallen Brewing, Stirling, and various breweries in Dundee.
After more than a decade away from home, and with years of experience under his belt, the proud Buddie decided to branch out on his own and that there would be no better place to do so than his hometown.
“There’s no breweries in Paisley, so that was kind of the push for me to get moving and start out on my own,” said Sandy.
He’s been making his own beer for three years using other people’s equipment, but last month, with the move into the Back Sneddon Street site, Sandy is using all his own equipment and the entire brewing process takes place on site with the help of Sandy’s mum, Liz.
“I wanted to move back to Paisley and as there wasn’t any breweries around, I thought it was time to give it a go myself. That’s always been my dream, to have my own brewery,” said Sandy.
While Sandy was away from home, working for other breweries, making his own beer, and doing deliveries for a restaurant, his family helped keep his morale up by saying he was just two steps away from his goal of opening a brewery in Paisley, and so he adapted the phrase and hence Two Towns Down was born.
Two Towns Down currently have two beers for sale, These Streets, a pale ale, which is a nod to one of Paisley’s favourite sons, musician Paolo Nutini. It also has a lager called Belter, a homage to another of Paisley’s famous musicians, Gerry Rafferty.
“All of our beers tend to be named after song titles. And our can labels feature the Paisley pattern,” explained Sandy. "It’s been about 120 years since there’s been a brewery in Paisley.
“There used to be a lot, some really notable ones too. So it would be good to kind of bring that heritage back,” added Sandy.
His plans for the future include opening a tap room, where punters will be able to come in and try a beer fresh from being made. Tours will also be available.
To introduce his business to people in Renfrewshire, Sandy is organising a craft beer festival to take place at the Coats Memorial Church venue.
“It’s a really lovely venue. We’re going to have ten different brewers there and there will be food available too. We’ll have a gin and prosecco bar too. As part of your ticket, guests will get a half pint of our beer too,” said Sandy.
The beer festival will take place on Saturday, March 11, between 1pm and 9pm. Tickets can be bought on the Two Towns Down website at www.twotownsdown.com/events
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