Frequently Asked Questions

Got a question about Cloudwater, our products, services or locations? Have a look through the FAQ first, there's a good chance we've got your answer!

Getting Started

Cloudwater Brew Co is a small brewery founded in Manchester in 2014, with our first beers brewed on 14th February 2015. We focus on making exciting flavour combinations in modern beer including Pale Ales, Lagers, Hazy Double IPAs and barrel-aged beer. Each beer is brewed with a relentless focus on flavour and drinkability, intended to create relaxing experiences for our customers. We are independently owned and directed by our co-founder Paul Jones and, since the beginning, we have been guided by shared values that define our work. Shop online or visit us in person at our Manchester and London taprooms. Learn more about us.

Our brewery is at 7–8 Piccadilly Trading Estate, Manchester, M1 2NP, a short walk from Manchester Piccadilly station. We also run taprooms in Manchester (Unit 9, right next to the brewery) and London (73 Enid Street, Bermondsey Beer Mile), plus our own pub, Sadler's Cat, in Manchester's NOMA district. Find our venues.

We brew across the full spectrum - including Hazy 'New England' and West Coast IPAs/DIPAs, pale ales, lagers, barrel-aged imperial stouts, fruited and wild sours, and low/no-alcohol beers. If there's a style of beer you like, then the chances are we've brewed it in the past and will be doing it again at some point in the future! New beers drop almost every week, Shop all beer.

Our beer is stocked in independent bottle shops and bars across the UK and we export to dozens of countries via regional distributors. For the widest and freshest selection, our own online shop and taprooms are the best place to start. Trade customers wanting to stock us should see our Trade page.

Weekly. Our "Fresh Off The Line" section is updated as soon as new brews come off the canning line, so it's worth checking back or signing up to our newsletter so you never miss a drop. See what's fresh. We also release seasonal specials including birthday beers each February and our annual Barrel Project series of beers - beers made with Time and Love, released in time for Christmas

Ordering & Payment

Browse our online shop, add items to your cart, and checkout securely using our Shopify-powered website. We accept all major cards and payment can be made via PayPal or Shop.

We accept all major debit/credit cards and digital wallets supported at checkout (e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay), processed securely through our Shopify checkout. Gift vouchers and discount codes can also be applied at checkout.

There's no minimum order - however, orders under £60 incur a £5.99 shipping fee (Mainland UK, some postcodes attract higher fees), so many customers top up to hit free shipping. Build your own mixed box to make the most of it. Click and Collect is also available from our Manchester brewery taproom and Sadler's Cat.

Yes, if you're quick! Email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co with your order number as soon as possible and we'll do our best to update it before it ships. Once an order has been dispatched, we're unable to make changes.

Shipping & Delivery

Yes, free shipping is available to most Mainland UK addresses on orders £60 or over. Orders below £60 are charged a flat £5.99 shipping fee. Full shipping details.

Yes, though a £12 surcharge applies to Northern Ireland and remote Scottish postcodes (including the Highlands and Islands) to cover increased courier costs. £5.99 of this is waived on orders over £60. See the full postcode list.

Unfortunately not currently. Post-Brexit customs changes mean we're only able to ship within the UK for now.

Orders placed by 11am Monday–Thursday usually ship same-day. Orders placed after 1pm Thursday are processed from the following Monday.

Most of England, Wales and Scotland receive next-day delivery once dispatched.

Please note: During busy periods including around high-demand releases such as Chubbles, flash sales and throughout December it may take up to 3 working days for your order to be processed and shipped.

We always try and do our best to keep processing time down to a minimum. If you've had no notification of shipping after 3 working days, please contact shop@cloudwaterbrew.co and we'll look into it.
Cloudwater Beer Club subscription payments are taken before shipping, please check details for shipping dates on the Beer Club page.

Art prints are made to order and shipped separately with Royal Mail directly from the printers.

We currently ship with DPD Local. Once your order is dispatched you'll receive tracking details by email - you can also track directly at track.dpdlocal.co.uk.

Sure! Add a note in the checkout's order instructions box, then email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co with your order number to confirm. We'll do our best to accommodate the request.

Our shop closes over Bank Holiday weekends. Orders usually cut off around 1pm the Thursday before, with shipping resuming the next working day. Changes to shop operating hours will be communicated ahead of time to ensure you get the chance to order in time for holidays!

Packaging & Gifting

Orders are sent in a single parcel unless they exceed 48 items or include a mix of glassware, cans and large bottles, in which case we split it across boxes to keep everything safe in transit. We reserve the right to request additional shipping fees if there's lots of separate parcels required (this is extremely rare)

We use 100% recyclable and biodegradable packaging materials to limit damages in transit. We use plant based void filling pellets & Hexcel wrap to protect your order.

The Hexcel wrap and cardboard boxes can be recycled through household and retail paper bins in the UK.

The plant based void filling pellets are recommended to be recycled through composting, either at home or council waste, where it is recycled into food grade fertiliser for farming or into electricity at an anaerobic digestion plant to power homes and local communities.

Our delivery boxes are ergonomically designed to fit a wide range of containers. We use the following boxes:

12 x 440ml Can Box
24 x 440ml Can Box
48 x 440ml Can Box
12 x 375ml Bottle Box
6 x 750ml Bottle Box

Digital gift vouchers are available from £20 to £200, valid for two years from purchase. The recipient enters a unique code at online checkout to redeem the value against their order.

Online gift vouchers are only valid on our webshop. To buy or redeem a voucher for use in our Manchester or London taprooms, use our Square gift card page instead.

Returns, Refunds & Damaged Items

We accept returns or exchanges on apparel within 21 days of receipt, provided items are unworn and in original condition. Email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co to notify us before returning, and use our downloadable returns form.

Email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co immediately with your order number, the beer name, a description of the issue, and a photo. We'll investigate with our brewing team and issue a refund or replacement as appropriate - full details in our Refund Policy.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are ordering cans, dents do happen in transit as the metal is so thin. We do our best to mitigate this with careful packaging, dedicated dividers and void filling pellets (they are water soluble so just throw them in your green bin!). Dents will not damage the beer itself unless pierced, and we would never purposefully send dented cans out to customers!

Once your returned items arrive back with us (or your quality complaint is resolved), refunds typically take 3-7 days to process back to your original payment method. Processing times can vary depending on the bank or credit card provider.

We're happy to exchange your item for an alternative product, it doesn't have to be the same item. We'll cover the cost of sending the replacement. You'll only need to cover the postage for sending the original item to us.

Yes, unfortunately we're unable to cover return postage costs for apparel returns/exchanges. Faulty or damaged beer issues are handled differently - contact us first at shop@cloudwaterbrew.co rather than posting anything back.

Beer Club Subscriptions

We have two principal subscription services; The Cloudwater Beer Club has three different choices, and we also offer subscriptions of all of our core range of beers including Fresh AF IPA, Happy!, Fuzzy, Piccadilly Pilsner and SoCal.

  • The Good Stuff - A subscription for those that like to drink the freshest beers from across the vast range of style we produce.
  • The Hop Shop - 12 of our freshest hop-forward beers each month which will vary in style and strength.
  • The Lowdown - Our subscription service made especially for those who want all the flavour, aroma and body of the best Cloudwater has to offer, but without the alcohol.

Subscriptions are managed through your account on our webshop, where you can pause, skip a delivery, or cancel ahead of your next billing date. If you run into any trouble managing it online, email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co and we'll sort it manually.

Lowdown boxes usually ship around the 15th of each month. Upcoming expected shipping dates:
2026:
- August: Mon 17th
- September: Tue 15th
- October: Thu 15th
- November: Mon 16th
- December: Tue 15th

2027
- January: Mon 18th
- February: Mon 15th
- March: Mon 15th
- April: Thu 15th
- May: Mon 17th
- June: Tue 15th

The Good Stuff and Hop Shop boxes ship around the 25th. Upcoming expected shipping dates:
2026:
- July: Mon 27th
- August: Tue 25th
- September: Mon 28th
- October: Mon 26th
- November: Wed 25th
- December: Tue 22nd

2027
- January: Mon 25th
- February: Thur 25th
- March: Thur 25th
- April: Mon 26th
- May: Tue 25th
- June: Mon 28th

Please Note: dates may vary due to changes to our production and packaging schedules, as well as what day of the week the 15th/25th falls on.
You'll get tracking details by email each time it ships.

Brewery Tours & Taproom Visits

Book directly via our Brewery Tour page. Tours run Saturdays at 10:45am and Sundays at 12pm. Not sure of your date yet? Buy a digital gift voucher now and redeem it for a tour later.

A guided tour of our working brewery, a tutored tasting of 4 of our freshest beers (including a pour straight from the tank), and a Q&A session with our team. Sessions run around 1.5 hours, but we recommend allowing 2 hours in case you want to stick around in the taproom afterwards.

Opening hours are subject to change depending on events and bank holidays, please check the venue before making a special journey.

Find directions.

All our venues welcome children along with their parents until 8pm. We operate dog-friendly venues, please ensure your pet is kept on a lead at all times and be mindful of others. Unfortunately dogs are not permitted on brewery tours due to food hygiene standards.

Yes, up to 12 hours before your tour start time. Contact unit9@cloudwaterbrew.co to make changes.

We're a cashless venue, so bring a card. Wear closed-toe shoes and suitable clothing, arrive sober and on time (latecomers may be refused entry), and note there's no fancy dress permitted. We're fully accessible and inclusive, with bike storage and limited on-site parking spaces at M1 2NP.

Merchandise

Clothing (hoodies, T-shirts, caps, beanies), bags (tote bags, shoppers), glassware (tumblers, tankards, goblets, taster glasses), stickers, and seasonal collaborations like our retro football shirts. We also have a series of art prints, made to order. Shop merch.

Absolutely! Our branded glass range includes the Craftmaster 2/3rd pint glass, the Howarth pint tankard, tumblers, taster glasses, and limited-edition Barrel Project stemware. Shop glassware.

Yes, we often team up with other breweries, artists and brands (like our COPA retro football shirts or '10 Years of Chubbles' tee with The Veil) for limited-run apparel. These sell out, so check our Clothing & Accessories collection often.

Barrel Project

The Cloudwater Barrel Project is a labour of love, where we make beers over months and years

Barrel Ageing has been at the heart of what we do at Cloudwater since the brewery’s inception in 2014. We made a modest start with a handful of wine barrels and in 2016 we took delivery of three 5000L foudres (or foeders). Now our barrels hail from all sorts of backgrounds, each bringing unique qualities. We are currently using barrels that have previously hosted bourbon, single malt, rye whisky, red port, apple brandy, apricot brandy, wine, sherry, cognac and rum.

Visitors to Cloudwater in our early days will recall sitting amongst the barrels at our old taproom in the railway arches. Now, you can see our dozens of barrels and the three large foudres in our Unit 9 taproom. You may even catch a glimpse of our barrel master at work!

Brown and Green glass are favoured for their ability to inhibit or reduce skunking of hops in beer that were added (and boiled) during the brew day.

We use brown, green and clear glass bottles. Clear glass allows the beautiful visual characteristics of our stouts and fruited beers (or any other beers also made with little to no chance of skunking by way of little to no hops used during the brew day) to shine.

We don’t think clear glass will influence this beer’s potential to age gracefully, but good ageing practices should be routine for best experiences: Age bottles in a steady low temperature environment, away from strong odours, mould, sources of heat and light.

Although some of our beers will develop new characteristics over time, the connoisseur will recognise ageing as a process as more of slow flavour change (some fresh characteristics may mellow or fall away entirely in order for additional complexities or subtleties to reveal themselves).

ALL of our beer is vegan! We never add lactose or animal-based products to any of our products.

We have a small selection of gluten free products, with Piccadilly Pilsner & SoCal being our only currently always-available beers that are gluten free. Individual products have allergen information on their pages, so please check for details. Cans & bottles will have this information printed on the label too

Contact & Troubleshooting

We've lots of ways for you to get in touch, depending on your requirements.

First, check your spam/junk folder. If it's still missing after an hour, email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co with the name and email used at checkout, and we'll confirm your order status.

Double-check the code hasn't expired and is entered exactly as shown (case-sensitive), and that your basket meets any minimum spend the offer requires. Still stuck? Email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co with a screenshot and we'll help directly.

Get in touch! We're a small, friendly team and happy to help. Email shop@cloudwaterbrew.co for order/shipping queries, info@cloudwaterbrew.co for general questions, or drop us a WhatsApp or instant message on the website, 8am–4pm Monday to Friday.