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InspirationPhotography

The Brewers: Duncan Elliott captures the inner sanctum of Manchester's finest breweries

If you love a nice pint, and you're curious to know how your favourite local beers are made, then look no further than this refreshing series by photographer Duncan Elliott. He recently collaborated with Manchester's Port Street Beer House to capture the city's thriving craft beer scene.

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All images courtesy of Duncan Elliott

All images courtesy of Duncan Elliott

After coming up with the idea for The Brewers project with the local pub's events manager Seb, Duncan visited four of Manchester's best breweries: Blackjack, Cloudwater, Runaway and Track, photographing the people who work there and the processes they use to create their beer.

"I really wanted to capture the inner workings of the breweries that we don't really think about when we order our drinks," says Duncan. "They are beautiful places, full of texture, amazing shapes and structures, visual order, craft and passion and I aimed to produce images that show all of these aspects. Similarly, the brewers themselves are the most brilliant bunch of people and I wanted their portraits to convey the pride they have in their product."

An editorial and commercial photographer, Duncan specialises in portraiture and documentary work, and his clients include The Sunday Times, Wire Magazine, Strava, Another Escape, Sidetracked and Red Bull. His series, The Brewers, is currently on show at Port Street Beer Houses. Details can be found at portstreetbeerhouse.co.uk.

Duncan adds: "Witnessing the processes that go into creating these great beers means I sip my pint more slowly, thinking of the hard work that has gone into making the beer in that pint glass."

Bearded brewer in red beanie and checked shirt sits amongst stacked metal beer kegs inside a corrugated metal warehouse
Brewer in dark jacket and beanie stands amid wooden barrels stacked in a brewery cellar
Black rubber gloves hang from a pink laundry line with colourful pegs clipped to them above stainless steel brewery equipment
Row of clear glass beer bottles hanging from a metal rack in a brewery, with industrial equipment blurred in the background
Red Toyota forklift positioned near stacked crates in a brewery warehouse interior with brick walls and industrial ceiling
Whiteboard covered with pink, yellow and green sticky notes organised into sections labelled with different stages and recipe details, used for planning The Brewers project.
Large stainless steel brewing tanks with metal lids and handles inside an industrial brewery space with brick walls and metal roof framework
Water is poured into a black bucket with yellow handles during the brewing process, with a scale underneath measuring the contents
Man sitting on a beer keg holding a wrench inside a brewery with large stainless steel fermentation tanks and overhead lighting
A brewery worker in a navy t-shirt and cap bends over to inspect or adjust equipment on a large cylindrical vessel with red and blue components stacked nearby
Brewery storage room with stacked metal fermentation vessels, coiled hoses, wooden barrels and red and blue plastic crates on shelves
Person pouring grain from a white sack into a dark plastic bucket during the brewing process, with stacked blue and red equipment visible in the background
Two brewery workers in a wet industrial space roll a large red and white barrel across the floor, with metal tanks and equipment visible in the background
Stacked blue, red and white fermentation vessels on a wooden pallet in a brewery warehouse, with an orange hand truck beside them
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