On the map: Chester

“We’ll get Japanese, Chinese, Canadians, Americans, Italians,” says Jon Pugh, owner of Spookton Brew Co (and taproom) in the city centre’s Saint Thomas Pathway. “They come to Chester for the history or the zoo. Maybe they’re visiting Manchester or Liverpool, and they’re here for a day or two. But then, if they’re looking for good local drinks, they’ll end up with us on the evening.”

Does he notice a difference in how different nationalities drink? He does.

So, Americans go for big strong beers, Chinese are keen to try traditional English brews, and the Japanese “like a little bit of everything,” says Pugh. “They buy in thirds but go through the full range.”

Pugh himself was a passionate quaffer and homebrewer before he opened Spookton in 2024. In his previous professional life, he’d worked a range of eye-catching jobs including at Sony Music and UK Ultimate, the national governing body for British frisbee tournaments. He’d managed a clothing company in Amsterdam and ran an events firm in Liverpool.

“It’s a pretty diverse [career path],” the 40-year-old nods. “But running a brewery requires so many different skills. One minute I’m trying to understand why a particular beer has sold well; the next I’m unblocking a toilet. So, I think that range of experiences has prepared me well.”

Drops like the piney Struggle Bus black IPA and the Aspirational Kickflip pale, just two of the 70,000 pints they make each year, suggest that last statement is true: these are drinks that are testament to a brewery doing things well. Why, then, does he think Chester is having such a beer moment? “It’s a food and agricultural region,” replies Pugh. “Locally made beer fits in with the values people have.”

Certainly, that might also capture something of nearby Spitting Feathers.

This place was opened by Matthew Walley on his family farm, a 10-minute drive south-east of the city centre, in 2005. Production here is done in an old dairy. Spent grain is fed to the pigs and cows. They, in turn, are fed to diners at the on-site taproom and two city centre bars. “It’s farm-to-fork in action,” says 54-year-old Walley. “When you eat and drink with us, almost everything you have comes directly from our site.”

If that sounds mouth-watering, just try the five-hop Rush Hour IPA and the award-winning Old Wavertonian stout. Both are demonstrable exhibits that Spitting Feathers – which produces some 300,000 pints a year – takes its motto seriously: “life is too short for crap beer.” Quite.

More pertinently, perhaps, their Station Tap bar (20 taps and eight hand) may just be the perfect starting point for a hoppy (and historic) tour of this bewitching city. Nearby bars like the Pied Bull (with its own onsite micro-brewery), That Beer Place (CAMRA’s 2024 cider pub of the year) and Beer Heroes (12 taps and hundreds of cans) are not only stumbling distance from each other but the walk between them takes in some of Chester’s most ancient sites – including the 1,000-year-old cathedral, the Roman walls and that amphitheatre. It is, safe to say, quite some bar crawl.

Which, in fact, brings us back to Phil McLaughlin at Weetwood Ales in the village of Kelsall. He and sister Laura Humby have run the brewery for a decade now. Their drinks – like the Turncoat NEIPA – are served in countless venues across the city. So, it’s fair to say, he knows a thing or two about the scene here. “It’s really exciting,” he says. “Chester’s always been a wonderful place to visit. Now, it’s got the beer and pubs it deserves too.”