Acorn Brewery

Acorn Brewery was set up in Wombwell, Barnsley in 2003 by the former head brewer Dave Hughes, who had spent two years at the original Barnsley Brewery before striking out on his own with a ten-barrel plant bought from a brewpub in Stafford. The brewery still uses the same yeast strain as that earlier Barnsley Brewery for its cask ales, including Barnsley Bitter and Yorkshire Pride. After a period of outside investment from a Manchester-based firm, Hughes returned to sole control of the business in late 2024, buying back the shares and taking the brewery forward as an independent operation again. It now runs a twenty-five-barrel plant from a unit on the Aldham Industrial Estate in Wombwell, selling both through pubs taking its cask ales and through its own online shop.