Lager works

A panorama of the Moss Side brewery in Manchester, operated by Heineken.

Beer has been brewed on the site since 1875, when it was known as the Albert Brewery, named after Queen Victoria's husband. The brewery made ales and stouts that were supplied to pubs around Manchester, including the Cross Keys in Salford and the Shah Inn in Hulme.

It was later sold to John Henry Lees, who changed its name to the Moss Side Brewery. In 1907 it was renamed the Royal Brewery in honour of King Edward VII's visit to the city.

The brewery changed hands again in 1913 when Lees' company went into liquidation and it was later absorbed by another local brewery, Walker & Homfrays Ltd.

The UK's first lager, Red Tower, was brewed here in 1927, named after the building's most striking feature. The brewery took its name too in 1933, becoming the Red Tower Lager Brewery.The drink was a hit in London where it was sold in upmarket restaurants and dispensed from wooden cabinets that were wheeled to diners' tables.

Sales suffered during the Second World War when many restaurants in the capital shut down - but in Manchester, the arrival of American troops created plenty of thirst for the drink locally.

In 1955 the brewery became known as the Royal Moss Side Brewery and was bought by Scottish Brewers a few years later to produce their own McEwan Younger Lager. The site later began to brew Harp lager in 1962. By 1985 it was producing a million hectolitres a year (nearly 176 million pints). Today it can produce five times that amount, churning out nearly 18 million pints a week.

After several more changes of ownership, Heineken took over the site in 2008. Today the main beers produced and packaged there are Foster's and Kronenbourg 1664.