North is still ale and hearty

Oct 18 2009 Sunday Sun

DOES the news that production of Newcastle Brown Ale is soon to be shifted out of the region show the brewing industry in the North is on the decline? Nothing could be further from the truth, as Mike Kelly reports . . .

IT was a bitter blow last week when news broke that production of Newcastle Brown Ale was to be transferred to Yorkshire.

There was the personal loss of staff at the Federation Brewery in Dunston, Gateshead, whose jobs are now on the line.

And there was the loss of prestige for a region that, come this time next year, will not be producing an iconic beer that has so proudly borne the name of one of its principle cities since it was first brewed in 1927.

It seems unthinkable that Newcastle Brown Ale is to be brewed around 200 miles away in Tadcaster. And it was only 10 years ago that the Vaux Brewery closed in Sunderland after 162 years of brewing on Wearside.

Does this mean time is being called on the region’s proud tradition of brewing?

John Holland, national executive member of the Campaign For Real Ale, says not. “We’ve got a very vibrant micro brewery industry in the North East which I would also say very much reflects the region’s heritage. As far as I’m aware they are all doing very well and expanding.”

According to CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide there are 74 of these breweries in the North - Cumbria has 26, Northumberland six, Tyne and Wear seven, Durham seven and North Yorkshire has 28.

The recent Cask Report showed how real ale was flying in the face of the recession. With sales of other draught beer down and pubs closing at a frightening rate, cask ale is more than holding its own.

At a time of global recession it seems that small is beautiful.

John said: “I think people are becoming more and more interested in tasting different flavours and different beer styles. They just want something different. People are turning away from drinking the same old produce.”

Some of his favourites include White Hot and Steel Town from the Consett Ale Works in County Durham and Rivet Catcher from the Jarrow Brewing Company in South Tyneside.

He added: “We’re brewing a wider range of styles of beer than ever before, going back 100 years. It’s a shame what’s happened with Newcastle Brown Ale, particularly the jobs under threat, but the brewery business in the North is still thriving.”

And CAMRA is doing its bit with a series of initiatives to encourage more drinkers of real ale into the fold.

The latest is called LocAle, a nationwide scheme to promote pubs which serve beers brewed within a 30 mile radius of their premises.