As the weather turns windy and wintery, there’s nothing quite like trading the bitter outdoors for a comforting pint of bitter indoors (in your favourite pub, of course!). Even though I’m still taking things easy while I recover from a head injury, it’s been wonderful to watch from afar as our local venues embrace the season’s darker, more malt-forward beer styles.
A highlight of the year so far was Trad Beer Week at The Free Trade Inn, which proved just how much love there is right now for traditional beer styles. The week also saw the launch of First & Last Brewery’s sixth release in their 10 Beers For 10 Years series. This latest creation was a delicious nitro ESB, brewed in collaboration with Stu Brew – the very place where First & Last’s head brewer, Red, started her commercial brewing journey.
And speaking of Red, huge congratulations are in order, as she was recently named Brewer of the Year at the Women in Beer Awards in Manchester. Although I wasn’t well enough to make the trip across the Pennines for the event, it was so wonderful to see the influx of love, praise and support for her across social media. It’s so rightly deserved, and about time our local brewers were shown more love on a national level!
Winter and the festive season are all about taking some time to reconnect, making it the perfect opportunity to check out what’s happening in your local area and get together with family and friends you might not have seen in a while. I’ve been keeping an eye on the socials and love what the teams at The Grove, Two by Two, Mean Eyed Cat and Luckies have been putting on – there’s always something interesting happening to bring people together (sometimes in the most weird and wonderful ways!).
There are also plenty of great new places to add to your winter beer trail, too. The newly opened Tom, Dick & Harry is helping to bridge the gap when looking for places to stop for a pint between Heaton and the Ouseburn. Meanwhile, over in North Shields, I can’t believe it’s already been a whole year since Aperture Alehouse first opened its doors – wishing a belated happy birthday to them! There’s also the new 6 Barrels taproom to check out when you’re over in North Tyneside, along with some of my older favourites, Enigma Tap and Flash House Brewery.
As we wrap up the year, here comes my annual appeal to support our brilliant independents. From pubs and taprooms, to bottle shops and live music venues, whether you’re picking up cans for a Secret Santa, having catch-up pints, or heading out to explore somewhere new, every bit of support keeps our incredible North East beer community thriving into 2027!
Daisy Turnell is a beer judge, director at Tipple Marketing, and owner of Craft Beer Newcastle.
www.craftbeernewcastle.co.uk
