Spring highlights

Spring has arrived and as always, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate with a beer or two!

I was thrilled my collaboration beer with Steam Machine and ISBF took home Beer of the Festival at the Salford Beer Festival. Between events and judging, I squeezed in a mini cruise to Amsterdam, revisiting some of my favourite bars, too.

Speaking of Dutch beer, I finally checked out Café Amsterdam in Whitley Bay, along with Hazy Daze, and these bars are well worth a trip to the coast.

It’s always exciting to see new breweries launching, especially at such a tough time for the industry, so I was keen to visit Luckies. Just along from The Punch Bowl in Jesmond, this new brewpub needs to be added to your list.

Craft Beer Newcastle has also hit a major milestone, reaching our target of raising £2,000 for the food bank at Building Futures East in Walker. We’re not stopping there – 2025 is all about raising more funds for good causes with a recent pop-up at Indie Beer Feast and other events planned later in the year.

One of the best things about beer is sharing it and with that in mind, I’ve launched cbn socials – a chance to meet up and explore fantastic pubs and breweries. January’s launch saw us join the Lanterne Rouge’s Tyneside Lambic Trail, February took us to Rigg & Furrow’s birthday party, and in March we’re off to North Shields to celebrate Flash House’s ninth birthday.

I also joined the International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day at Turning Point in Knaresborough, and headed to Rooster’s Brewing in Harrogate for the Brewers Journal Lectures. Closer to home, I’ve been enjoying pints of Donnie’s Nitro Dark Beer at Donzoko’s taproom in Ouseburn, and had the pleasure of joining Jimmy from Chimay for a Belgian beer tasting at The Free Trade as part of James Clay’s Belgian Beer Week.

Coming up next, I’ll be back on the judging circuit at the Great Taste Awards in April, and I can’t wait for Blackfriars’ first beer festival on the May 23-25 Bank Holiday weekend. I hope to see you there!