Mother and daughter launch micro-brewery

Mar 20 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

WHAT is thought to be England’s most northerly micro-brewery has opened for business at a Northumberland pub.

The Ship Inn Brewery at Low Newton-by-the-Sea near Alnwick is the brainchild of landlady Christine Forsyth and her daughter Hannah.

They took the plunge when the opportunity arose to buy secondhand brewing equipment and brought in Michael Hegarty, previously the brewer at the now defunct Barefoot Brewery in Morpeth.

Christine, who has been running the popular pub for almost a decade after relocating to Northumberland from Hertfordshire, said: “Nine years ago, I’d never pulled a pint in my life. We decided to do it because it seemed like the right thing to do. We always fancied brewing our own. We’re very interested in the environmental impact and we’re very interested in local produce. I like to do good things properly and to do that, you often have to do them yourself.”

The beer – which will be made with locally-grown grain – will initially be sold exclusively at The Ship Inn.

The micro-brewery can currently produce 16 nine gallon kegs a week, which will meet around 60% of the pub’s demand for real ale during the busy summer period. The team also plans to bottle the beer – which comes in Sandcastles at Dawn, Dolly Day Dream and Ship Hot Ale varieties – and is considering selling the bottles via local shops.

The Ship Inn, which is owned by the National Trust, has been used as a pub since the 1700s. Christine is convinced previous owners must have brewed their own beer on site because there are still hop plants growing in the lane beside the pub.

She added: “We think we are the most northerly micro-brewery in England and surely the only one run by mother and daughter.”

Christine is backing The Journal Taste North East England Campaign to encourage more consumers, retailers, restaurants and hotels to eat and shop locally.

She said: “Everything is really as local as possible. We don’t use any big catering companies at all.” The pub sources lobsters from nearby Newton Bay, its fish comes from Boulmer and Seahouses, meat from Turnbulls the butcher in Alnwick and bread from Rothbury.