The brewers gather at Wylam Brewery

 

Tennyson once said that the North was dark and tender and true, but in 2018 The Great Exhibition of the North (GEOTN), heralded as the biggest event in England this year, will brightly illuminate the region.

The first steps of one ‘Inspired By’ GEOTN project was launched yesterday as eight independent craft breweries announced they will be collaborating on a series of one-off limited edition brews that fall under the moniker The Northern Powerhouse Brew Series.

The beers will be released on the opening day of the exhibition, June 22.  The participating breweries — Buxton, Cloudwater (Manchester), Black Lodge (Liverpool), Northern Monk (Leeds), Magic Rock (Huddersfield), Hawkshead (Kendal), Thornbridge (Sheffield), and Box Social (Newcastle) will all brew in collaboration with Wylam Brewery, at its home at The Palace of Arts in Exhibition Park, Newcastle.

The relevance of where the beers will be brewed is not without significance, given that the Palace of Arts is the last remaining building from the original exhibition that took place in 1929.

Wylam Brewery director, Dave Stone, said: “I wonder what attendees of the exhibition in 1929 would have thought if they had been whisked forward in time to find us mashing in and canning beers together as a celebration of Northern Industry?

“For us, it’s a real honour to host these exceptional breweries here at Palace of Arts and to be involved in a brew project that celebrates the history of the brewing industry in the region.”

The eight beers will come in cases of 440ml cans with one of each of the beers in each case. More details of beer styles will be released at a later date. Each can will be designed with elements of each town or city’s coat of arms — with a modern craft twist, of course.

Northern Powerhouse cans

Paul Jones, co-founder of Cloudwater, said: “The North has long been the seat of industrial innovation in the UK — the modern beer scene continues that tradition. We are proud to take part in the first Northern Powerhouse
Brew Series, alongside some of the most progressive breweries in the country.”

There will only be 6,600 cases produced, each containing all of the eight brews. Dave said: “It’s exciting to think that these little parcels of Northern craftsmanship will be making their way around the world, celebrating the unity of industry in the region.

“All the breweries involved are extremely passionate about the heritage of the towns and cities they operate in, and this project is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the history of industry in each place.”

While the main focus of the exhibition falls on the host city of Newcastle Gateshead, there is a wider programme of events that will span the region’s towns and cities, and as part of that programme launch events will take place at each of the breweries, at which all of the beers will be able to be sampled on keg, and cases purchased.

Northern Powerhouse brewers

 


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