AFTER establishing the first brewery in Barnard Castle for nearly 100 years, a real ale producer is celebrating being included in next year’s edition of The Good Beer Guide.
Three Counties Brewery was formed a little over a year ago but the business was rebranded in December to Barnard Castle Brewing Company to reflect “its local provenance”.
And this week the team are raising a glass at the news they have been included in the what is known as the “bible to real ale drinkers” – the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide 2019.
Michael Coverdale, who deals with sales, marketing and distribution, said: “We’re absolutely chuffed. It feels like we’re really getting somewhere now.
“We’ll definitely be having a drink to celebrate.
“We’ve tried to ensure the ales all have names relating to Barnard Castle.
“We are now growing our own hops and we try to use locally sourced oats as well. It’s great news for us.”
The business now produces three ales from their premises at Quaker’s Yard off Newgate, Barnard Castle – Deliberation, which is commonly known as “Barney Bitter”, Mechanical Swan and Peg Powler – and are planning a special Christmas IPA, which they hope will be released in October.
All the ales they produce are in kegs, but they are in the process of gaining licenses to enable them to distribute their brew in bottles.
It is the 46th edition of The Good Beer Guide.
The guide is compiled through independent judgement and recommendations and is not only available in print but online with CAMRA’s new Good Beer Guide app.
Tom Stainer, chief communications officer at CAMRA, said: “It’s fantastic to see growth in local brewing. We’ve seen such sweeping changes across the brewing and pub scene over the past year with brewing becoming more collaborative and socially-minded.
