An East Yorkshire brewery is celebrating its 15th anniversary with the launch of a limited-edition version of the first beer it produced.
Great Newsome Brewery, based at South Frodingham in the Holderness countryside, was founded in by fourth generation farming family the Hodgson’s in 2007.
Starting out brewing just 20 casks a week, the business has since grown significantly and is marking the milestone by producing a special edition of its flagship Sleck Dust beer, a light-coloured, easy drinking ale, which is dry-hopped to showcase the flavour and aroma of the hops.
Great Newsome’s Director Matthew Hodgson said: “We set the business up at a time when farmers were being encouraged to diversify and create new income streams to secure their future.
“We’d noticed a growing interest in real ales and in locally produced food and drink, so after a lot of careful research and with the help of a small grant and a business loan, we set the brewery up with a plan to see where we could take it in five years.
“It’s been hard work, with some challenging times along the way, but we couldn’t have imagined 15 years ago that we would be where we are today, with 11 employees and production as high as 400 casks a week.”
Great Newsome’s range now includes stouts and dark ales as well as golden and paler brews, which are available on tap as regular or guest ales in over 150 independent and chain pubs across the north of the UK as well as being stocked by major retailers and independent shops nationwide.
The team has also seen international success, with growing sales in northern Italy, where their style of traditional British beer is particularly popular.
As well as building on their online sales, particularly during the Covid lockdowns, the business has enjoyed the growth of their annual ‘Festivale’ event, which this year attracted 800 visitors, enjoying live music, street food and Great Newsome beer in a field next to the brewery across two days in June.
Matthew continues: “I’m really proud of all we’ve achieved so far and I’m looking forward to building on that and to brewing more great beers in the next 15 years.”
Bottles of Sleck Dust Limited Edition are available on the Great Newsome Brewery website, together with limited edition 15th anniversary stemmed pint glasses.
For more information visit www.greatnewsomebrewery.co.uk