Member Article

Brown ale back on Tyneside

Last month’s announcement that the production of Newcastle Brown Ale was to be moved to Tadcaster sparked outrage among the Tyneside population.

Scottish and Newcastle’s decisions, however, has spurred South Tyneside pub entrepreneur Jess McConnell into action.

Mr McConnell has long planned to create a brown ale at his Jarrow Brewery, based at The Maltings pub in South Shields, and his own ‘Jarrow Brown Ale’, which has been months in the planning, has now been officially unveiled.

Unlike the original the new ale will not be bottled, but is on offer as a cask ale.

Mr McConnell said: “I have been interested in brewing a brown ale for some time and when there was so much comment about Newcastle Brown Ale going to York I thought the time was right to bring another version back to Tyneside.

“The brewing process took about 10 days but it has taken much longer to put together the concept, the recipe and create the pump clip, which features an image of the Jarrow Marchers.

“The base of the brew is pale malt, a pale chocolate malt and a crystal malt. The hops are challenger.”

Brown Ale was originally created by Colonel J Carter in 1925 and introduced in 1927 in Newcastle by Newcastle Breweries, which became Scottish & Newcastle in 1960.

In 2005 brewing was moved out of Newcastle for the first time to the other side of the River Tyne, at Dunston in Gateshead.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .