North East and Yorkshire breweries head to Maine for US beer exchange

Ten breweries from across the North East and Yorkshire visited the US this month as part of an international beer exchange.

The UK Government-organised exchange, held at the Maine Brewers’ Guild’s International Beer Festival, offered the Northern breweries a chance to meet with potential buyers and distributors.

Delegates had their beers featured in the ‘Maine Beer Box’, a 12-metre refrigerated container complete with 78 beer taps.

The Box originally appeared at the Leeds International Beer Festival in September, when it served beverages from craft breweries in Maine. It was then filled with British craft beers and shipped to New England for the US leg of the exchange.

The Yorkshire firms involved were: Brew York and Rudgate Brewery, based in York; Roosters Brewing Co from Knaresborough; Leeds’ Saltaire Brewery and Kirkstall Brewery; and Hebden Bridge-based Vocation Brewery.

Almasty Brewing Co and Box Social Brewing in Newcastle; McColl’s Brewery Ltd in Bishop Auckland; and Tooth and Claw/Cameron’s Brewery from Hartlepool were the four North East breweries on the exchange.

Image: Whitney J. Fox Photography LLC/Maine Brewers’ Guild

Maine Brewers’ Guild executive director Sean Sullivan said: “To bring home craft beers from across the Northern Powerhouse region is really exciting.

“It gives UK brewers the chance to collaborate with those in the US that are heavily influenced by what is coming out the UK’s growing craft beer industry.”

He added: “I hope we see lots of success from the collaboration and continue to join forces with breweries from either side of the pond.”

The exchange was supported by the Government’s Food is GREAT initiative, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Department for International Trade (DIT).

Stephen Noblett, food and drink sector specialist at DIT Yorkshire & Humber, commented: “The trip to Maine gave breweries across the region the chance to showcase their beer to an audience of prospective buyers, distributors and the public from across the US, which is a huge market for British beer.

“Maine is known for its booming craft beer tourism so creating an opportunity for these breweries to showcase what they have to offer during the festival could lead to some exciting and lucrative deals.”