North East entrepreneur acquires third site on Chester-le-Street with brewery venture

Black Storm has revealed its third acquisition in its first 16 months of trading.

The brand has purchased Black Hill Brewery in Chester-le-Street, adding another company to its portfolio.

The brewery deal comes at a time for the company as it reports substantial growth in its on and off trade business arms.

This includes its first supermarket listing with the Co-op earlier in the year, alongside the company’s acquisition of the Autumn Brewing Co. gluten-free microbrewery in September 2018.

Founder, Paul Hughes, said: “Since we launched Black Storm in December 2017, we have been working with the excellent Hadrian Border Brewery to develop the quality and consistency of our beer, perfecting our core range and experimenting with flavours.

“We are now in the perfect position to scaleup both our output and ambition, which our own brewery will allow us to do.

“With our original master brewer now in charge of his own kit, we are looking forward to continuing to deliver our beers to our customers in the consistent way they have come to expect them from us… It’s an exciting time at Black Storm, and we’re looking forward to what the next few years bring!”