If you go down to Sycamore Gap this weekend, listen closely and you might just here the sound of kegs and cans being cracked open in celebration.
That's because the Twice Brewed Brewing Company and the Twice Brewed Inn, near Bardon Mill just off Hadrian's Wall, have had an exciting couple of weeks. Both parts of the site were recognised in their respective industries, with the Twice Brewed Brewing Company taking a double gold at the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) national awards.
Following the ceremony at the two-day BeerX UK event in Liverpool held on March 16 and 17, the limelight was then cast onto the Twice Brewed Inn, which stands on the same site. On Thursday, it was highly commended in the Pub of the Year category at the North East Tourism Awards.
Read more: The full list of winners at this year's North East Tourism Awards
Other pubs in the category included Ponteland's Blackbird, which took the gold award, the Feathers Inn in Hedley-on-the-Hill which took silver and the Bamburgh Castle Inn getting bronze. Pubs were recognised that make a direct contribution to tourism in their areas, with the Twice Brewed Inn offering stargazing evenings and overnight stays in Northumberland National Park.
Steve Blair, Manager at the Twice Brewed Inn, said: "Everyone at the pub was delighted to be shortlisted among the best pubs in the region and to have The Twice Brewed playing a part in showcasing the North East's rich tourism offer. We're very pleased to have been highly commended by the judges - it's a testament to the efforts of the whole team who all work together to make The Twice Brewed a pub everyone wants to come back to.
"After a couple of incredibly tough years for businesses across the region's tourism industry, it feels really important to celebrate success and we're very happy to be able raise a glass to all the winners."
The team at the brewery were happy with their recent success too. Matthew Brown, Twice Brewed's Head Brewer, said: "After winning the regional Gold for Coria at the Gateshead Beer Festival last summer, we knew we were in with a chance for the national award, but to get the Gold felt amazing."
Coria was named top of the shop in the Bottle/Can Amber to Dark Lager category while also picking up Bronze in the Overall Champion of the Bottle/Can competition. Earlier in the event, the Regional Keg Independent Beer heats saw Twice Brewed pick up four Golds, one Silver and one Bronze among the North East brewery contingent.
Matthew continued: "It was a busy couple of days having the both the regional and national keg beer awards happening, as well as the overall national beer awards. But we’re more than happy to be busy when it involves winning so many accolades!"
And it's not just those two days which have been busy at the Twice Brewed Brewing Company. As well as being involved in an effort across independent Northumberland's independent breweries to make a beetroot beer to raise money for the humanitarian effort in Ukraine, it is also debuting a Roman themed beer at the Newcastle Beer Festival as part of the wider celebrations for the Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival.
Using similar ingredients to what was available at the time, such as local botanicals and a touch of honey, the low strength beer will launch in cask on April 6. It will be available until it runs out.
