Wylam plans to steam into Newcastle

It’s tempting to say that sales of Wylam Brewery beers are going like a rocket, for Wylam in Northumberland is the birthplace of George Stephenson who built the first commercial steam locomotive called the Rocket. Wylam celebrates the connection with a beer called Puffing Billy but the brewery plans to leave its idyllic setting on a farm close to Hadrian’s Wall and move to the bustle and roar of Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Matt Boyle, Wylam’s business development manager and son of the brewery’s founder, John Boyle, told me the move was necessary as demand for his beers means he needs extra brewing capacity. He’s been given an offer that’s too good to turn down: the opportunity to build a new brewery at Exhibition Park in Newcastle in the Grade Two-listed splendour of the Palace of Arts (below). It’s the only remaining building from the North-east Coast Exhibition of 1929. The palace had fallen into disrepair but was rescued by Freddy Shepherd, the former owner of Newcastle United football club. He’s given Wylam Brewery the chance to move into the building where Matt Boyle plans to install a 30-barrel brewing kit. The vast halls offer extra capacity for major events such as weddings, folk and jazz concerts, screening of new films, a clothes fair and an international craft beer festival.

Matt has the £2 million funding needed to carry out the refurbishment and he’s submitted plans to Newcastle City Council for approval. The council should make a decision by the autumn and if Wylam gets the go-ahead the new brewery could be operating within a year.

If the move does proceed, Wylam will have made a remarkable journey in just 15 years from humble beginnings in a home-brewer’s house. In 2000 John Boyle met Robin Leighton, a merchant navy officer who had been forced to leave the service as the result of a bad back injury. Robin was a passionate home brewer and used proper full-mash techniques to make his beer. John was impressed and suggested they should sell Robin’s beers commercially. The first brew, Landlord’s Choice, created so much interest in the North-east that the duo moved to redundant buildings at South Houghton Farm, Heddon on the Wall, Wylam, with a 4½-barrel kit.

John and Robin also brewed Gold Tankard, 4%, to celebrate local beer writer Alastair Gilmour winning the gold tankard in 2000 awarded by the British Guild of Beer Writers as Beer Writer of the Year. All the ingredients had a "gold" connection: Golden Promise malt, golden naked oats and First Gold hops. Alastair now edits the North-east edition of Cheers magazine devoted to beer and pubs.

Within three years, the brewery had run out of capacity. Robin Leighton had retired -- he has since died -- and John Boyle needed help. He contacted Matt, who was working in Spain, and suggested he might like to take up a career in brewing.

Matt says at first he wasn’t keen to give up sunny Spain for the raw winds and fierce winters of Northumberland but he finally agreed to join his father. John retired, leaving Matt to build a formidable brewing team of Ben Wilkinson, Lee Howourth and Christopher Lee -- nicknamed the Count -- with an enhanced 20-barrel kit that produces around 4,000 barrels a year. (Pictured left to right are Lee, Ben, Christopher and Matt.)

Lee has been at Wylam for 13 years, Ben for 12. Ben is head brewer and has a great passion for hops from all corners of the globe. He blends them with Golden Promise malt, a Scottish variety used mainly by whisky distillers but which delivers a rich juicy and biscuit character to beer. Pure brewing water is sourced from the Kielder Reservoir, the largest artificial lake in the UK. The water is soft and Ben adds calcium chloride to make it ideal for pale ale brewing.

He produces not one but three American Pale Ales named after their hop varieties: Chinook, 4%, and Cascade and Centennial, both 4.1%. They are joined by Galaxia, a double hop pale ale at 3.9%, and the brewery’s flagship beer – in cask, keg and bottle-conditioned formats – Jakehead IPA, 6.3%, which won a bronze award for the keg version in the 2015 SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) awards. It’s brewed with Centennial, Chinook and Citra varieties and has a superb balance of toasted malt and pungent, fruity hops.

In sharp contrast, Puffing Billy is a traditional strong mild, weighing in at 5.5%. It’s brewed with pale, black and double roast crystal malts, with roasted barley and hopped with English Fuggles. It has a pronounced raisin and sultana fruit character with earthy hops and a rich malt loaf note. The finish is dry, earthy and fruity.

A further dark beer is an extra stout called Flannel Hammer, measuring 7.5%. Matt explains that the name comes from a trick played on apprentices in the Newcastle shipyards who would be told to go and fetch a hammer made out of cloth. The beer is brewed with a vast list of malts: pale, amber, crystal, cara, black and chocolate with a further addition of roasted barley and flaked barley. The hops are the two great traditional English varieties, Fuggles and Goldings. As befits the name, the beer delivers quite a punch, with powerful roasted grain, burnt fruit and peppery hop notes.

Ben looks to Europe as well as the United States for inspiration and brews Le Saisonnier, 5.4%, his interpretation of the saison style brewed in the French-speaking region of Belgium. As well as Golden Promise, he blends in Concerto pale malt along with darker Munich and Vienna malts. The hops are English Goldings and American Simcoe. In the Belgian fashion, Ben adds additional flavourings in the form of fresh lemon balm and rosemary. He uses an authentic Belgian yeast culture and ages the beer for a month before it’s released. Unfiltered in bottle, it has a big herbal and fruit aroma and palate, with rich toasted grain and spicy hops.

A new brew that setting tongues wagging and sipping is The Lights Are On, a 5% pale ale with a massive hop hit from American Centennial, Chinook, Citra and Simcoe varieties. Wylam describes it as a “journey of prophetic divination” and Matt Boyle and his team hope it will lead them on the path to Exhibition Park and increased production and success.

*Wylam Brewery, South Houghton Farm, Heddon on the Wall, Wylam, Northumberland NE15 0EZ. The brewery has a visitor centre and bar for tasting. Brewery tours can be booked. 01661 853377. www.wylambrewery.co.uk.