‘I went on a hip brewery tour in Newcastle and found a new favourite beer’

Last weekend I participated in an activity I always look for whenever I go on a city break, but have never thought about doing in this country. That activity is a brewery tour.

I will happily admit that when I go on city breaks with friends and family, I am always looking for brewery tours and look at how good they are meant to be and, crucially, how much beer you get. I have done two in the past, the Staropramen tour in Prague and the Becks tour in Bremen. The latter being far better. Better tour, more informative and importantly, more beer.

I had never even considered a beer and brewery tour in this country, but that changed when I visited Anarchy Brewery, based at Benfield Business Park in Benton, just 15 mins from Newcastle by Metro. I attended with a friend, both of us excited at the prospect of sampling a selection of beers at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. What else would we have been doing?

We arrived at Anarchy Brewery shortly before 3pm after navigating through Benfield Business Park. We entered and were told that the tour was going to be the biggest one the company had ever done. We were joined by about 14 other people and were met by Simon Miles, founder of Anarchy Brewery.

Straightaway you could feel Simon’s passion and enthusiasm for brewing beer, something which he has been doing for over 40 years. Anarchy Brewery was only founded in 2012, but Simon’s knowledge shone through.

He explained in immense detail the brewing process of each beer they currently have (they are subject to change frequently). Handouts of hops were also passed around, to help everyone understand how each beer starts off as what is essentially a cup of grain.

After around an hour of learning the process of brewing beer, the difference between Blond Ales, Session IPA’s, Double IPA’s (DIPA) and Stouts, it was time to taste some beer. Six quarter pints of beer were on offer, varying from stouts to DIPA’s and ranging from a nice 4.1% to a hard-hitting 9.3%.

First up was Anarchy Brewery’s first and most popular beer – Blonde Star, which is 4.1%. The beer, which is brewed once or twice a week was very nice, and quite citrusy. Simon explained that this beer was all about the brewing process of the yeast and malt.

The second beer we tasted was Citra Star, also 4.1% strength. It is a session IPA which is very similar to Blonde Star. It is called Citra Star because it is brewed with a citra dry hop. Simon explained the idea for the beer came about in 2012 as the Newcastle Beer Festival at the time wanted a new beer from the brewery for the festival. My friend and I both preferred this to the Blonde Star, as it seemed ever so slightly smoother and a little bit more citrusy.

Next up was another session IPA, at 4.5%, called Flat Out. Personally, I was not too keen on this beer. Simon again explained passionately how the beer was brewed, saying that they leave the protein in, which was why it was slightly darker and cloudier than the previous two beers.

The fourth beer we tasted was far and away my favourite of the tour, a 7.7% DIPA called Skinny Dipa. The name and story of its creation was also a favourite. Simon was on a beach where he lived, and saw two nudists on the beach in a section they should not have been in. He created a beer, was thinking of a name and as it was a double IPA, he decided to name it Skinny Dipa.

Because it is a DIPA, it has double the amount of ingredients than a standard IPA. Simon described it as “fruit juice”, and I could not agree more. It was extremely refreshing and went down smoothly and easily. Perhaps too easily. Let’s put it this way, if I had three, four pints of this, I would dread to think about the state I would be in.

I will admit, the final two beers were not for me and I am not best placed to pass an opinion on them. The fifth beer was a 5.1% stout called Dark Souls and the final beer a 9.3% imperial stout aptly named Wall of Death. I am not a stout drinker, so I was only able to have a couple of sips of each before grimacing and passing both on to my friend. What I would say though, is that I can imagine a Guinness drinker would really enjoy them.

Tickets for the brewery tour cost £22 and for that you get a deeply informative tour from an enthusiastic and passionate Simon, and six quarter pints of beer.

View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/brewery-tour-newcastle-favourite-beer-31190297