Border brews (Cumbria and Northumberland)

Adrian Tierney-Jones discovers the beers of England’s most northerly counties, Cumbria and Northumberland

Cumbria and Northumberland don’t immediately spring to mind when we think about the great beer counties of England.

Southern neighbour Yorkshire makes a lot of noise about its best bitters, while the city state of Newcastle gives its allegiance to the eponymous brown ale (even though it’s brewed elsewhere these days). Further north, Scotland broods with its new wave golden ales and more traditional dark sweet heavies.

Small is beautiful here. Cumbria’s Jennings is the sole family brewery, which for better or worse was bought by Wolverhampton & Dudley in 2005. Unlike many brewery buy-outs though, this might just have a happy ending.

The picturesque brewery is still home to beers such as the rich, dark and malty Snecklifter and the spritely, citrusy Cocker Hoop.

The rest of the county’s 20 breweries are brewpubs and micros of varying sizes, producing all sorts of beer styles – there doesn’t seem to be a significant Cumbrian style. Many are based in the countryside, in old barns, at the back of rural inns or down on the farm.

In many ways Cumbria is an area similar to Devon, which also has a fair few breweries – beautiful scenery, lots of tourists, an enviable lifestyle and more importantly a reasonable number of free houses. Hence the attraction to brew.

Northumberland, one of England’s most isolated but beautiful counties, is also seeing a heartening revival in brewing, spearheaded by Hexhamshire and Northumberland Breweries, both of whom started in the 1990s. There are .....

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By Adrian Tierney-Jones

Section : Regional Focus

Page number : 34