An international collaboration between two Durhams (Durham UK and Durham North Carolina) has culminated in the most sociable way imaginable – a double beer festival on either side of the Atlantic.
Four craft brewers from Durham North Carolina were paired with counterparts from County Durham. Steam Machine Brewing Company, headed by husband and wife Nick & Gulen Smith, found themselves collaborating with Fullsteam Brewing.
“Perfect really, given the name!” Nick says, “But the similarities with our new beery pen-friends span beyond just a reference to industrial steam. They have a love of their locality – of their ingredients and environment. We are both keen foragers and like to put unique local ingredients into our brews, and beyond that, there’s a belief that hospitality is about making guests from near and far feel truly welcome, as if they are in our living room.”
The Beer Plan
The official plan was for the participating breweries to swap recipes, and brew each other’s beers on the opposite sides of the ocean, but Steam Machine and Fullsteam share a bit of a rebellious nature:
“We went a little off-piste,” Gulen says, “it just seemed more fun to design a completely new beer together and to see how we could interpret it with local ingredients. We settled on a gose, which is a lesser-known German style of beer that is spiced and mildly salted. They have been very popular in the craft beer scene in recent years, and often feature tropical and tart fruit.”
Fullsteam opted to produce a blueberry gose, with foraged serviceberries, and sea salt from the Outerbanks. Steam Machine used native European bilberries, Whitby sea salt, wild hedgerow hogweed and angelica seeds. Both beers used spelt grown locally to each brewery.
“The spirit of the beers is the same. It’s been a lot of fun,” Gulen says.
Participating Breweries
Other participating North Carolina breweries Bull City, Ponysaurus, and Glass Jug each produced a beer from recipes created by Durham Brewery, Caps Off Brewery, and Hops & Dots Brew Co.. A successful outdoor festival on the US side saw over a thousand visitors trying beers envisaged by County Durham brewers.
The UK Event
And now, it’s time to party on the British side…
“We wanted to do the project justice,” Nick continues, “so we are amassing all the beers brewed by the home team to one place – Steam Machine Brewing Company – for a one-day beer festival. We have found some amazing local musicians specialising in Southern Blues / Americana, including the wildly talented Gary Grainger of Aycliffe Village. And that’s not all, we are working hard speaking with authentic North Carolina street food vendors to create delicious and authentic food for the occasion… It’s going to be a lot of fun!”
“Best of all, it’s open to all and completely free,” Gulen finishes.
A Tale of Two Durhams Beer Festival takes place on Saturday 10th September (1pm – 10.30pm) at Steam Machine Brewing Co. in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The beer fest is free entry – check the Facebook event here for updates.
Read all about Steam Machine’s Winter Beer Festival which took place back in January.
You can also follow updates on Steam Machine via their social media: