Last year saw Durham Brewery celebrate its 25th anniversary, but don’t be fooled into thinking things stay the same after all this time in the North East beer industry.

Durham Brewery was set up by Christine Gibbs and her husband Steve back in 1994, and whilst Christine took a step back from the business a few years ago, Steve has continued to work at the brewery, albeit in more of a consultancy role.

Christine’s daughter, Elly Bell, has been a key part of the team for the past eight years, and as the last of the shares were transferred to her in 2019, she’s been working hard behind the scenes to not only keep the brand moving forward, but also to manage multiple departments of the business, alongside her team.

2020: The Year That Changed Everything

When lockdown came, the brewery’s online orders took over from trade sales, helping get them through. Elly says, “I really do need to give a massive shout out to the team who rarely get mentioned but are the people who make the brewery what it is.”

The Team

“Our trade customers will know Craig, our drayman.  He’s been with us for 18 years and brightens up customer’s days with his cheeky smile.  Will, our brewer, has worked here for the last 5 years.  Solid and dependable, always happy to do whatever is needed. Diane joined us in March as our first dedicated sales person.  She has a huge amount of experience in the trade and has held the brewery together throughout this difficult time.  Customer focussed, hard working and always willing to go the extra mile.”

In Search of…

The last piece of the jigsaw needed was a Head Brewer to complete the team and ensure a bright future for Durham Brewery. The successful applicant was Simon Whittington (who previously worked at Tooth & Claw Brewing in Hartlepool).

Elly says “We have been so lucky to have Simon join us.  He has a huge amount of knowledge and experience from his time at Tooth & Claw. Organised, inventive and enthusiastic. In addition to this he is such a genuinely nice person.”

After allowing Simon a couple of days to settle in, there was an impromptu staff meeting to discuss the future of the brewery.  To Simon, it was clear that Durham Brewery needed to make more of its popular big stouts.  The plant has a mash tun suitable for a brewery twice its capacity in order to produce enough wort for 10bbls of Temptation 10% imperial stout, and the bottling line is the perfect packaging solution for big stouts. 

The Plan

The team got really excited about doing more barrel aging, brewing saisons, and new fruit beers.  “So that’s the plan…as much as anyone can plan in the current climate”, says Elly. “We’ll keep doing what we do best and the core range will remain, but Simon will have his freedom to be inventive and experiment.” 

Here’s to the next 25 years of Durham Brewery – we can’t wait to try more!

If reading this has made you thirsty, head over to the Durham Brewery website to buy some beers. You can also follow them on social media via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

You can read more about Durham Brewery’s Temptation in this #TryTemptation guest post from Myles Lambert from back in January.