Growing North East craft beer firm Black Storm Brewery has snapped up a County Durham firm in its third big acquisition.
Whitley Bay-based Black Storm was only launched in 2017 yet it already boasts a number of bars, several specialist beer stores and a growing list of brands.
The firm’s beers are on sale in Co-op stores as well as at Beer Box, its first retail unit at Newcastle Stack, and Beer Box 2 in Manchester. They also form part of the menu at its Storm Cellar venues, its bottle shop and tap rooms opened in Whitley Bay and Stockton.
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The brewery expanded into Newcastle recently with the opening of D.E.A.D – which stands for Drop Everything And Drink – on High Bridge, which has become an urban retreat for beer lovers.
Now the firm’s founder Paul Hughes has revealed it has swooped for Black Hill Brewery in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, a business launched 12 years ago by a former miner.
The undisclosed deal sees Black Storm take on the brewery and its 12 popular ales and bitters, all of which are named after Durham coal mining seams, including 70 Fathom, Top Busty and Jet.
The purchase is its third in its first 16 months of trading, following on from the acquisition of gluten-free microbrewery Autumn Brewing Co in September 2018, and its deal to take over Stockton bar Rios in March of this year, transforming it into its second Storm Cellar bar.
Mr Hughes said the brewery deal comes at an excellent time for the company as it reports substantial growth in its on and off trade business divisions, including its first supermarket listing with the Co-op earlier in the year.
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He said the Chester-le-Street location is ideal for Black Storm’s planned expansion both north and south of the region.
“Since we launched Black Storm in December 2017, we have been working with the excellent Hadrian Border Brewery to develop the quality and consistency of our beer, perfecting our core range and experimenting with new flavours for our seasonal beers,” he said.
“We are now in the perfect position to scale-up both our output and ambition, which our own brewery will allow us to do.
“With our original master brewer now in charge of his own kit, we are looking forward to continuing to deliver our beers to our customers in the consistent way they have come to expect them from us and to start mixing things up with some new innovation and exciting additions to our range.
“The increase and control of product output will also support and enable the ongoing growth and development of our own retail arms and craft beer venues; now totaling two regional Storm Cellars, Drop Everything And Drink – the company’s craft beer bar on High Bridge, Newcastle – and Beer Box, the specialist craft beer store in Stack social hub in central Newcastle.
“More Storm Cellars are planned across the North and Beer Box number 2 opened last weekend in Hatch Manchester, the award-winning food, drink and retail destination on Oxford Road.
“It’s an exciting time at Black Storm, and we’re looking forward to what the next few years bring.”