A Newcastle brewery is celebrating award wins, increased production and a listing at the city鈥檚 airport.

Full Circle Brew Co, which is based in Newcastle鈥檚 Hoult鈥檚 Yard, is part of the Lanchester group of companies that also includes Lanchester Wines, Greencroft Bottling, The Wine Fusion, Spicers of Hythe, Bon Bon鈥檚 Wholesale, Lanchester Properties and Spirit & Co.

Last month it took three awards at SIBA Beer X event, winning praise for two of its IPA beers and for its online shop, as well as being commended in the commercial achievement category. The brewery, which was established in 2019, produces an average of 22,000 pints of beer a week and exports to 10 countries around the world, including France, Italy, Denmark and Spain.

Its international credentials have also been boosted by a listing at Newcastle International Airport, where it will be stocked at the Asther & Thyme and the Tap & Brew bars. Last year the brewery launched its first seasonal beer into Sainsbury鈥檚, which has led to three permanent listings, and this year it will also sell products in Asda.

Founder Ben Cleary said: 鈥淭hese successes are off the back of extremely hard work from the Full Circle team. We launched just before Covid lockdowns were announced which forced us to turn to export and we鈥檙e now reaping the benefits.

鈥淭his also taught us to be creative and think about alternative routes to market and, in 2023, we developed wedding packages which allow couples exclusive use of the taproom and we have bookings throughout 2024. Beer is always at the heart of our business and this year we鈥檝e upgraded our brewery with two new 90 hectolitre SSV tanks, a Microcan CP10 and a wraparound box packer.

鈥淲e now have 600 hectolitre fermentation capacity which is available as a contract brewing facility. It鈥檚 been an extremely busy 12 months for us, but we鈥檙e not slowing down. We鈥檙e soon to launch a collaborative beer with the Oddballs underwear brand raising awareness of testicular cancer, we go live in Asda this summer and we鈥檙e in talks to be the official beer of a very big North East event.鈥