Member Article

New tasting room and licensed bar for farmhouse brewery

A Northumberland farmhouse brewery, launched in the former milking parlour of a dairy farm less than 12 months ago, will now offer a brand new tasting room and licensed bar on the premises.

On Saturday 18th November, Rigg & Furrow farmhouse brewery, based at Acklington Park Farm near Morpeth, will formally open the tasting room, launch its new Christmas beer and mark its first nine months of business with a fun, festive occasion of beer and bonhomie!

And with the opening of these beautifully refurbished, old farmyard buildings, and a new license to sell beer on and off the premises here, you can look forward to many more similar events over the coming months!

So far in 2017, Rigg & Furrow have supplied their distinctive beer to over 100 bars, venues and hotels from Scotland to Yorkshire - including well known Northumberland and Tyneside venues: The Office in Morpeth (CAMRA North East pub of the year); The Free Trade Inn; Town Wall; and Bridge Tavern. Bespoke, branded labels on bottles of beer to mark special occasions or weddings have proven particularly popular.

It’s been 12 months of hard graft for the Howie family who are behind the venture, but then as farmers, they’re used to working all hours. The business came about when Theo, a former music teacher and accomplished brewer from London, married farmer’s daughter Pippa Howie. Wondering how to make use of the wonderful old farm buildings no longer in use, the couple set up the brewery with father Robert and mother Louise. And it’s a true family affair, with Louise’s brother Simon, a highly talented local carpenter – hand crafting the new bar and creating the beautiful tasting room, keeping the character of the old meal house.

Rigg & Furrow takes care to brew beer that reflects its immediate rural Northumberland surroundings, with much of the beer created from grain grown locally, and the farm has been growing Golden Promise barley for this purpose.

The name “Rigg & Furrow” is taken from the field on the farm where Theo and Pippa were married – which has an ancient wavelike pattern of ridges and troughs formed over the years by ploughing.

Core beers from Rigg & Furrow are: The Pale Ale, brewed with locally grown Golden Promise barley and English hops; the popular Run Hop Run, a session IPA made with Simcoe hops and a small proportion of oats for smoothness; hoppy, red-tinged delicious Trickster and the robust Owl Porter, made with a blend of five malts.

In addition to the four core beers, a regular seasonal assortment of Farmhouse Ales are produced from ingredients grown on the farm including elderflower, rhubarb and a new Bramble Beer. Ever open to creativity and experiment, Theo is trying out some beer made with wild yeast cultured from the farm and is currently ageing some of his beer in whisky barrels – which adds a new depth and complexity to the flavour.

Theo says: “It’s been all hands to the pumps for the whole of 2017 and with the opening of the new tasting room I don’t see it letting up at all next year. But it’s been the most exhilarating and exciting experience too. I’m very grateful to my in-laws and wife for their invaluable input into the business. We’ve had tons of support from neighbouring farmers, the Northumberland community and our amazing stockists too. One landlord called me at 10 pm this week, just to tell me how well the “Run Hop Run” was going down in his pub - and that’s such a boost. So, our celebration on 18th November is really just for us to say a big thank you to everyone who’s supported us this year and a big “Cheers!” from the Howie family for our next year of brewery business!”

So, if you’re out and about this Christmas, look out for the distinctive farmyard pump clips for Rigg & Furrow: Aggie the Acklington Park pet Highland Cow features on the Pale Ale; there are farmyard Indian Runner ducks on Run Hop Run; boxing hares on Trickster; and a wise old owl on Owl Porter.

And look out for news of lots more tasting events at Rigg & Furrow in 2018

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kate Slater .