Brewing's back at Wearside

Four famous beers have returned to their spiritual home following the opening of a new brewery by the Sunderland-based Double Maxim Beer Company.

The launch of the new plant, in Houghton le Springs, Wearside, means locally brewed beers will be available in regional pubs for the first time in eight years.

The new brewery has been launched by three former Vaux Brewery directors who purchased the rights to the brands when the brewery closed in 1999. Four beers, Double Maxim, Samson, Wards Bitter and Maximum, will become the principal brands produced at the new plant. Production will also see the four beers brewed for pubs and supermarkets across the UK.

Double Maxim's beers have been brewed and packaged on contract for the company by Stockport brewer Frederic Robinson for the past seven years. Sales and marketing director Doug Trotman said the new brewery marked a new milestone in Wearside brewing history.

"It's a critical event in local beer circles following the closure of Vaux, and although the UK beer market has been in decline for some years we believe we can capitalise on the growth in bottled and locally-brewed cask ales.

"The new brewery will be well placed to prosper on the back of this growth, and we expect our initial output of one million pints per year will increase.

"The capacity of the new plant is designed to see a trebling of these volumes," he revealed.

The plant was obtained from Scottish & Newcastle's new product development base at the Canongate Brewery in Edinburgh and has a brew length of 25 barrels. The team behind the new venture comprises former Vaux head brewer Jim Murray, former finance director Mark Anderson and Doug Trotman.