One-man brewery proves true dedication

May 23 2008 by Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

MUSIC is proven to have a mellowing effect on the soul. Geniality, affability and pleasantly placid serenity drift and settle, then embrace the most resilient of characters.

The theory bears fruit at Durham City’s only brewery where, on our last visit, owner Michael Griffin had selections from The Rocky Horror Show blasting from a mini-hifi. Five years-worth of water has since passed the Hill Island Brewery window (the River Wear flows right outside) and now it’s the smooth tenor of Radio 2 that’s carried along – Wogan, Johnnie Walker, Mike Harding and all – though Time Warp, Hot Patootie Bless My Soul and Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me, have a definite musical cachet that can’t easily be dismissed.

“I’m not sure if music helps beer,” says sole operator Michael. “Beer certainly helps music, though.”

He has half an eye on next weekend (May 31 and June 1) and two Open Days where people are welcome to call in, look around and sample Dun Cow Bitter, one of his best-selling beers. Bottles will be available to take home while folk music – via some friends, paid in beer – will intermittently animate the atmosphere. “We did a similar thing just before Christmas with a short run of 500 bottles which sold well,” he says, “so who knows what might happen next weekend.”

Hill Island Brewery has been producing beer since 2002 in Durham’s Fowler’s Yard, the arts and crafts “village” just behind Back Silver Street, where neighbours include a hat designer, a photographer, jewellery designer, tapestry maker and portrait painter.

Michael was previously the brewer at Cathedrals, a restaurant, brewhouse, bistro and pub initiative incarcerated in a redundant police station and financed by sausage magnate Richard Lazenby. That venture failed through no fault of Michael’s skills and experience – following a degree in biological sciences at Sunderland University, specialising in brewing, he did a three-year stretch at the award-winning Durham Brewery and also had a spell at Cameron’s of Hartlepool.

Now he is Hill Island head cook and bottle-washer, manfully trying to carve a reputation out of the tough North East beer market, all by himself and all to the strains of Catch-22.

“I do absolutely everything,” he says. “I make the beer, do the ringing round, deliver it, collect the empties, then there’s the dreaded paperwork. It’s a bit of a strain but I’d need to build the business up before I could take on staff.

“I’m brewing once or twice a week, just short of two barrels at a time (72 gallons) and have actually done three this week – plus I’m decorating the brewery. Our core is two bitters and a stout – Dun Cow Bitter (4.2% alcohol by volume), Hill Island Bitter (3.9% ABV) and Griffin’s Irish Stout (4.5% ABV) which has started to go very well. I’m always doing a new beer, maybe once a month – people seem to demand it – and I try and do ‘seasonals’ such as Priory Summer Ale (3.5% ABV), a very pale and hoppy beer which sells well, particularly on a hot day – or at least on a dry day.”

To illustrate his best-selling beer, Michael has used the image of a modern sculpture by Andrew Burton, Professor of Fine Art at Newcastle University, whose large piece, Durham Cow – cast in bronze, ceramic and stone – has been watching over the city from its hill-top site since 1997.

He says: “It’s a tourist attraction and I like the way it’s looking at the cathedral.” It’s an example of the way he utilises local landmarks and historical references to name the beers (Hill Island is the area in Durham where the brewery sits). Dun Cow Bitter marks the origins of Durham Cathedral. Apparently, when 9th Century followers of St Cuthbert fled the island of Lindisfarne, fearing attack from Viking raiders, they took the remains of their venerated saint with them. They had wandered the mainland for more than a century when he appeared to them in a vision, directing them to a place called Dun Holm – which none of them had ever heard of. Just as they were beginning to despair of finding their destination, they overheard a milkmaid asking another whether she had seen a lost cow. The girl pointed towards Dun Holm. On hearing this, the joyous monks followed the milkmaid to the spot and established the cathedral and city of Durham.

“We’re picking up after a quiet start to the year,” Michael says. “The Angel in Crossgate in Durham has our beer on – it’s just recently put real ale in – and The Borough in Sunderland has ours most of the time, then there’s the Tap & Spile at Framwellgate Moor which takes it. Newcastle and Darlington are about as far as I get with deliveries on a regular basis. We’re in the Society of Independent Brewers’ (SIBA) direct distribution scheme as well. It would be nice to have a bit more coming in, though. Hops have trebled in price since last year and malt is half again what it was.”

Hill Island’s two-level brewhouse is possibly as small as it gets. The grain and hop store are on street level and steam drifting up from the mash tun a floor below brings an aroma of rich sweet malt and the promise of chocolate and coffee nuances to follow when the boil gets well under way. The mash tun/boiler is squeezed in downstairs alongside three round-topped fermentation tanks, looking for all the world like alien space invaders. A glance out of the window over the river confirms the ground floor is virtually on the same level as the university eights sculling rhythmically past. Thank goodness for thick walls and neap tides. Michael tries to avoid selling beer in large casks as he humps everything up a flight of stairs – the theory being: nine gallons good, 18 gallons (13 stone) bad back.

The brewery portfolio is wide-ranging and is typified by Hill Island Bitter, its inaugural brew, which is red-gold in colour with pronounced caramel flavours and a grassy, zesty bitterness from its two English hop varieties balancing its slight malt sweetness. There’s a lot to be said for it, one of them being: Hot Patootie Bless My Soul.

The Hill Island Brewery open weekend is Saturday May 31 and Sunday June 1, 11am-5pm, at Fowler’s Yard (off Back Silver Street), Durham City. Telephone 07740 932 584 for details.

I’m not sure if music helps beer. Beer certainly helps music, though

Beer bites

THE Maltings, South Shields, bank holiday weekend beer festival is already in full swing (Claypath Lane, opposite the Town Hall). There are 32 cask ales and ciders to sample. The Maltings opens daily at 4pm.

NOT to be outdone, the Boathouse at Wylam, Northumberland, gives its 12 handpulls over to Scottish ales this weekend with a 40-strong consignment marching over the border. Landlord Norman Weatherburn will be receiving certificates from the local Campaign For Real Ale branch (at 4pm) to mark winning South West Northumberland Pub of the Year and the combined Tyneside & Northumberland title.

HUGE thanks to the 100-plus folks who managed to find a seat at last week’s Liquid Bred beer tasting at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle. It was a tremendous success. And big thanks to breweries at Wylam, High House Farm, Big Lamp, Newcastle Federation, Hadrian & Border and Jarrow for their time and generosity.