New South Shields micro brewery and tap room prepares to open

One More Than Two Brew, in Portberry Street, South Shields, opens for drinkers to enjoy a pint or take away both its cask beers and other North East tipples from Saturday, September 12.

It will also showcase wares from other South Tyneside businesses in an attempt “to keep money in the local economy”.

Owner Chris Donovan, who used to run A Local Love, which brought together food and drink producers in Durham City, said: “The philosophy is very much that it is the community’s brewery.

"We want to support local projects and to let people choose what we should call new beers.

"For instance, we are sponsoring South Shields Football Club and it may well be that they end up calling their beer Julio Arca Ale.”

Explaining the brewery’s name, Chris, 35, said: “We originally wanted to call it Three Brew to reflect me, my business partner and the community.

“But then we found there was already a Three Brew in Cardiff so then thought why not One More Than Two Brew?

“The more we thought about it the more we liked it.”

Its initial batch of five brews also have long names.

A 3.8% blonde beer, for example, is called I Am A Brewer But If Mummy Asks I Am A Pianist In A Brothel.

Chris, who lives in South Shields, added: “When I started the brewery I asked people I knew in the brewing trade for advice and they would tell me things like always have plenty of buckets handy and keep the names short.

"So I thought why not do something different and name the beers after things I have heard which made me giggle?

"A friend of mine got a job with a brewery once, his mother was disappointed and he said ‘she would probably have been more pleased if I was a pianist in a brothel’.

“I thought what a tremendous name for a beer.”

After opening this Saturday, the tap room’s hours will be Fridays-Saturdays between noon-10pm and Sundays from noon-5pm. It will open for off-premises sales only from Mondays-Thursdays between noon-5pm.

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