Tucked away down an alley behind the White Horse fish and chip shop in Northallerton, Truefitt’s Tap is not easy to find. But Northallerton’s hidden gem is well worth hunting out.

Serving beers created by well-respected local brewer Matt Truefitt and run by his family, it has already become a venue for those-in-the-know and people seeking good quality ale.

The pub opened in May this year and sells ales and beers brewed from the Truefitt Brewing Company in Middlesbrough, along with other wines, ciders and spirits and on Saturday night it also serves cocktails.

The pub business belongs to Matt’s wife, Steph Truefitt and her mother Val, who run the venture together.

Steph says her new career comes with some irony, as she worked as a prison drug and alcohol worker before setting up the pub.

“In my previous job I was trying to get people off alcohol and now I’m selling it,” she said.

“My friends keep teasing me about it.

“My mum was an accounts manager at the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough for 25 years so it’s been a massive change for both of us, but we’re getting there. We’re enjoying it.”

Naturally, Truefitt’s Tap sells its own ales.

The pub serves four core beers on tap; a pale ale called Erimust, a bitter called North Riding, a stout called Ironopolis and Mydlsburgh, an Indian Pale Ale named after the original settlement of Middlesbrough.

Matt also brews a range of specialist ales which are sold in the pub.

To ensure the quality of the beers served, the Tap settled on an unusual method of serving its pints.

Instead of keeping the casks in a cellar linked up to hand pulls at the bar, the beers are placed in a storage area under a staircase. They then only have to travel along a short pipe linked to taps in the wall from where the drinks are poured.

It means the beers do not have to be transported via long tubes from the cellar before being poured and lessens the chance of people being served beer that has gone stale or warm whilst sitting in pipes.

“Because the beer only travels through a five inch pipe through the wall, the beer is in really good condition when it’s poured. It ensures the flavour and temperature of the beer is spot-on and there’s no wastage.

“It just makes it a little bit more awkward when it comes to changing the barrels but it my husband does that, so he’s the one banging his head in the cupboard.”

Steph’s husband Matt Truefitt started out in brewing ten years ago.

For five years he managed Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool. He has set up numerous micro-breweries and brewed beers for numerous other people.

They include the micro-brewery at the White Swan in Stokesley and others for organisations in London and elsewhere in the country. His ales have also been served in Westminster to MPs.

As Truefitt Beers attend a lot of farmers’ markets, they sometimes invite good local food producers to take part in theme nights at the pub. Recently they held a tapas night and during a pie and pea night served locally-made pies.

As the pub is situated over two floors, it also allows the venue to offer live acoustic music.

Drinkers can also sit in the pub’s sunny beer garden.

“This is a proper little hideaway,” said Steph.

“It’s the type of place I would like to go for a drink.”