Micro-brewery creates Centurion ale to mark a special celebration

Based in the rear of Number Twenty 2's in Darlington, the brewery has developed a Centurion IPA to celebrate the 100th brew to be made since the venue secured its liquor licence in November 2014.

With a variety of tipples to tickle the tastebuds of the most discerning palates, the brewery only supplies the bar's customers with their unique pints.

• Late opening, bars, and a winter garden: ambitious plans for historic covered market

Graham Vasey, who has worked his way from bar staff to head brewer, has a passion for the craft which filters through into the beers he lovingly creates in the small production room.

The 38-year-old has created more than 20 brews ranging from session beers, a single hop IPA and, his own personal favourite, a dark stout.

Pub owner Ralph Wilkinson with head brewer Graham Vasey filling up the hopper

"I started working here in 2004 as a barman," he said. "but I have been working her full time in the distillery since 2016. It has been a great learning experience, I have visited a number of breweries and learned the skills of the trade as I have been going along.

"We have five core brews – a session ale, a mid-range ale, a single hop IPA, a stronger American style IPA and, depending on the time of the year, a stout or a pale ale.

"We brew different beers throughout the year, which really don't have to travel to our customers – we make them in the back of the bar and then serve at the front – so you can't get any more local than that.

"For this special brew – Centurion IPA – we are using a specially created recipe using a combination of different hop varieties. This special brew is going to have a whole new taste for our customers.

"There is definitely a sense of pride when we create a new flavour and our customers enjoy it – we do get immediate feedback as the bar is usually the only place where you can buy our beers. At the minute people will be able to try some of drinks at Voodoo lounge as part of the town's beer festival."

The first step in the brewing process involves mixing malt grain with water heated to the desired temperature before the distinctive mix of hops, including Target, Jester and Cascade varieties, are added at a later stage.

Mr Vasey, pictured above, said: "The brewing set-up is simple but that's exactly how I like it. Because we are not a very big operation, we have the ability to create a new recipe, try it out with our customers and make any slight alterations to the make sure that it proves successful.

"We also have some locally made barrels which we use to give our drinks their distinctive colour and flavour.

"I can't wait to be able to serve this to customers in a couple of weeks."

The award-winning pub on Coniscliffe Road, which is the home of the Village Brewer, also distils its own rum, gin and single malt liquor – they can't call it whisky as it isn't aged for long enough.

The pub's owner Ralph Wilkinson, who spent 18 months securing the licence to distil liquor on the premises, added: "We are probably one of the smallest breweries in the country and we are one of the only places where we actually create our own liquor for the gin before adding out own unique ingredients to create its distinctive flavour and serving it to our customers."