#216 | A Love of Local

Meet Red Kellie. Red is joint owner and Head Brewer of the First & Last Brewery. They are a family run brewery, taproom and event space situated in rural Northumberland. The brewery doubles as a community space used for everything from art workshops to gigs and literature events. They brew a wide range of styles from hazy IPAs, through to sours, wheat beers, stouts and Belgian beers. After helping to establish Stu Brew at Newcastle University (Europe’s first student run brewery), then Twice Brewed Brewery Red set up the First & Brewery in 2016. Red’s main passion is for pairing wild ingredients from the local hedgerows and forests with beer styles. Why? So that their qualities complement and accentuate each other. Experimentation and innovation of working with fresh, hand-picked ingredients such as gorseflowers, sprucetips, bullaces and wild raspberries also give her the perfect excuse to be outside soaking up the beautiful local environment. At First & Last Brewery, their beers are inspired by the wild, untamed landscape and dark skies of Northumberland. So what better opportunity to hear from the cover stars of this month’s Brewers Journal publication. Speaking in Newcastle at the end of February, Red explained how the team are passionate about making beer and why they love talking about the science, art and history of beer & brewing.