Revelation in Bowburn

[shewhomust]

We had planned to go walking today, but I'm sitting under my window in the attic, with the rain tapping steadily above me. There's always that hesitation when we decide not to go out: will we regret this, when the rain clears and the sun comes out? Not today.

Yesterday, in between various errands, we dropped in on the Durham Brewery for the opening of their new reception area / shop. This could conjure up the wrong image: the brewery - and it's a very good brewery, and is serious about producing a range of high-quality beers - is located on an industrial estate in Bowburn, and the new reception area is just one more unit in their incremental expansion. No longer will buying beer there involve squeezing into the tiny office space, where the staff were always welcoming, but sometimes had to edge past you to find what you wanted; and no longer will the simultaneous arrival of two customers mean that someone is queueing outside the door. It's less colourful, but more practical; and if the brewery is to survive, increasing direct sales has to be a good thing.

Like every good booze-up in a brewery, the party involved free beer ('Revelation' was not - as the name might have implied - dramatic or attention-grabbing, but a gentle, easy-drinking bitter) and a tour of the brewery itself. Steve was a teacher in a former life, and gives good tour, and we spent longer than we had expected; and came away with a few bottles to tide us over until the next visit.

Comments

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an excellent establishment doing the right thing: handing out free beers!