Durham Microbrewery

Durham Microbrewery & Bottle Shop is a unit-based venue located in an industrial estate just outside the city centre of Durham.

The microbrewery incorporates a bottle shop on one unit and the main brewery site across the courtyard in a bigger unit. The bottle shop is a small venue where people can come and pop by to browse and buy bottles of their finely crafted beer. There is also a little bar with a couple of hand-pumps where they serve some of their beer on tap to sit and drink at the bottle shop.

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Why Visit Durham Microbrewery and Bottle Shop?

Drinks

The beer they produce is like no other. The processes they use are completely traditional and they are constantly experimenting with new, alternate recipes. The range of beers is completely diverse, ranging from stouts to pale ales to IPAs and sours, so there is a drink that suits all different tastes among beer-lovers.

Bottle shop

The bottle shop is located within their premises. It is a small, cosy, indoor venue with a few tables and chairs to sit at and rest. They have fridges and shelves stocked with their different beers, most of them are in bottles and kept nice and refreshingly cold. The option to order drinks and have them delivered to your doorstep is also available. You can view their beers in stock online and order them here.

As well as being a shop, the bottle shop also has a little bar with two hand-pull pumps and a draught tap where you can go to buy a pint to sit and drink at the shop. They are soon going to open a bigger, established bar that opens to the public more often. At the moment, the bottle shop is not an official bar, and is only open during normal retail business hours.

Events

They have brewery tours currently running every other Saturday and have recently resumed doing this since Covid. The brewery tours are a fun, interactive and very informative experience that entails the head brewer taking you through the brewing process in their brewery facility, from the ingredients coming into the bottling machines. A real eye-opening experience for people of varying interests. At the end of the tour, you get to try some of their beer for free!

The brewery tours are available to book on their website here.

Other events that take place are their annual beer festival each summer. The festival includes food, beer and entertainment. There is a street food van selling delicious, good-quality food with vegetarian options also included. The entertainment typically includes a guitarist or acoustic band playing live music. During the festival, there are extra tables and seats provided outside throughout the entire courtyard outside the bottle shop and brewery unit. Their bottle shop bar is open and there is an extra pop-up bar inside the brewery as well, the range of beers available on tap are very extensive. The beer festival is an event that has a vibrant, high-energy atmosphere where people can come to chill and enjoy the day or to kick start a celebratory party.

Accessibility

The microbrewery bottle shop is friendly and welcoming to people of all needs and requirements. Whether people are visiting to quickly buy some drinks to take home or to stop by for a chat over a pint, the venue remains to be a comfortable environment.

• Wheelchair accessibility. Wheelchairs and pushchairs can easily be pushed through the main entrance, there are no awkward steps or tight corners and there is enough space inside the shop.
• Disabled toilets. There is a toilet facility straight in front of the main entrance, easy and quick to access and equipped for disabled users.
• There are parking bays right outside the bottle shop and brewery units, free of charge and easy to drive in and out of. Note that, during the beer festival, the whole courtyard is closed off to vehicles, but people can still park on the side of the road in most parts of the industrial estate. If you’re not comfortable using public transport and/or don’t intend on staying too long or having much to drink, this is ideal for those circumstances.
• Public transport. There is a nearby bus stop just a few minutes’ walk, located on the main road bypassing the industrial estate. The bus service runs directly from Durham and from other nearby towns and villages outside of Durham. The brewery is also within walking distance of the main housing estate of Bowburn. People do not need to worry about arranging lifts and/or driving to the microbrewery so everyone in the group can enjoy having a drink.
• Outdoor seating. There is plenty of outdoor space. If it does get crowded inside or you just need fresh air during your visit, there are tables to sit at outside the bottle shop as well.

Other benefits

• Diverse drinks options. Some of their beers are gluten-free and vegan-friendly. People of all health and dietary requirements don’t need to worry about being left out.
• Dog-friendly. The microbrewery bottle shop is dog friendly. People out walking their furry friends can stop by at the shop for as long as they like and bring their pet inside with them.
• Family-friendly. Parents and families or anyone with children can also come to the venue. The bottle shop is mostly quiet during normal opening times. The bottle shop is not officially a bar, so it never gets rowdy or noise.

If you are interesting in learning more about Durham Brewery, visit their website here. To check out other similar venues that are recommended by Eric, please click here to check them out.