The First & Last Brewery, based in rural Northumberland, has been awarded overall silver in the bottle/can beer category at the National Indie Beer Awards.
The award-winning beer, Spruce, also won gold in the bottle/can continental-style category.
Brewed using hand-picked spruce tips foraged from the local Northumberland landscape, the award win marks a significant milestone for the brewery as they celebrate their 10th year in business.
“These foraged beers are something that I get great pleasure from creating,” said Red Kellie, head brewer and co-owner. “I love being outdoors, soaking up the wildness of the Northumberland landscape.
“It’s about being close to nature and taking the time to select the freshest ingredients, then finding the beer style that best communicates those flavours.”
The brewery has made foraging a cornerstone of its identity, a shift inspired by the slower pace of the 2020 lockdowns. By reconnecting with their homebrewing and country wine-making roots, the team began experimenting with the fruits and flowers of the local countryside.
“I love that these beers are made with Northumberland,” added co-owner Sam Kellie. “They encourage creativity and demand patience as we wait for the seasons to change. They offer a true taste of our region and link our brewery directly into the wider landscape.”
Because the ingredients are sourced locally, the flavour profiles of these beers evolve annually, dictated by the sunlight and rainfall of the growing season. This approach reduces environmental impact and celebrates the unpredictability of the natural world — a philosophy that has now clearly resonated with the national SIBA judging panel.
Spruce is a dry, crisp, and gently spicy 4.6% ABV wheat saison, designed to be highly refreshing. Bright lemon zest aromas and subtle pine notes offer a distinctive bite to this thirst-quenching beer, which is brewed using fresh hand-foraged spruce tips.
As part of the brewery’s Made with Northumberland range, Spruce celebrates the beautiful, untamed land where the First & Last team lives and works. Like all beers in this speciality series, it is vegan-friendly and brewed exclusively with locally sourced and foraged ingredients. It will be brewed again in May, when the spruce tips are next in season.
