Two by Two Brewery Taproom, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Brewery and tap in a typical industrial unit, counter to the right with a couple of pulls at the far end, a porter and a lacklustre session IPA on my visit, there’s also a selection of kegs. Flights of three thirds are available. You are drinking among the brewing vessels seating at typical hard forms and fold up tables, there is also a pool table, board games, piped music and a big screen probably just for major sporting occasions. It also has an outside area where the usual food van is on opening days and houses the toilets. Funky artwork murals with a Mexican theme on a couple of the walls.

This was the second of two breweries we visited for the first time on Saturday in Byker. Unlike Full Circle, I've always really enjoyed Two By Two beers. They can often taste very similar, but as I like them, it doesn't particularly bother me. The Two By Two Brewery Tap is much more of a typical brewery tap with a simple warehouse space containing both the brewery equipment and some tables for drinking with a wooden bar against one wall. The bar had plants and cacti on top. Shelves around the warehouse walls had further plants and more cacti. The bar had a couple of handpulls for cask with their Stout & Krush Superdelic being on. A blackboard to the right of the bar also listed the keg beers - Pineapple Sour, Oat IPA, Strata DDH, Pale Ale, Nelson Pale, Albany Pale & Dragonfly. A fridge also to the right-hand side contained various bottles and cans, including ciders. My Krush Superdelic was enjoyable and tasted pretty much exactly as I'd hoped and expected. One thing we immediately noticed was that the taproom was very warm inside. It wasn't the warmest day in Newcastle and often breweries in warehouses lack any form of heating and can be very chilly. This is certainly the warmest brewery I've visited! Children and dogs are welcome. Board games are available to play and were in use. There is also a large projector screen, presumably for big sporting events. There was unusually a dartboard near the entrance and events promoted included live music and a monthly dog social! Toilets are outside in portocabins. There was also a van selling pizzas, which were somewhat cheaper than those sold at Full Circle. There are also a number of picnic tables near the entrance for outdoor drinking. With it being so warm inside, nobody was braving these and the pizza van ended up looking a bit forlorn too. As I said at the beginning, I do enjoy Two By Two beers. With a decent taproom offering activities for everyone, I think I could quite happily have a good session here. One of the best brewery taps of this kind I have visited.

Archetypal brewery taproom housed in an anonymous industrial estate unit, with a compact counter and plenty of canteen tables between this and the line of brewing vessels on the opposite side. Also has a number of wooden benches out in the front yard. Something of a (deliberately) cloudy beer specialist, I tried the Session IPA from one of a pair of handpumps, but also the clear Porter from the eight keg taps, and both in great form as you would expect.