LONDON: Thousands of litres of beer have been seized from a North East brewery amid suspicion it was brewed without a licence.
Two sites operated by Jarrow Breweries were raided by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on suspicion of operating without a brewing licence.
Officers seized a tanker containing 14,760 litres of beer from a site in Jarrow along with 24 nine gallon kegs, one 18 gallon keg and 64 30 litre kegs.
A further 6,678 litres were seized from the firm’s the Maltings site, in South Shields, along with 33 nine gallon kegs of beer.
The booze was seized under section 139 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which relates to brewing without a licence.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “Beer Duty is chargeable on certain types of beer if their strength is more than 1.2% alcohol by volume and beer is liable for beer duty as soon as it’s ‘produced’.
HMRC is committed to ensuring that individuals and businesses operate within the parameters of the law when it comes to the production and packaging of beer.”
The seizure adds to a difficult year for the North East’s biggest brewery.
On April 15 the firm was put into liquidation though a new company was formed and continued trading.
The firm was founded in 2002 when publicans and real ale enthusiasts Jess and Alison McConnell started brewing at The Robin Hood pub in Jarrow, South Tyneside.
It is famous for its Rivet Catcher ale and had recently attempted to crack the USA craft beer market.
The Chronicle was unable to contact Jarrow Brewery for a comment.
