Hadrian Border and Black Storm’s brewing fall-out goes public

A battle between brewers in the north east of England has become a hot topic on social media this week after each business questioned the scruples of the other.

The issue, which saw Hadrian Border Brewery, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, declaring that it had contract brewed Black Storm Beer since last summer but not been paid, led to Black Storm threatening litigation, calling the issue “rumour” and “fabrication”.

In a post on X on 5 May, Hadrian Border Brewery admitted: “This is an unusual post. We have never aired our dirty laundry in public”. But then stated that the owner of Tornado Brewing (aka Black Storm) “will no doubt threaten litigation for exposing him” and yet added: “We’ve considered this carefully, but think people should know the truth behind the potential success of this company. So you understand why we are exposing him, the debt is £20k+”

Hadrian Border Brewery then revealed that “Tornado Brewing engaged us in August 2023 to contract brew. To keep the brand alive while they installed the new brewery in its new home in Gateshead. However, they won’t pay” and added that there were “no disputes on product or services” but that by November the team “passed the case to a debt collection agency, only then did a list of spurious complaints get sent in reason for non-payment. To date, no beer has been returned”.

Hadrian Border Brewery added: “During a conversation with the director, Andy was told he didn’t owe us any money, the debt belonged to the company. We concluded from his attitude that we were not going to get any payment.”

In response to the posts from Hadrian Border Brewery, Black Storm Beer released a statement to its followers on Facebook and replied: “It has come to our attention that there are rumours appearing on social media. At this stage we would like to categorically refute these allegations as a dishonest representation of the facts. It should also be remembered that anyone reposting or commenting is responsible for their own actions.”

In an additional twist, the post warned commentators of their behaviour towards the business’s staff regarding the matter and said: “Aggressive, abusive and racially aggravated behaviour has not been and will not be tolerated. Nor will the mental abuse [of] our staff. Aside from being unprofessional, it is abhorrent and is not welcome in any world, but unfortunately shows the true character of some in society.”

Black Storm also noted that its community has “seen through these rumours and the fabrications by keyboard warriors who feel the need to jump on the bandwagon”.

Eager to understand the situation, while some are blacklisting the brewery for the behaviour it feels is unjust, others are seeking further clarification and asking Black Storm to comment on the matter of the lack of payment to Hadrian’s Border. However, when querying the issue, many people digging deeper said that their messages were resulting in them getting blocked by the brewery for asking questions

On 14 July 2023, Black Storm Beer shared an image of its new brewery set up and said: “The new management at Black Storm (note: the old owner has nothing, zilch, nowt, to do with the business!) would like to express a huge thank you to the team this week”.

The nod to new ownership leaves a query for the industry over who is responsible for the debt to Hadrian Border Brewery and whether this was written off by administrators prior to a pre-pack deal or if the brewery’s future success will see it making repayments.

One thing is certain, the fiscal challenges that each small brewing business faces in the present climate are already mounting and reputation management is crucial when it comes to supportive communities within beer.

Hadrian Border Brewery and Black Storm Brewing have both been contacted by db for further comment on the issue.