A STOCKTON family run microbrewery have started a crowdfunding page for an in-house canning line.

This will allow Three Brothers Brewery to showcase their Teesside brews both nationally and around the world, as well as allowing them to adapt to the new climate following Covid-19.

So far, Three Brothers Brewery have raised almost half of their £15,000 target in less than a week with a variety of packages available for beer lovers.

The brewery was set up four years ago, by brothers Kit and David Dodd and their brother-in-law Chris Wright.

Since opening, they have doubled their capacity, brewed over a million pints, launched a line of kegs and bottles and fuelled beer lovers from Teesside to Edinburgh, Nottingham, Manchester and everywhere in between.

Their dream is to blend their love of brewing great beers as well as integrating the business into the local community.

This led to their creation of the popular Eaglescliffe and St Mary's Norton Beer Festivals.

Not only did these events raise awareness and money for local charities, it also allowed them to showcase a great selection of local small businesses, from microbreweries to musicians and artisan food traders.

David said: "What happened with Covid with a lot of pubs being shut we found there was a massive increase of people drinking at home. We want to make an investment in canning machines which allow us to distribute beers and get to peoples houses and allow us to do more obscure beers.

"People want to drink better beer at home so this will allow us to get it to them and keeps everything on site. It should be really exciting."

Over the years, the trio have faced many challenges, but nothing like the impact of Covid-19.

Like many businesses, they have had to adapt and diversify to enable survival in these uncertain times.

They adapted by delivering bottles, bag in box beers, cask and kegs, using a beer delivery service.

The brewery lost around 98 per cent of business from the hospitality sector due to the coronavirus lockdown.

David said: "The support we have from people has been amazing, it's just phenomenal.

"What we're seeing more is when pubs reopened, a lot of people who went to pubs don't like going to them anymore. Pubs are really being hit hard by this whole thing. Our home delivery service continued to roll - this is a way we can distribute more beer into peoples homes."

Installing their own canning line will give the brewery the flexibility to adapt to the changing climate.

It will also allow the family business to showcase their Teesside brews nationally and around the world.

This additional route to market would also help safety net jobs with the potential to grow.

Although a large investment at a very difficult time for everyone, the brewery believe the ability to can beer themselves alongside their existing bottle range will let them stretch their craft beer legs, from IPA’s, through to sours.

To donate go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-three-brothers-brewery-get-a-canning-line