Newcastle Brown Ale and ale in the Federation Brewery site in Dunston, Gateshead, which was to pass to them with their £7.2m purchase of the Federation Brewery. The purchase and consolidation at Dunston created the new brewing company, Newcastle Federation Breweries. The last production run of Brown Ale in Newcastle came off the Tyne Brewery line in May 2005. Pre-production trial brews were conducted at Dunston to ensure no change occurred in its taste after the move. The Tyne Brewery site was bought by a consortium of Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council, and the regional development agency One NorthEast, as part of the
Ale conner Ale conner An ale-conner (sometimes aleconner or ale-kenner) is an officer appointed yearly at the court-leet of ancient English communities to ensure the goodness and wholesomeness of bread, ale, and beer. There were many different names for this position which varied from place to place: "ale-tasters", "gustatores cervisiae," "ale-founders", and "ale-conners". Ale-conners were also often trusted to ensure that the beer was sold at a fair price. Four ale-conners are still chosen annually by the Common-Hall of the City of London. Ale-conners were sworn "to examine and assay the beer and ale, and to take care that they were good