Black Lodge Brewery – Behind the Baltic shutter where there’s beer, music, meats & more

There’s a hidden gem making a real mark on Liverpool’s craft beer and live events scene, Getintothis’ Vicky Pea spoke to the team behind it about their inaugural six months in business and what the future holds.

Down on Kitchen Street a mysterious symbol adorns a shutter, a shutter that from Thursday to Sunday rolls up to reveal the Black Lodge Brewery.

Lets get the important thing out of the way first. Yes, it’s a Twin Peaks thing. Paul Seiffert, one of the team behind the new venture confesses, “I’ve always been a huge David Lynch fan! The Black Lodge in Twin Peaks is a mysterious place that almost exists in people’s minds rather than the real world. We wanted a little bit of this mystery so took the name from there.”  

Having opened back in early December 2015 the venue is still entering into the consciousness of many, something the team have actively encouraged as they’ve taken a hands off approach to marketing, “We’ve never advertised or anything because we want people to discover the bar for themselves and hopefully they’ll love what they find.”

From what we’ve seen first hand, people are indeed loving it. Used as one of the key venues for Threshold 2016 the Lodge appeared to be brimming all weekend, seemingly the kind of place that once people settle into, they became very reluctant to leave. With Threshold acting as a ‘welcome to the Baltic Triangle family’ party of sorts the venue appears to have has slotted perfectly into its surroundings. “It’s a great place to work, and an amazing community to be involved with.” Paul states. “We’ve been working closely with businesses in the area for a number of years but it’s great to finally have a base in the Triangle that we can call home. Being part of such creative, entrepreneurial area is a real privilege and I hope it continues to grow and develop the way it has over the last 5 years.”

A key element of any Baltic Triangle space is the ability to host live music and events. From the get go the Lodge has become a regular haunt for Lying B*st*rds hosted nights which have seen themselves, Psyence and more take to the boards and the team wouldn’t have it any other way. “Music has always been something that’s been a part of our lives, so the opportunity to create a gig venue out of a brewery was too good to miss out on! The plan was always to have a strong leaning towards music, but we didn’t expect the gigs to take off in the way that they have.” In fact the success of their live nights has resulted in the addition of a “new sound system”  due to be installed imminently.

Read our review of Threshold Festival’s 2016 takeover of the Baltic Triangle

Now the Black Lodge is brewery after all, so it’s only fitting we get to know a little more about the refreshments on offer. “All of the Black Lodge beer is brewed on site in the bar” Paul is proud to confirm. “We have a tiny 100 litre brewery so we can make small, interesting and one-off beers.  We have a number of brewers, including the bar staff so they should be able to talk you through what you are drinking. We’re lucky to have some great, experienced brewers involved, so the beer should always be top quality.  We generally only make two kegs at a time, so once it’s gone it’s gone.  This means that the beer selection changes almost daily, so you should be able to sample something new on each visit.  We’re all about collaboration too, so we try to get other people involved wherever we can.  We’ve recently done brews with Brewdog and Atom Brewery and have a few projects booked in with the guys from The Kazimier and Bido Lito!.”

When asked if that was always the plan the team are keen to explain “we wanted to go back to basics and create something small, interesting and engaging. The idea was always for the brewery to be very much a part of the bar, with all beer brewed on site, and served on the bar by the people that brewed it. We wanted a place with good beer, good food, good music and good people. We think it’s pretty close!”

So what’s next for the Lodge as it approaches its sixth month anniversary? “There are still improvements we want to make to the space” the team admit “and it’s likely to naturally evolve over the next couple of years anyway.  We’re planning to add a small outside space, and increase the food on offer. We also have more music events scheduled in for later in the year.” 

It’s easy to see the joy the team have for the business. “Everyone is really pleased with where we are up to, the feedback has been fantastic which is all you can really ask for. It doesn’t feel like hard work when you’re doing something you’re so passionate about.”

Before we leave the team to get back to the brewing we ask them what the biggest challenge has been so far. “We’re going through beer a lot quicker than we thought. so brewing it quick enough is becoming something of a challenge!” And to that we say well done Liverpool. Keep it up.

Upcoming Events at Black Lodge Brewery:

Cult Movie Night: Repo Man May 12

GIT Award 2016 After Party: May 14

SWEAT presents Ohmns, FU SS, danye and Indigo Moon: May 20

The team behind Black Lodge Brewery are Paul Seiffert (Liverpool Craft Beer / Craft Beer Expo / Constellations), Terry Langton (Liverpool Craft Beer), Rob Tufnell (23 Club / The Clove Hitch) and Simon Rhodes (Smiling Wolf).

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Photos by Getintothis’ Vicky Pea and Peter Goodbody with promotional images from Black Lodge Brewery. 

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