no. 056 | Vaux
Vaux is a story of resurrection. Founded in Sunderland in 2019, Steven Smith and Michael Thompson took on a name — and a legacy — that meant everything to their city and set about making it matter again.
Some brewery names are invented. Some are discovered. And some arrive already carrying the weight of nearly two centuries of history. Vaux is the last kind. The original Vaux Brewery was founded by Cuthbert Vaux in 1806, and for the best part of two hundred years it was woven into the fabric of Sunderland; a major employer, a civic institution, and the source of beers that generations of Wearsiders called their own.
Its closure in July 1999, with around 700 jobs lost, was, as the people behind its revival will tell you, a significant moment in the city’s history. Twenty years on, Steven Smith and Michael Thompson saw something worth reclaiming. “We launched Vaux in 2019 with the aim of breathing new life into an iconic North East brand, while helping to kickstart the craft beer scene in Sunderland,” they explain. “Our passion for great beer is matched by a desire to play a part in the regeneration of our hometown.”
Vaux isn’t a brewery that happens to be based in Sunderland — it’s a Sunderland brewery in the fullest sense, rooted in and answering to the city it calls home. Among the original brewery’s most celebrated creations was Double Maxim, first brewed in 1901 as Maxim Ale to mark the safe return of local soldiers from the Boer War. Their approach involves paying tribute to that tradition in the beers they brew today.
“Today, we see Vaux as a brand with innovation at its heart, and it’s that spirit we’re committed to honouring in this new chapter.”
That new chapter looks, in practice, like a brewery pulling confidently in two directions at once. On one side, a modern keg and can range built around the hop-forward styles that have driven the craft beer boom — things like A Hazy Shade of Citra (a 5.3% Hazy Pale), Freddy’s Drop (a 4.3% NZ IPA), and a Premium Pilsner. On the other, a cask range rooted in traditional styles: Pale Ale, Best Bitter, Blonde Ale, Brown Ale, and an Oatmeal Stout that appears in both their keg range and on cask, too. “It’s about combining classic recipes with a contemporary approach”, insist the founders.
From their (re)inception, they’ve established themselves as one of the leading independent craft breweries in the North East, and their local reach reflects that. Sunderland AFC serve Roker Roar, a Hazy Pale, at the Stadium of Light. Grand Central trains carry Vaux on tap. Their beers pour at venues across Sunderland, Durham, and Newcastle, with permanent keg and cask lines in each. More recently, Vaux have moved into hospitality themselves, opening The Bridge Hotel Vaults and Elephant Rock in Sunderland, both showcasing the full range on tap. Beyond the region, they distribute nationally through wholesalers and direct channels.
We’re closing in on five years of batch now and, in that time, have hopefully shown that the UK is not short of new and interesting breweries. Vaux are doing something genuinely unusual: building something new whilst also honoring a brand that runs deep in the city that created it.