WOW! We can’t quite believe we’re celebrating our 12th birthday this week. We’re still on a high from our fabulous Spring Beer Festival, and we’d like to thank everyone who joined us over the six days. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been reminiscing about all the amazing things we’ve achieved over the years and where it all started.

The Briarbank was created with a vision to produce high quality, handcrafted beers, brewed in Suffolk, served in Suffolk. We are situated in an old branch of Lloyds Bank, and after months of careful renovation, we officially opened our doors at 7pm on Friday 3 May 2013. With a fully stocked tap room and our first ever beer, Tipple Tattle, available on tap!

The photos below show just how much work went into the renovation and we want to give a special shout out to all those who helped us get set up.

 

We’ve certainly grown our offering throughout the years. Originally producing solely cask beer, brewed once a week, we now brew a range of cask and keg beers, brewing up to four times each week.

We have a core range of beers, and brew seasonal favourites, including our popular Insanity Claus and Grandslam.

The changes don’t end there. In 2019, we changed our brewing process, making our range of own-brewed beers vegan friendly. In 2020 we started to bottle our beers, and in 2023, we moved to cans, meaning our customers, far and wide can enjoy our core range, and seasonal favourites in the comfort of their own homes.

     

But, whilst our beers may be available for nationwide delivery, we are still the same, independent brewery we have always been. Our head brewer, Rob, brews, cans and labels all the beers himself. And, if you live within the ten-mile free delivery radius, he will even deliver your beers directly to your door.

We’ve won numerous awards throughout the years, which, with so many incredible breweries in Suffolk and beyond is always an honour. Our most recent awards came at the 2024 SIBA National Independent Awards, held in March 2024, where Hop to It won Silver in the Keg IPA Category, and also at the 2024 SIBA East Regional Bottle/Can Awards, where Hop to It took gold in the IPA category, with Suffolk Haze taking bronze in the Pale Ale category.

But, it’s not just our brewery that’s a hive of activity, our first floor tap room (and outside marquee) is a great place to come together with friends and family and enjoy the array of events we have on offer.

From our monthly quiz nights and Sunday jazz afternoon to our Friday nights of live music, and festivals, there’s always something happening at the Briarbank. Let us tell you a little more.

And, the events don’t stop there. We also host tap takeovers, birthday and Christmas celebrations and more.

To be honest, it’s been an incredible 12 years, and we really couldn’t have done it without the amazing support of all our customers, and our staff. Your support over the years has helped to shape the Briarbank into what it is today. We can’t wait to see what the next 12 years bring, and we hope you’ll stay on this incredible journey with us!

Don’t forget, we will be hosting our 12th birthday celebration between Friday 2 May and Monday 5 May.

We will have live music, decorations fit for any celebrations and there is even talk of cake! Plus, we will have live music from:

And that’s not all. Rob, our head brewer, has been going through our old recipe book and will be bringing back some of the first beers we created throughout May. Which ones? You’ll have to visit us and find out. They’ll be available throughout May. Keep your eyes peeled on our social channels for details on when they will be available.

Once again, a huge thank you to all our customers for your amazing support. We hope you’ll come and celebrate with us!