Harwich Town has been brewing since 2007. In 2011 they picked up the Beer of the Festival award at our Summer Festival with their outstanding Bay Bitter.
In 2023 The Harwich Town Brewing Company name was subsumed into the WHARF Brewery.
Established in 1996, the Mighty Oak Brewery produces 5000+ hectolitres of beer each year. Some 450 outlets across East Anglia and the South East are supplied.
They have won multiple awards for their beers, most notably national champion Oscar Wilde Mild.
Originally located at The Cross Inn, Bromley Sticklegs Brewery can now be found at Elmstead Market, just outside Colchester. The name comes from a pub dog with long legs.
Registered with HMRC in late 2016, Watsons Brewery started small but has big ambitions. Beers in bottles have mostly been found at Two Brews on Crouch Street in Colchester, and casks have appeared at a number of beer festivals and pubs in and around Colchester.
Micro brewery based at the White Hart, Halstead.
Nethergate was formed in 1986 in Clare, Suffolk and moved to its current site in 2017. It produces both traditional recipes and more modern beers and has recently added craft lager and low alcohol beer to its range. The establishment of a borehole means all the water comes directly from the chalk bed.
Other Monkey is located in the rear portion of Other Monkey Taproom and is visible to users of the pub. The beer brewed is predominantly served on draft, but cask is produced alongside this and served at the taproom and Three Wise Monkeys pub next door.
Colne Valley Brewing is a local, organic and premium craft beer brewery located in East Anglia.
JackRabbit Brewing Co was founded in 2019 by two beer lovers with an aim to bring modern craft beer to the Essex & Suffolk border. It offers a popular core range consisting of craft lager, New England pale, and hazy IPA (available in can and keg). New and special releases all year round.
Bishop Nick was launched in 2011 by Nelion Ridley, a member of the family that started Ridley's brewery near Chelmsford in 1842. In 2013 a new brewery was established in Braintree using a 20-barrel plant.
Established in 2016 this company contract brews low-alcohol bottled beers of no more than 0.5% ABV at a variety of breweries around the country. No real ale.
A brewery and taproom on the airport industrial estate, with an aircraft theme. Music and other events are held regularly. See social media for opening hours
Part of the Brewhouse & Kitchen chain, producing its own range of beers. Carry outs and brewery experience days are offered.
The Briarbank Brewing Company was established in 2013, and is situated on the site of the old Lloyds Bank on Fore Street, Ipswich. The brewery is a two-barrel plant, and the bar above offers a core range of beers - including some speciality ales.
This farm brewery was created by Charles O'Reilly in 2016 and is set in a former grain shed. In 2017 Sophie de Ronde joined the brewing team as Head Brewer. All beers brewed to date have been unfiltered and are available in both KeyKeg and 440ml cans.
Owner and brewer Chris Smith has been brewing since 2013, with Cabin Ales available commercially since 2015. Demand soon outgrew the original plant and a new two-barrel kit was designed and installed in 2018.
Chelmsford Brew Co, established in 2017, is a family-owned brewery located in Great Baddow, near the former Baddow Brewery. A brewery shop and taproom is open (see website for opening hours). Online orders are also available.
Courtyard Brewery uses a six-barrel plant designed to perfectly fit into a 19th century coach house in the north Essex village of Gosfield. It is run by two brewers passionate about producing ales traditionally, but with a 21st century twist.
Dove Street began brewing in 2011 using a 2.5-barrel plant in a garage opposite the Dove Street Inn. The pub, its sister pub and beer festivals are supplied.
Drinkstone Ales is a 100-litre, part-time nanobrewery owned by Colin Field, and based in his converted garage. It commenced brewing in 2021, supplying local outlets and festivals. It concentrates on traditional cask ale using only English malt and hops, now available in bottles at local markets and fayres.
Formerly known as the Broxbourne Brewery, the name changed to Fallen Angel in 2017. Brewing began in 2013 using a 12-barrel plant. A 15-barrel plant has been in operation since the brewery's move from Hertfordshire to Essex in 2015.
After years of working as a brick layer Mark Mawson established the brewery in 2010. In honour of his late father who had introduced him into Real Ale; he named the brewery George’s Brewery; and set out to brew distinctive craft real ales in Great Wakering, Essex. The brewery presently has a range of between nine and twelve ales marketed under the names George’s Brewery and Hopmonster beers. The Hopmonster beers characterise the ‘alter ego’ of Mark and are therefore more hop forward and aggressive on the pallet. Which compliment the more traditional styles found in the George’s range.
Created by keen homebrewer Gareth in 2023, Gruff Brewery is named after his baseball nickname and reflects long friendships and a strong sense of local community. The obvious addition of 'Billy Goat' to Gareth's nickname by his teammates provided the basis of the logo. Starting on a 65-litre plant, plans were quickly drawn up to acquire a 200-litre kit to increase production. Local pubs, clubs and beer festivals are supplied with an initial range of four core beers.
Established in 2017 to produce vegan-friendly beer, which is unfiltered, unpasteurised and unfined (except for Renown). Initially brewing on a one-barrel kit, it rapidly progressed to a 10-barrel plant. Many of the names of the beers are based on Leigh’s maritime heritage, which is also reflected in the branding, by a local artist and graphic designer. The brewery has a taproom, and it has now opened a pub, Legra Tap & Kitchen.