Adnams, who brew in the genteel Suffolk resort of
Southwold, are known as the
“seaside brewery”. Their
Bitter, to my mind, is one of Britain’s finest
“quaffing beers”, and on top of this, the company own some excellent and unspoilt pubs.
I first became familiar with the name of
Adnams after reading
“The Death of the English Pub”; the excellent, and pioneering exposé of Britain’s big brewers, written in the early 1970’s by
Christopher Hutt. Adnams were praised by
Hutt for retaining traditional cask beers, brewed to suit local palettes, and for their policy of keeping open many marginal rural pubs. This was in stark contrast to the activities of
Watneys, who as well as phasing out traditional beer, had also closed scores of village locals throughout
East Anglia.
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| The Brewery |
Shortly afterwards I met up with an old school friend of mine, who was studying at the
University of East Anglia, in
Norwich. My friend informed me that the bar in the
Students’ Union at
UEA sold Adnams, and it was on a subsequent visit to my friend’s university that I first sampled Adnams. I must confess that it didn’t strike me as anything special at the time, but I put this down partially to inexperience on my part and to possible poor cellarmanship on behalf of the students union. More to the point if the students’ union bar was using plastic
“glasses”, as was the practice at
Salford where I was studying, then even the best kept pint would have tasted pretty dire.
Several years later, I visited
Southwold itself, in order to sample Adnams ales on their home territory. This was not my first visit to the town however. As a child, I had been taken there, on a day’s outing, along with my sister. We had both been spending part of the summer holidays with our grandparents, at their bungalow in
Friston; a small Suffolk village not far from
Saxmundham. Towards the end of our stay, our grandmother announced that she would be taking us to
Southwold, by bus.
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| Where's the sand? |
Apart from the journey seeming to take an absolute age, I remember little of our visit. What I do recall though is that there was precious little sand at
Southwold, a fact that came as something of a disappointment to two children used to the sandy beaches along the Kent coast.
When I returned, nearly twenty years later, it was not sand but some of Southwold’s finest ales that I was after. En route to
Southwold, I had stopped in the coastal town of
Aldeburgh, famous for its connections with the composer
Benjamin Britten. Here, in the unspoilt
Cross Keys, my companion and I enjoyed an excellent seafood lunch, washed down with
Adnams Bitter, before travelling on to Southwold itself.
The
Sole Bay Inn, which acts as the brewery tap afforded the opportunity of sampling
Adnams Old Ale for the first time, as well as being an excellent pub in its own right. Later, during that same visit to Suffolk, the classic and unspoilt
Jolly Sailor in the tiny town of
Orford was visited, which again afforded the opportunity of trying yet more Adnams, including their mild.
Orford is a quaint little settlement on the
River Alde. It is over-looked by an imposing medieval keep; all that remains from a once extensive castle. As a child, I had visited the castle with my parents, and my sister and I had also fished for crabs from the jetty, using hand-lines baited with bacon rind.
Subsequent visits to
Southwold, this time in the company of my new wife, allowed more time for exploring this well-preserved Victorian town. On one occasion we enjoyed a superb lunch, plus some excellent Adnams, in the
Lord Nelson, overlooking the seafront. Another visit showed just how much the
Adnams Brewery had been expanded. Walking back from the seafront, along a side street, we were surprised to notice a gleaming row of fermentation vessels behind the window of what appeared to be an ordinary terraced house. A closer inspection revealed that the whole row of houses had been adapted for brewery purposes. As much of
Southwold is a designated conservation area, where redevelopment and new building are subject to strict planning regulations,
Adnams had simply bought up the houses, and converted them to the purpose described above; a neat solution to a tricky problem.
It’s been 20 years or more since I last visited
Southwold, and since then there have been even more changes at
Adnams. For example new fermenting vessels were installed in March 2001 to cope with increased demand, and the brew-house was completely re-equipped in July 2006, making it one of the most energy efficient in Europe. In addition the company opened a brand new, eco-friendly, distribution centre in the nearby village of
Reydon, in order to expand its business
The beer range has also been substantially expanded, and now includes a keg beer called
Spindrift, alongside a range of seasonal beers, plus a whole host of one-off commemorative and collaborative beers. Unfortunately,
Adnams Extra, my favourite of the company’s beers, was inexplicably dropped several years ago. The decision to axe this beer was all the more puzzling in view of the fact that it was awarded the title of
Champion Beer of Britain at
CAMRA’s annual
Great British Beer Festival in
1993. From memory it was a lovely hoppy beer with a tremendous depth of flavour.
In 1999 Adnams introduced its famous
"ribbons" logo and successfully relaunched
Broadside in award-winning bespoke 500ml bottles, and in 2005 the company refreshed its brand with new-look pump clips and a stylish bespoke pint glass. In 2013 a new range of beers was introduced under the
Jack Brand label, including Adnams first ever lager –
Dry Hopped. The company have also produced a range of exclusive beers for
Marks & Spencer, including both a
Summer and a
Winter IPA. Both are excellent, but after many samplings I still can’t decide which of the two I prefer.
What I find most fascinating is the company’s decision in 2010, to open their own
distillery, which sits in the room where the old brewing coppers once stood. Initially set up to produce
gin and
vodka, two additional still were added in 2015 to allow
whisky to be distilled. This surely is a first for any UK brewery.
Adnams have only around 50 pubs, but their beers are quite widely distributed. A number of free-houses in this part of the country stock the company’s beers, and
Broadside seems to be a permanent fixture on the bar of our local
Wetherspoon’s. Adnams Ghost Ship also seems a pretty regular guest ale in the same outlet as well.
So there we have it;
Adnams have become one of the country’s most innovative and forward-thinking brewers, whilst at the same time maintaining a fine range of traditional ales and traditional pubs, in which to drink them. They have achieved this by invest heavily both in their future and the people who work for the company, so long may they continue to brew their fine
Suffolk Ales!
For a much more detailed look at the company, its history,
its philosophy, its beers, its pubs and now its spirits, log on to Adnams excellent
and
highly informative website.
