The Brewery was established in 1986, in the small town of Clare, in Suffolk. From the very beginning it set out to brew distinctive beers of a consistent quality, this being quickly recognised in the many awards won at beer festivals throughout the region. Click here for a summary of these awards.

The beers brewed mostly exhibited special features, such as our coriander flavoured Umbel ales, (coriander was much used before hops became cheaply available), or Old Growler itself, a dark porter which is our most famous beer.

Over a period of time we built up a range of eight so-called permanent beers, these being beers that are brewed throughout the year, as opposed to seasonal beers, which are brewed from time to time, and cover a very much larger range.