Adnams Brewery Tour

If you’ve heard about Suffolk’s rich and varied food and drink offerings, you’ve probably heard of Adnams Southwold (very often shortened to ‘Adnams’), one of the county’s much-loved, historic breweries.

Adnams is proud of the fact that beer has been produced on the same site of its Southwold brewery for over 670 years. The brewery’s history began in 1345, when Johanna de Corby and 17 others were charged in court for serving illegal measures; however, it wasn’t associated with Adnams until 1872, when brothers George and Ernest Adnams purchased it.

Beer bottling at Adnams in 1947 (@adnams)

Since then, the brand has been making iconic beers, popular spirits and delicious wines for distribution all over Suffolk and the world, with Adnams products reaching as far as South Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

For this blog post, however, we wanted to bring it back home to where it all started: the Southwold brewery. Here, you can take a tour of both the brewery and the recently introduced (in comparison to the age of the brewery) distillery. However, the brewery tour is a really immersive way to find out about the company’s vast, colourful history – so we do recommend it if that’s what you’re into!

Adnams Brewery from the outside (@adnams)

On the tour, you’ll be able to see a huge collection of Adnams memorabilia, including photos, vintage beer mats, discontinued bottles and more. Your tour guide will take you through the raw ingredients that go into making Adnams beer, before walking you around the brewhouse itself and filling you in on how Adnams is really made. As you’d expect, there’s lots of neat, shiny brewing machinery and equipment to gawk at!

Like many modern companies, Adnams has refined their processes in order to reduce their carbon footprint. This includes recycling water and heat – two major benefits of the massive 2006 refit of the brewery. You’ll find out all about these processes before you head to the last part of the tour – the tasting session! Your tour guide will offer you samples from Adnams’ diverse beer portfolio, including the more unusual flavours, such as Earl Grey Lager.

Handy details

The tour lasts between 1h30 and 1h45, depending on how long you want to spend tasting beers at the end of the tour
Tours cost £20
Pre-booking online is recommended, especially around busy periods like Christmas and summer
The tour is over 18s only
There is some stair-climbing, which may not be ideal for those who are less mobile
We recommend booking on a weekday, as this is when the brewery is functional

Southwold is a 45-minute drive from Twee Gebroeders at Woodbridge’s Tidemill Yacht Harbour, and 33 minutes from Onderneming at Snape Maltings. Not only can you enjoy the experience of the brewery tour, but you’ll also be able to explore Southwold, one of Suffolk’s most renowned beach towns.

Book an Adnams Brewery Tour here.

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