Crikey – we have just hit five years old as a brewery – now that has flown by.

As we celebrate this anniversary we are also pleased to announce that the appointment of a new brewery manager looks set to bring added innovation and variety as we embark on the next stage of its development.

Although a relative newcomer, we like to think that we have established ourselves a reputation not only for producing fine ales and lagers, but also in promoting the provenance of Norfolk.

Little surprise therefore that in our search for the right member to join our merry band of just five, we chose someone who is Norfolk through and through,(or through and brew you could say ) as we are thrilled to welcome multi award-winning Bruce Ash to the team. Bruce, a fully qualified sommelier as well as ace brew chap, has spent 29 years at Norfolk’s longest established brewery – Woodfordes.

We are so excited to welcome Bruce to the team, his wealth of experience in brewing will allow us to develop the business and make further investment in equipment and production capacity.

We are passionate about ale, and also passionate about supporting pubs, not just because they are our customers but because they play such an active role in community life. If we can support them by providing an ever-changing and interesting range of beers – only made available to pubs – then at least we are doing our bit.

Bruce’s experience and enthusiasm for brewing will mean that while we continue with our established beers – Bruce can develop an exciting new range of beers and manage the brewery’s expansion through new markets across Norfolk and East Anglia.

However rest assured that global domination is not in our plans! Our ability to create new beers and be instantly responsive to new opportunities is down to our small size, we are flexible and adaptable – and we never want to lose that.

Bruce is thrilled to be part of the plans, and relishes the challenge of joining a team a fraction of the size that he is used to working with:

“The craft beer market is so exciting at the moment – new beers spring up almost daily and the customer is offered so much choice. Joining The Norfolk Brewhouse will allow me to express the creativity in beer design and help promote Norfolk as a whole.”

“Norfolk is such a key part of the team’s philosophy – I guess the clue is in the name – and that really attracted me to what they are trying to achieve.”

Pop along and meet the teal at our own brewery bar at this year’s National Winter Ales Festival, to be held on Norwich 21-25th February. Here we will showcase another iconic Norfolk ingredient associated with brewing – Maris Otter barley.