When you’re looking for a great beer experience in Suffolk, look no further than the Briarbank Brewing Company. Set just moments from the historic waterfront, in the heart of Ipswich, our award-winning, independent microbrewery and bar was established in May 2013, and we’ve been creating beers ever since.
The craft of beer-making is hard at work at the Briarbank microbrewery. Located in a light and open setting that was once occupied by Lloyds Bank, here you’ll witness our head brewer blending traditional methods with bold new flavours and techniques.
With a two-barrel (BBL) system that’s powered by electricity rather than by gas, we have the capacity to brew over 350 litres – that’s eight casks – at any one time.
Brewing two to three times every week, and with four fermenters on our line, we can produce four different beers at any one time – certainly a unique brewery operation in Ipswich.
Note - Rob, the long term brewer, left early in 2026. Briarbank beers are currently not being brewed at Briarbank. They are being brewed at Chevallier Brewing Company.
30th April 2016 Opaque dark brown beer, tidy pale tan head. Palate is smooth, semi dry and has decent fine carbonation. Tangy dark malts. Tangy dark fruits. Tangy bordering sour. Light finish. Pfff, nothing particularly against Briarbank but I’m pretty sick of clunky tangy dark malt beers.
Bottle bought as take-out at the brewery. Poured a hickory brown colour with a light tan colour long lasting head. Slightly tart aroma of caramel, raisin and vanilla. Light sweetness and bitterness, touch of sour. Carbonation has a rather fizzy mouthfeel. Body is light, texture a bit too thin.
13th September 2015 Hazy gold beer, good white head. Palate is light and minerally crisp. Thin malts, not that sweet, Tangy orange and lemon. Spice? A little grains of paradise perhaps. Easy drinking.
6th September 2015 Hazy dark amber beer, good cream colour head. Palate is light and has a sharp minerally crispness. Sourish dark fruits, traces of prune and cherry. No sweetness from the thin malts. Light semi dry finish. A bit one dimensional but okay.