On Thursday 20th March 2025 a group of ACB members and guests visited Mauldons Brewery in Sudbury, Suffolk.
Mauldons are the oldest brewery in East Anglia, initially established in 1795. Acquired by Nedging Hall Estate in 2019, this family-owned business has a portfolio of award-winning beers.
Our host was the head brewer Steve Birch, known to some of the club via the brewing community, and coincidentally, others from the golf course. When we arrived, Steve was completing his working day but had tapped two casks for us so we dived in.
- Silver Adder is a 4.2% Pale Ale – Citrusy, Crisp, Clean. A super pale ale. Powerful hops give a lovely citrus burst followed by a crisp, clean finish. Silver Adder is a refreshing style, very pale malt character with a fresh, crisp and aromatic hop presence. GOLD SIBA’s Independent Beer Award 2022.
- Blackadder – 5.3%: Dark, Fruity, Stout. A dark, bitter stout. Roast and nut aromas with a fruity balance of hops and dark malt provide an excellent lingering finish with big roast notes, slightly sharp and cocoa powder on the tongue. Former Champion Beer of Britain, Champion Beer of East Anglia 2016, GOLD Stouts Category, GOLD Overall Champion Beer of East Anglia, GOLD SIBA’s Independent Beer Award 2019.
There’s nothing better than freshly tapped beer from the brewery and these were no exception. The Silver Adder was crisp and fresh, bursting with citrus hops and a dry clean finish. It kept you going back for more, which we happily did. By contrast the Blackadder is a big roasty stout. We had tasted quite a lot of it over the previous weeks because Steve kindly provided Anglian Craft Brewers with the recipe so we could attempt to brew a clone (more on that later) but the cask beer was impressively better. Creamy and smooth, this beer was as easy drinking as the Silver Adder but somehow more fulfilling.
After a couple of samples and some introductions we ventured into the brewery. Steve was fully aware that he was talking to a room full of amateur brewers so instead of walking us though the process, we spent the next 2 hours wandering through the brewery talking all things beer & brewing. From cleaning to malts, mash temperature to yeast health, the conversation was interesting, informative and perfect for the evening. We stopped a while in the new purpose built cold store – named “The Birch Building” after the head brewer himself.
This was an impressive building, clad with solar panels allowing Mauldons to keep both the finished beer and the raw ingredients in perfect condition at all times. We talked about cask, keg and bottling and sampled the 4.6% lager first brewed in 2024: Mauldons lager embodies the spirit of their unique craftmanship, whilst drawing its style from traditional German lagering methods.
Back in the brewery we continued to talk, some of us were impressed by the equipment – a bendy auger caught my attention – whist many of us were sharing ideas, tips & techniques with Steve.
We returned to the bottle shop to admire the displays of awards and beer, and to sample some more of the Silver Adder & Blackadder. As the conversation continued we prepared the Blackadder clones. After some prejudging at recent Essex & Suffolk meetings we presented Steve with 6 clones considered the most like Blackadder. We all grabbed a glass and sampled the beers along with Steve. The first sample was awarded a 9 by Steve and only one other beer got close to this impressive start. The two beers went head to head in a taste off – the runner up clone was awarded to Nick Davis but the winner (and the first clone sampled) was Colin Miller. Both beers were an excellent attempt at brewing Blackadder – well done Colin.
With the important business completed we relaxed with more samples from the casks and to continue talking beer. Taxis started to arrive after 8pm and some brewers missed their train. Although unfortunate it did mean another pint from the Mauldons Brewery Tap in town.
My thanks go to Steve Birch for an excellent and interesting tour and chat. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we really appreciate the open conversation and the beer you shared with us. Thanks for the recipe and for judging our attempts at brewing Blackadder. Also thanks to all who brewed a clone (I think we had 9 in total) and for coming along and making this event such a good evening.
Anglian Craft Brewers and Mauldons Brewery have some history together and I hope that we can continue this relationship. I am also aware of the Sustainability ethos around Nedging Hall and keen to explore this some more on a future date. We will keep in touch with Steve and maybe another clone challenge could be on the cards? For now, a big thankyou and here are some pictures from the evening:
