This is the history of Anglian Craft Brewers (ACB).

Anglian Craft Brewers Club Creation

The Anglian Craft Brewers are known for being the first East Anglian region home brew club. It started way back in March 2004. The very first East Anglian regional Craft Brewers Association (CBA) meeting was set up by demand, initiated by the CBA leader, James McCrorie. After some discussion, the inaugural meeting was held at The Bell Hotel, Clare, Suffolk. Here, Mike Rumsey, was appointed as the East Anglian regional Craft Brewers Association organiser. The meeting included a tour of the famous Nethergate Brewery.

Anglian Craft Brewers: The Early Days

In the early 2000’s there weren’t many homebrew clubs around. Due to this, home brewers would come from far and wide to the then East Anglian regional Craft Brewers Association (Anglian Craft Brewers) meetings and share beers. Brewers came from all across East Anglia: Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Even as far away as the East Midlands.

These early East Anglian regional Craft Brewers Association meetings were held on the first Saturday of the month. The most geographically central location was chosen, which was the Cannon Brewery & Pub, Bury St Edmunds. However, after a while, brewers found that travel to Bury was not easy by rail. So they decided to switch to holding alternating meetings in the four counties on a rotation basis:

• Colchester
• Ipswich
• Cambridge
• Norwich

Normalisation and Organic Growth

Members from Cambridge found travelling to the Essex venues particularly difficult, so they formed their own Cambridge Craft Brewers (CCB) club as a separate section to the Anglian Craft Brewers. The CCB decided to meet on the second Saturday of the month, once a quarter.

Club Names and Also Known As

After a period of regular meetings as the East Anglian regional Craft Brewers Association (CBA), in the regular venues, it was suggested that we should give the club an official name, rather than the regional version of the CBA name. After discussion, the members settled on the now infamous name: “The Shed Brewers”.

Was “The Shed Brewers” homebrew club the first “rebel” homebrew club? Bad boys before breaking out and creating new local clubs became normalised.

After several years of the name The Shed Brewers, in circa 2013, it was decided to change the name from ‘Shed Brewers’ to ‘Anglian Craft Brewers’. The Anglian Craft Brewers club then consisted of: Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk brewers. It operated in this way until around 2021, when the Norwich demographic of brewers grew significantly, and decided to break out and create their own club (NAB).

The Anglian Craft Brewers are still alive and well. We remain committed to meeting on the first Saturday of the month, rotating between Essex and Suffolk locations. We remain in contact with, and attend NAB and Cambridge club meetings. We remain a community of homebrewers and support each other for our individual club home brew competitions and events. We may operate under different local names, but we’re all still friends. We all share a common love for beer making.

A Club for the Modern Homebrewer

As a club for the modern homebrewer, the Anglian Craft Brewers club maintains growth. It firmly remains a popular choice for new members in Essex and Suffolk, in the East Anglia region. Everyone is welcome. We encourage non-brewers to attend, especially if they have an interesting in starting homebrewing as a hobby. We also look to evolve and see food as the perfect partner to homebrew meetings.

If you’re a baker, BBQ pit master, food smoker, cheesemaker or any other food and have an interest in homebrew, please feel free to attend our meetings to share your creations in a symbiotic trade of food and beer.

We have a strong core of 360-degree members with a strong interest in BBQ, smoking, pizza, breads, and beer making. These brewers continue to write the next chapters and keep the history of the club going.

If you’re looking for a local home brew club in the East Anglian Region, please reach out to find out when you can join us at a monthly or mid-weekly meeting.

Regions meet on the first Saturday of the month and on the third Wednesday for mid-week meetings. Saturday meetings always have an agenda and beer challenge associated, with member-led presentations. There is always an any other beer (AOB) section for any beers brewer’s want evaluation and feedback on. Mid-week meetings are relaxed with no agenda and an open house on beers. Anglian Craft Brewers have a range of BJCP certified beer judges to give a well-informed opinion.

Join the Anglian Craft Brewers Club Today

If you’re interested in finding out more about the ACB, please feel free to register here and contact us, and we’ll put you in touch with your local organiser. We’re a friendly bunch and don’t put pressure on you to commit to any activities. We aim to make integrating as easy and organic as possible. We all have a different pace and vision of success. Join us and find out what we can do for you.