2022 – our year in review

We can’t quite believe we’re nearing the end of 2022, but as we look back, we really couldn’t be happier with the year we’ve had. Firstly, we’d like to say a big thank you to all our customers for the support they have shown us throughout the year; it’s great to see both our regulars and new customers in the bar. We’ve re-started our brewery tours again – it’s always so much fun to be able to talk about our brewing process, and, of course, we continue to bottle and ship our beer throughout the UK.

Alongside this, we have won numerous awards for our beers, both regionally and nationally, and every award we win is a real honour.

We scooped our first awards of the year back in March 2022 at the SIBA Regional Keg Independent Beer Awards 2022 for the East region. The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) awards represent the very best beers across the region and fellow brewers are joined by industry experts to carry out the meticulous judging.

In the Keg Premium PAs (4.4%5.4%) category, our Suffolk Haze took a gold award. This pale New England IPA is packed with Sabro Cryo Hops and Galaxy Hop Blend. Its bold tropical flavour, with hints of coconut, pineapple and citrus, always delivers on summer vibes, whatever the weather.

Adding a silver award to our haul was the original Irish-style stout Black Horse Stout in the Keg British Dark Beers (up to 4.4%) category. This is our most popular draught beer. It’s a rich, smooth stout packed with roast malts for a perfectly balanced flavour.

And the awards didn’t stop there: we also took home two bronze awards as well. Mocha Porter, a full-bodied roast porter, won in the Keg Speciality Mid to Dark Beers category, while Hop to It, a light DDH IPA won in the Keg IPA (5.5%-6.4%) category.

Mocha Porter is infused with toasted cacao nibs and freshly ground coffee to elevate this already complex porter. A deliciously roasty beer it serves up a nice hit of coffee with a mellow chocolate finish.
We keep things simple with Hop to It – just extra pale malt and a handful of oats. It’s hopped throughout with Mosaic adding a welcome fruitiness and generous helpings of Simcoe delivering piney, resinous flavours.

A slew of regional awards saw us put through to the SIBA National Independent Beer Awards where we were up against seven other gold winners from the 2022 regionals. These prestigious awards see a huge range of beers across a number of styles judged in separate cask, keg and bottle & can competitions. The grand unveiling of the 2022 winners took place at BeerX in Liverpool on March 17th. Our Mocha Porter did us proud with a gold win in the Bottle/Can Speciality Medium to Dark Beers category. With stiff competition from some outstanding brewing companies we were thrilled to take home the gold.

Later in the year, in October 2022, our head brewer Rob and our bar manager Dan headed to Legra Tap and Kitchen in Leigh-on-Sea, where the SIBA East Independent Keg Beer Awards 2022 were taking place. We were delighted to return home with two more awards. Suffolk Haze won us a gold in the Keg Pale Ale category, while Hop to It saw us take silver in the Keg IPA category.

We couldn’t be prouder of our four multiple-award-winning brews. We are dedicated to producing our beers and our head brewer really does put everything into creating pints that are worthy award-winners. We’re delighted to see the Briarbank being recognised by our peers and experts in the brewing industry.

If you’d like to find out more about our beers, why not book one of our tours. Our head brewer Rob will take you through our brewing process, and answer any questions you have. Plus, depending on the tour you take, you’ll be able to taste some of our award-winning beers too, and of course, see our awards.