Woodforde's Brewery is a brewery located on Slad Lane in the village of
Woodbastwick
Woodbastwick is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located on the River Bure between Cockshoot Broad and Salhouse Broad, within The Broads and close to Bure Marshes NNR ( national nature reserve). The city of Norw ...
, in the county of
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England.
[Brewery website]
/ref> The brewery produced its first commercial brew in 1981 from original brewery in the village of Drayton north east of Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
. In 1996 the brewery's popular Wherry
A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and the River Cam. They were also used on the Broadland rivers of No ...
bitter
Bitter may refer to:
Common uses
* Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience
* Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes
Books
* '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...
became CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...
Supreme Champion Beer of Britain.[
]
History
Good friends, Ray Ashworth and Dr David Crease, had been handcrafting their own beers since the 60s. Fuelled by a passion for home brewing, the pair fulfilled a lifelong ambition and opened their very own brewery, and Woodforde's was born. Named after Parson James Woodforde who lived at Weston Longville
Weston Longville is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately north-west of Norwich. Its name is derived from the Manor of Longaville in Normandy, France, which owned the local land in the 12th century.
It covers an area o ...
an 18th Century Parson, whose diaries spoke of his love of good food and beer. As the demand for Woodforde's brews grew, so did the need for a larger space to perfect their craft. Moving from Drayton near Norwich in 1989, a group of barns and listed farm buildings were found in Woodbastwick, a beautiful village in the winding Norfolk Broads. Here they have created after extensive renovations, a state-of-the-art brewery – where they can still be found today. In May 1992, The Fur & Feather Inn opened, built within a converted row of thatched cottages just steps from the brewery doors. With visitors making their way to Woodbastwick to sample brews for themselves, The Woodforde's Brewery Shop and Visitor Centre opened in 1995. A very special, and rare, accolade for a session beer: Woodforde's Wherry, was named CAMRA ‘Supreme Champion Beer of Britain’ in 1996. And when Norfolk Nog won the same award, they found ourselves in good company – one of a ‘tiny super league’ of just four British brewers to have won the title twice over.
In 2007, they opened a sixty barrel capacity brewhouse as production continued to expand. Today, there are two brew houses, which run around the clock. In April 2016, the brewery announced that the business had been sold to a group of investors.
Tied houses
The brewery has one tied house
In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.
A report for th ...
, in the county of Norfolk. The brewery itself has a Brewery tap
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
called the Fur & Feather situated next to the brewery in the village of Woodbastwick.
Beers
References
{{reflist
External links
woodfordes.co.ukThe Fur and Feather website
Companies based in Norfolk
Food and drink companies established in 1981
Breweries in England
British companies established in 1981
1981 establishments in England