Great Yarmouth beer back on the map

09 November 2006

It has been four decades since the doors of Lacons brewery slammed shut - putting an end to 300 years of Great Yarmouth beer.

But the town will soon be back on the brewery map as Blackfriars Brewery, which opened last year, goes from strength to strength.

Blackfriars's Yarmouth Bitter won the prestigious overall title of Champion Beer at this year's Norwich Beer Festival. It was the first time the brewery, based at the Queens Road Business Centre, was invited to submit beers.

Former headteacher and education inspector Bill Russell established the brewery in 2004 with the first brew in 2005.

Mr Russell, 55, said owning his own brewery had been a lifelong dream and he was “thrilled” at the success of the bitter at the beer festival.

He said: “I was talking about opening a brewery 10 years ago and now it is a reality.

“I realised the beer was good because there has been such a demand for it from the local pubs we supply, but I am thrilled it has made such an impact.”

He added he was keen to keep strong associations with the town.

“A publican in Norwich asked us if we would change the name and we refused,” he said. “Blackfriars is a Yarmouth brewery, and it is meant to add something good to the town.”

The last brewery in Yarmouth was Lacons, which closed in 1968 after a takeover by Whitbread.

Mr Russell, who was head at Northgate St Andrew First School until 1994, took a commercial brewing course at Brewlab, based at the University of Sunderland.

He works with assistant brewer Maurice Leybourne, 56, who also trained at Sunderland, and former publican Paul Crisp, who sells the beer.

Blackfriars is expanding, with the acquisition of another unit nearby, and Mr Russell hopes to eventually open a shop.

Shaun Underdown, landlord of the Mariners Tavern, said he got through seven or eight tubs of Yarmouth Bitter a week. The Mariners is in the Good Beer Guide and regularly has real ale fans and members of Camra trooping through its doors.

Mr Underdown said: “I often get comments about the Yarmouth Bitter. People say they cannot believe the Blackfriars is producing such a good beer after so short a time.”

The publican said he personally preferred one of the other Blackfriars beers.

“The bitter is a great beer but it is not to my taste,” he said. “The Old Habit is much more my style - a wonderful Old English-style beer with a full body and a rich chocolatey flavour.”

The brewery produces six beers at the moment - Sygnus, Blackfriars Yarmouth Bitter, Maritime, Whyte Angel, Old Habit and Blackfriars Mild - and is planning a special Christmas beer based on the Old Habit and flavoured with cinnamon, herbs and mixed spices.

This will go on sale at Great Yarmouth Christmas Market, where the brewery will be running a stall.

Greenacre Butchers, in the Market Place, uses Blackfriars beer in its sausages and suet puddings.