Humpty Dumpty Brewery

Reedham Beer Festival - 22-24 July 2011

We are pleased once again to be hosting the family-friendly Reedham Beer Festival at the Reedham Village Hall and Playing Fields [NR13 3HL] from Friday, 22 July through Sunday, 24 July. 

This year we are looking to have up to 60 different real ales (with up to 20 ales on at any time) from local and regional microbreweries as well as ciders and perries from Norfolk producers.  We'll have fresh food and live music at every session as well, including barbecue catering from Chilli Willy's / PepperBellies and the gorgeous Samphire rare breed pork pies that went down so well last year.  We'll also bring along the Kubb game.

We are pleased to announce this year's beer list, complete with tasting notes and beer profiles thanks to the lovely folks at PintPicker.

The music line-up this year includes:

Friday evening (6PM - 11PM):  Chuffinches - folk, skiffle, swamp rock, reggae and ska

Saturday afternoon (12 Noon - 5PM):  traditional and contemporary Celtic folk from Rum Kelter, along with Border Morris dancing from Pedants' Revolt.

 

Saturday evening (5PM - 8PM):  Just Jammin' with Carl and Danny

Saturday night (8PM - 11PM):  Big Red Boat - folk, blues and rock with a 1970s feel

Sunday afternoon (12 Noon - 6PM):  folk pop from crowd pleasers John Ward and Mario Price

 

The festival runs from 6PM - 11PM on Friday, 12 Noon to 11 PM on Saturday and 12 Noon to 6PM on Sunday.

Don't drink and drive - come by rail

There are trains from Norwich, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth calling at Reedham station, which is about five minutes' walk from the festival.

Late running trains:

Friday, 22 July

To Norwich:  2213, 2313, 2347, 2352
To Lowestoft: 2225, 2259

To Great Yarmouth:  Take the Norwich-bound train to Brundall and change for the Yarmouth-bound train:  2213 from Reedham arrives 2235 at Brundall, change for the 2309 to Great Yarmouth.  This is the last train of the evening.

Saturday, 23 July

All services same as Friday

Sunday, 24 July

The festival ends at 6PM.  There are numerous direct services from Reedham to all three hubs running late into the evening.  Why not stick around in Reedham and enjoy one of our three brilliant local pubs?

To Norwich: 1813, 1831, 2013, 2033 and later
To Lowestoft: 1916, 2116
To Great Yarmouth: 1755, 1955

All train services are subject to change / cancellation and are outside the responsibility of the beer festival and Humpty Dumpty Brewery.  The brewery accepts no responsibility for any changes to the above schedules - please check your travel plans with National Rail or National Express East Anglia prior to travel.

This page will update.  Please check back for more information as the Reedham Beer Festival approaches.

 

 

 

One Million Pints of Humpty Dumpty

Upper left, landlord Mick Lee receives the delivery of the firkin containing the millionth pint
from our drayman Jason Clark.  Upper right, Caron and Mick Lee with Stephen and Jimmy
from the brewery. Lower left, Mick pulls the millionth pint.  Lower right, Lara Bolen
raising a toast with the lucky pint.

We are pleased to announce that the one millionth pint of Humpty Dumpty Brewery ale was sold last night at the Blue Lion in North Pickenham, Norfolk.  Lucky customer Lara Bolen ordered the pint of Reedcutter about 9PM from landlord Mick Lee and was greeted by Lesley, Stephen and Jimmy from the brewery.  Lara received a "Brewer's Selection" mixed case of Humpty Dumpty beers and a rugby shirt for buying the millionth pint.  She said that she was a fan of our beers and was delighted to win the prize, which included a bottle of her favourite, Bad Egg.

We worked out the millionth pint on the basis of our duty records going back to the start of our current partnership operation in September 2006.  We've had a countdown in the brewery for the past few weeks and finally reached the milestone early last week when Mick ordered the designated firkin of Reedcutter. Although the Blue Lion's buying our millionth pint was completely by chance, Mick pointed out that he has been one of our oldest and most regular customers.  He checked his records and found that he had our 57th invoice back in late 2006 and had ordered a firkin of Reedcutter on that occasion as well. 

We were delighted to spend the evening participating in the pub quiz in the friendly company of Mick and Caron and the customers at the Blue Lion, and we're very pleased that the millionth pint went to Lara.

Humpty Girls Race For Life

Lesley and Mary Anne joined around 15,000 other women in this year's Race for Life in Norwich this past weekend, raising funds for cancer research.  Well done, ladies!

Spring News from Humpty Dumpty Brewery

It's been a busy start to the season this year with the brewery shipping record volumes of beer over the Easter / Royal Wedding period.  Our new session bitter - Nord Atlantic (alc 3.7% vol) has proved nearly as popular as Little Sharpie, which has kept the brewers extremely busy over the spring months. 

Humpty Dumpty Brewery team, April 2011

Rear, (L to R): Olly, Steve G, Ann, Craig, Lesley, Anne, Mary Anne, Fraser; Front (L to R): Steve O, Jimmy, Julia, Ian

Our shop re-opened at the beginning of the Easter school holidays, with a staff tasting event held the afternoon of April 9th.  We tasted every beer from Nord Atlantic up through the IPA, providing some background information on the recipes and giving everyone a chance to taste what makes each of the beers unique.

The shop is fully stocked with a range of our bottle-conditioned real ales as well as guest beers from other UK and Belgian breweries, Norfolk ciders, perry, country wines and local produce including jams, chutneys, pepper sauces and Reedham honey.  We'll be aiming to keep one or two beers on draught through the summer as well - you can purchase a 4-pint jug to take away at the brewery, then bring it back for a refill!  We can also do bright polypins, which are perfect if you're on a boat - give us a shout and we may be able to deliver it to you at Reedham Riverside. 

New Arrivals

This week we've added both a second Sprinter delivery van and another 100 firkins from Maisonneuve, just in time to support our activities over the busy months ahead.

We're also very pleased to welcome Ian Case, our new brewer.  Ian lives here in Reedham, and joins us after a career in the military and as an adult education teacher in Norwich.  He's looking forward to some hands-on work at the brewery. 

We'll also be joined by Olly Best, who will be working with us over the summer months as a brewery assistant.  

Sadly, we're bidding farewell to Fraser McLaren, who is leaving us for the sunny south coast after working with us as a brewer for the past two years.  We wish him all the best.

All the Buzz at the Brewery

We're also very excited to be starting to keep bees at the brewery.  We'll be working with local beekeepers John Randall and Penny Holmes to keep two hives out on some unused land to the rear of the premises.  We've always used John's local honey in our Norfolk Nectar - that won't change - but now the bees will be that much closer to home, reducing our food miles even further.  We're all looking forward to our beekeeping course this coming weekend.  There may be a few extra slots - if you are interested, enquire at the brewery on (01493) 701818.

Nord Atlantic, 3.7%

 

 

Our latest new beer is actually a relaunch of an old pumpclip we inherited with the brewery. Nord Atlantic is a dark session bitter with a large crystal malt addition offset by a strong hopping with Target and Challenger hops.  At present we're not planning to bottle Nord Atlantic, so look for it in pubs from March 2011.

Merry Christmas from Humpty Dumpty Brewery

It's been another great year for Humpty Dumpty Brewery, and we're going to take some time off to celebrate Christmas with our families.  We would like to wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and all the best for a prosperous New Year.

The brewery will be closed over the festive season from 24 December through 3 January, re-opening on Tuesday, 4 January, 2011.  Our shop does not have regular hours over the winter months, but you can always call in at the brewery while it is operating - we suggest you call first on (01493) 701818 to avoid disappointment.

 

Christmas Crack 2010, 7.0%

 
 

We are pleased to announce the release of Christmas Crack 2010.

This year's Christmas seasonal is a beautifully balanced strong brown ale (at 7% alcohol by volume).  The balance of malty mouthfeel, a hint of caramel and a blend of English and American hopping make this a very easy drinking beer for its gravity. 

We're producing two gyles of Christmas Crack this year - the first one is already gone and we're taking bookings for the second one now, so be sure not to miss this classic winter warmer.

 

 

December 2010 Open Weekend

All of us at Humpty Dumpty Brewery would like to invite you to call by our 2010 Open Weekend at the brewery (NR13 3TZ) on December 11th and 12th from Noon to 5 PM. 

As usual, we'll have a range of draught ales to sample, including this year's new-recipe Christmas Crack, Hop Harvest Gold 2010 and others.

The brewers will be giving guided tours of the brewery and answering your questions. We'll be serving a range of nibbles including foods made with Humpty Dumpty beers and other local produce.  Our shop will be open for all of your Christmas needs, from stocking stuffers to Norfolk-themed hampers.

We hope we'll see you there!

Reedham Riverside Beer Festival

The 2010 Reedham Riverside Beer Festival ("The one in the pub") starts this evening at the Lord Nelson here in Reedham.  Ros and Bill have laid in a fantastic range of beers and a great line-up of entertainment including lots of rock and folk acts and a Bank Holiday Monday gig with perennial Broadland favourites The Water Rats.

The beer list hasn't posted yet, but be sure you will find plenty of Humpty Dumpty ales at the festival, including a firkin of our special Wherryman's Way IPA.  We'll see you there!

Reedham Beer Festival - Beer List

UPDATE:  We have now published the final festival programme, including the beer list, session times and entertainment schedule.  

Download 2010 Merged Programme