Ex-Aspall brothers set their sights on becoming East Anglia’s No.1 brewery

Henry and Barry Chevallier Guild have unveiled their newest business idea: developing one of the most popular beer brands and setting the standard for quality, flavour, and provenance in East Anglia, UK, following the purchase of Bruha Brewing Co.

The brothers, who are renowned for their part in making Aspall Cyder a leader in the cider category, purchased Bruha Brewing Co last autumn and have re-launched the brand with a new range of products that both honour their local heritage and celebrate East Anglia’s reputation for producing some of the finest beer in England.

“We’re looking to create one of the region’s most successful beer brands, and set the bar for quality, taste and provenance. Essentially, we want to be the Aspall of the East Anglian beer world,” explains Henry Chevallier Guild.

He continues: “We intend to endorse our existing strong links in the region and make incredible beer without compromise. One of the things that attracted us to the Bruha Brewing business was both its state of the art equipment and the capability of head brewer, Marc Medland. This combination allows us to make beers of the very highest quality, whilst at the same time ensuring they’re very accessible to consumers.”

The company will trade as Bruha Brewing and will focus on lager and kegged beer primarily. The initial launch includes a range of six keg beers under the sub brand The Chevallier Brewing Company that define the brothers’ Suffolk roots: Temple Helles, Trapnell Pale, Cornwallis EYE PA, Suffolk Blonde, Pressburger Pils and a nitro stout called Paladin Suffolk Stout.

“Our range of keg beers are all named in connection to someone associated with our family and the local area,” explains Henry. “It is really important to us that we have a strong heritage story that defines the region. What is also really unique is that all the beers are made using Chevallier barley, which was first grown at Aspall Hall by John “Barley” Chevallier, our 4x Great Grandfather. Using our ancestors’ heritage barley not only reinforces that local story, it is also a fabulous ingredient that Marc really enjoys working with as it lends a distinct character to our beer.”

The business will also be offering a selection of Bruha themed cask ales. The range will have a modern contemporary twist, whilst still appealing to the traditional cask ale consumer.

“Whilst we are setting out our stall as predominantly a lager and kegged beer business under the Chevallier banner, we still wanted to honour the unique cast style. Once the ubiquitous serve of England, these days cask ale is too often misunderstood and overlooked. We love the blend of art and science that is a particular requirement of cask ale. Our aim is to honour the style with harmonious, highly quaffable and perfectly served ales. These are cask ales for the 21st century drinker,” concludes Henry.

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