This is a list of all (known to me) Essex Breweries – if there are any errors, or omissions (there has been a fair bit of ‘churn’ in the past few years), do let me know (essexrealale@gmail.com).

Latest updates : 14th September 2023 – decided to move Sticklegs Brewery to the closed/inactive section and their revival seems to have been a short-lived one. | 14th September 2023 – *And another* new(ish) Essex brewery – Aerocraft Brewery from North Fambridge | 1st September 2023 – *Another* new Essex brewery for summer 2023 – Ramsey Island Brewery, based, funnily enough, on Ramsey Island (or overlooking it, it would seem). | 31st August 2023 – A new Essex brewery for summer 2023 – Mud Island Brewing Co : no dets about it at the moment! | 27th July 2023 – moved Dominion Brewery below the line | 28th March 2023 – due to ill health Russ has sold Red Fox Brewery to Paul Mellor of Harwich Town Brewing Co. and Glenn Ackerman of Witham Brewery, who had both been brewing on his kit as ‘cuckoo breweries’ for a few years. Their combined venture is ‘WHARF Brewery‘ and that will be operational in early April 2023. | 11th February 2023 – just added Chelmsford Brewhouse and Kitchen, opening in Spring 2023 | 6th June 2022 – slid Fable Brewery ‘below the line’ due to inactivity, although Sam Martyn has confirmed to me that the brewery isn’t technically closed. | 4th March 2022 – here’s a thing : I’ve moved Sticklegs Brewery *up* from the Inactive/Closed section as there appears to be life in the old dog yet | 1st March 2022 – moved Maldon Brewing Co. down to the inactive/closed section of this list 🙁 | 24th Feb 2022 – news that Radio City Beerworks will be opening a taproom under the railway arches in Chelmsford in Spring | 9th Feb 2022 – updated the Other Monkey Brewing to say that their taproom is open and they’re brewing on their mahoosive new kit | 8th Feb 2022 – due to six months inactivity I’ve moved That Weird Brother Brews pico brewery down to the inactive section of this listing | 14th January 2022 – added Black Box Brewery, a new microbrewery/taproom in Southend | 13th November 2021 – moved Blackwater Brewhouse down to the inactive/closed section on account of no activity and website disappeared | 29th October 2021 – added new Tolleshunt D’Arcy nano/pico brewery Datum Attitude Brew Co. | 14th October 2021 – decided to move cuckoo brewery KHP Brewery down to the recently closed/inactive section, on account of inactivity | 27th September 2021 – decided to move Colne Valley Brewing to the recently closed/inactive section at the bottom of the page, as all has been deathly quiet since January 2021 and they didn’t renew their website domain in September 2021 | 27th September 2021 – JackRabbit Brewing Co. have moved premises from Lawford nr Manningtree to Dead Lane, Ardleigh nr Colchester. Not sure if that makes them a Colchester brewery now! | 11th May 2021 – moved Saeburh Brewery down to the Closed section, on account of the company having been dissolved, the website having disappeared, and the facebook page having gone deathly quiet | 11th April 2021 – moved Saffron Brewery down to the Closed section, on account of them evidently closing (as per NW Essex CAMRA website) | 7th March 2021 – light at the end of the COVID tunnel, as Moody Goose Brewery have announced that their pub brewhouse is re-opening to have beers ready for the pub re-opening | 21st November 2020 – a new Colchester nano/pico brewery Colne Valley Brewing now selling their first beer | 23rd October 2020 – good news for the week was seeing Radio City Beer Works producing their first kegs and cans from their much bigger kit. Bad news for the week was hearing that Dan had called it a day for Keppels Brewery, citing COVID-19 and the uncertainty going forward. Probably not the last casualty in Essex… | 10th September 2020 – signs of life on Instagram and Facebook from That Weird Brother Brews a one-man nano/pico brewery who sold a limited number of brews in 2019 as The Obnoxious Brewing Company | 10th August 2020 – Leigh on Sea Brewery has two new brewers – Robert Heywood (ex Billericay Brewing and more recently East London Brew Co.) and Sam Martyn (ex George’s and his own cuckoo brewery Fable Brewery) | 6th August 2020 – moved Silks Brewery down to the Closed/Inactive section | 6th August 2020 – Neolithic Brew Co. bottles now appearing. | 22nd July 2020 – Watsons Brewery – now canning and has an online shop with local delivery and posting further afield | 13th July 2020 – Neolithic Brew Co. (kegs now appearing) | 10th July 2020 – Radio City Beer Works (upsizing and new premises in the pipeline) | 2nd February 2020 – added a link to ‘Beer Stories’ video in Courtyard Brewery | 11th January 2020 – Neolithic Brew Co. (new nano) | 3rd Dec 2019 – Hart of Stebbing brewery and pub up for sale | 4th November 2019 – new microbrewery ‘Jack Rabbit Brewing Co’ | (5th June 2019) added Obnoxious Brewing Co. (new nano) | KHP Brewery (moved brewing from Silks to Red Fox in Coggeshall) | Radio City Beer Works (new nano) | Redchurch Brewery (a ‘new’? Essex brewery) | Fable Brewery (Sam is leaving George’s Brewery and heading up to London!) | Vendetta Brewing Company (website no longer there, no activity on untappd/Facebook, assuming closed) | Essex Brewery Company (no longer brewing) | The Posh Boys Brewery (new nano) | Famous Railway Tavern Brewery (change of hands and hiatus) | Courtyard Brewery (new nano) | St. Botolph’s Brewery (new nano) | Blackwater Brewhouse (Farmers Ales craft beer offshoot/branding) | Mr Majolica’s (gone very quiet, assuming closed) | Deverells (stopped brewing) | Felstar (closed) | Round Tower (was changing hands, now closing) | Hope Brewery (closed) | Saeburh Brewery (new nano) | Vendetta Brewing Company (new nano) | Fox Meadow Brewery (new nano) | KHP Brewery (brewing again, at Silks Brewery) | Harwich Town Brewing Company (brewery in Harwich closed, now being brewed at Red Fox Brewery) | Dominion Brewery (moved production from Pitfield’s brewery in Moreton to Red Fox Brewery) | Chelmsford Brewing Company (new nano) | Keppels Brewery (Dan has his own brewery and no longer is a cuckoo brewer) | Fable Brewery (cuckoo brewer) | Other Monkey Brewing Company (new nano) | Leigh on Sea Brewery (new micro) | Watsons Brewery (new nano (me)).

Active Breweries

Aerocraft Brewery
North Fambridge Railway Station (NFA), Station Road, CM3 6NJ
330L kit arrived in late 2022, went live early 2023, no ‘about’ section of their website so they’re flying under the radar as to who exackerly they are, but lots of activity on insta! Kegs and cans, so they’re of the craft beer persuasion.
website | instagram | untappd

Billericay Brewing Company
54c Chapel Street, Billericay, Essex CM12 9LS
Established 2010. In addition to producing their beer they have a well-stocked shop with their beers and other beers, and a micropub with several beers on tap, and run a couple of beer festivals each year. 2023 and The Word on The Street is that brewer/owner Trevor is going to hand over the reins shortly.
website | untappd

Bishop Nick
33 East Street, Braintree, Essex CM7 3JJ
The Ridley family’s 163-year Essex brewing history came to an end in 2005 when Greene King (who else?) bought the brewery and closed it down. Six years later the Ridley family returned to Essex to reclaim their crown. Their brewery, in Braintree, has a shop.
website | untappd

Black Box Brewery
Aviation Way, Southend
New in early 2022, a brewery and tap room near the airport. A focus on the traditional real ale market rather than craft beer, with half a dozen regular beers to start with.
website | facebook | untappd

Brentwood Brewery
Calcott Hall Farm, Ongar Rd, Brentwood CM15 9HS
Set up in 2006, with a well established range of traditional real ales, and they added a crafty dimension a couple of years ago with 330ml bottles and some very interesting tastes with their Elephant School Brewing brand.
website | untappd

Chelmsford Brewhouse and Kitchen
Anne Knight Building, Duke Street, Chelmsford CM1 1LW
Opened March 2023, a Chelmsford location for a chain which I hadn’t heard of until just now.
website | untappd

Chelmsford Brewing Company
Great Baddow, Chelmsford
Father/son(s?) setup and home to Blueshack Beers, launched in 2018. Summer 2021 saw their brewery taproom open. Early 2022 and their 1300litre brewlength clearly not big enough as they are expanding. 2023 and Rob Heywood now Head Brewer (ex Billericay Brewing and East London Brew Co and Leigh on Sea Brewing Co.)
website | untappd

Colchester Brewery
Wakes Colne, nr Colchester
Established in 2011, exponents of double-drop brewing, with regular, one off and retro beers, and some swanky new pump clip designs as of 2017. A bit of an experiment with 330ml bottles and keykegged Brazilian a couple of years ago. Took over The Odd One Out in Colchester from The Venerable John Parrick a year or two back.
website | untappd

Courtyard Brewery
Gosfield, nr Halstead
Two guys (Marc and Mark), one 6BBL kit, with three regular beers (gold, ipa and dark). Check out the short video in the brewery made by new YouTube channel Beer Stories in early 2020.
facebook | untappd

Crouch Vale Brewery
23 Haltwhistle Road, South Woodham Ferrers CM3 5ZA
The grand-daddy of Essex Breweries, established in 1981, and with many award-winning beers. Have Tap Room 19 to serve their beers.
website | untappd

Datum Attitude Brewing Co.
Tolleshunt D’Archy
A young couple who have set up “a start up nano brewery producing small batch limited release craft beers in the heart of Essex”.
website | untappd

Fallen Angel Brewery
12c Reeds Farm Industrial Estate, Roxwell Road, Writtle, Essex CM1 3ST
I paid a visit when they were still based in Broxbourne and trading as Broxbourne Brewery, and there’s a complicated story involving the history of the brewery and it’s beers, and the chilli-infused beers of Fallen Angel. Now the brewery has moved to Essex, but still focusses primarily on selling at craft fayres and chilli festivals across the UK, rather than locally. I think it’s fair to say that their chilli beers are of a ‘Marmite’ variety – as their untappd rating and comments indicates! And they really do need to do something about their cowgirl beer label. It’s 2022 guys, not 1975….
website | untappd

George’s Brewery
Great Wakering SS3 0AG.
Established in 2010. Beers are marketed with either George’s Brewery or Hopmonster branding. Owner Mark runs Mawsons MicroPub in Southend, one of the first micropubs in Essex.
website | untappd

Jack Rabbit Brewing Co.
Dead Lane, Ardleigh, nr Colchester
Two guys, one with local brewing experience, spent Summer 2019 doing up a ramshackle old barn and installing a shiny nano-brewery, and produced their first beers at the back end of 2019. In summer 2021 they moved to a much bigger barn in Dead Lane, Ardleigh, in February 2022 they put in a new floor, and a much bigger brewing kit is imminent in late summer 2022.
website | facebook | untappd

Leigh on Sea Brewing Company
Leigh on Sea
Opened in 2017, a new full-sized microbrewery for Essex, embracing both cask and keykeg and bottles and (as of 2020) cans. August 2020 saw local brewers Rob Heywood (ex Billericay Brewing and East London Brew Co) and Sam Martyn (George’s Brewery and his own Fable Brewery) taking up the brewing reins, with Rob moving on in 2023 (to Chelmsford Brew Co).
facebook | untappd

Mersea Island Brewery
Mersea Island Vineyard, Rewsalls Lane, East Mersea, Essex CO5 8SX
Brewing since 2005, with half a dozen popular regular beers. Watch out for their Easter beer festival. Opened a wine and beer bottle shop during 2021.
website | untappd

Mighty Oak Brewing Company
Unit 14b West Station Yard, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6TW
Established in 1996, and brewers of beers that have won some of the highest awards possible, including their Oscar Wilde mild, one of my all time faves. They have a micro-taproom on Maldon High Street.
website | untappd

Moody Goose Brewery
King William IV Pub, Braintree
A 4bbl pub brewhouse set up in 2015, supplying their own bar, and also local beer festivals. A bit of a hiatus in brewing since 2019, but in March 2021 they announced that brewing was underway in advance of their pub re-opening following a covid closure.
website | untappd

Mud Island Brewing Co.
Wallasea Island
New for summer 2023, beers appearing at a couple of festivals before any facebook/web presence. More dets when available.
untappd

Neolithic Brew Co.
Bradwell on Sea
Another nano/pico brewery with Matt moving from homebrewing to commercial brewing in 2020 having redone his old goat shed and bought in some shiny SS Brewtech kit. 1BBL. Kegs and bottles, mostly locally.
facebook | untappd

Other Monkey Brewing
Three Wise Monkeys, High Street, Colchester
Set up in the basement of the Three Wise Monkeys restaurant in 2016, and brewing in 200l vessels. In February 2022 I popped into their newly-opened tap room in the old ‘Jack’s’ building next door, with a great view of their *much* larger SSV Brew Bloc setup being put in use for the first time, with one of their big fermenters bubbling away.
website | untappd

The Posh Boys Brewery
Wickford
Established in 2018, two guys and a shed brewhouse brewing small scale and selling mostly direct to the public locally – including their own tap room.
website | untappd

Pumphouse Community Brewery
Church Lane, Toppesfield CO9 4DR
Funded by a mixture of grants and a share issue, the now community-owned Green Man in Toppesfield purchased kit from a nearby micro-brewery which had closed and set up brewing in 2015. It has produced a range of beers (a lot going through the pumps at The Green Man) and bottles.
website | untappd

Radio City Beer Works
Chelmsford
Two guys starting small but getting bigger, and bigger, and going from strength to strength, with a Feb 2022 announcement that they are going to open a taproom on Viaduct Road in Chelmsford (where The Ale House is) in Spring. Putting their craft beer into kegs and cans, and going down a storm, as their untapped ratings show.
more details (facebook) | untappd

Ramsey Island Brewery
Unit 3, West Newlands Farm, Steeple Road, Southminster, United Kingdom
New in summer 2023, they’ve gone live promoting cans and kegs of three core beers.
website | untappd

Redchurch Brewery
Harlow
Redchurch Brewery was based in Bethnal Green under a railway arch, then got extra funding and set up an additional brewery in Harlow. They were very much still a London brewery, brewing their own beers with a London/national/supermarket focus and also contract brewing one of the beers for Beavertown (one of the Redchurch team was ex-Beavertown). In May 2019 they announced that they had gone into administration, had new owners, and had left Bethnal Green behind and would just be brewing in Harlow. A large brewery, selling probably the cheapest beer in the county.
more details | untappd

Shalford Brewery
Shalford CM7 5WP
Set up in 2007, a 5-barrel micro-brewery in Shalford, north of Braintree, serving the local area. Very low key.
website | untappd

St. Botolph’s Brewery
Colchester
A husband and wife team, specialising in Belgian beers brewed on 400L kit in their garage. Low profile, and mostly selling bottles at farmers markets on the Essex/Suffolk borders.
website | untappd

Watsons Brewery
Old Heath, Colchester
Set up in late 2016 (by me!!). A dinky nano/pico brewery in a dedicated brewhouse in the garden. Lots of different beers, very few regulars, casks and bottles (sometimes cans). An online shop went live in mid-2020.
website | untappd

WHARF Brewery
The Chicken Sheds, Upp hall Farm, Salmon’s Lane, Coggeshall CO6 1RY
Set up by Paul Mellor of Harwich Town Brewing Co. and Glenn Ackerman of Witham Brewery, after buying Red Fox Brewery from owner Russ. They’d been cuckoo brewing at his brewery for some years, and their own beers, and other legacy beers from the likes of Farmers, as well as Red Fox’s beers are now under the WHARF brand. (Caps on account of : Witham Harwich And Red Fox)
more details

White Hart Brewery
15 High St, Halstead CO9 2AA
Started brewing at The White Hart pub and hotel in the town in 2016, beers mostly through the pub and local beer festivals.
website | untappd

Wibblers Brewery
Goldsands Road, Southminster CM0 7JW
“Wibblers have been going since 1991, having moved to a new site in Southminster in 2016 they opened a micropub/taproom on the site which serves their real ales, ciders and craft keg products. Alongside the drinks there is an extensive menu of homemade food. Open days 3 times a year when you can tour the brew house and hear all about how they make their product range.”
website | untappd

Recently closed or inactive

Blackwater Brewhouse
nr Maldon
Launched in late 2018, craft beer branding from Farmers Ales/Maldon Brewing Co. Late 2021 and it’s gone quiet from this branding and the website hasn’t been renewed.
website | untappd

Colne Valley Brewing
Colchester
Launched in late 2020, there was never much info about this new nano/pico setup, with the main question being – small, very small, or teenyweeny (their website has photos of what look like 5litre demijohns!)? After their first beers it went very quiet after January 2021, and s/he/they didn’t renew their website domain in September 2021 so they’re now ‘below the line’ on this listing. Vying with Vendetta Brewing (see below) for the most short-lived Essex commercial brewery on this listing…
untappd | facebook

Deverell’s Brewing Company
Traitor’s Gate, Grays
No longer in business.
facebook | untappd

Dominion Brewery Company
c/o Red Fox Brewery, Coggeshall
After brewing his Dominion beers alongside Pitfield Brewery beers on the Pitfield kit in Moreton nr Epping, Canadian Andy Skene left Pitfield/Moreton behind and brewed his Dominion beers at Red Fox Brewery in Coggeshall for a couple of years. Since then Andy’s efforts appear to be focussed entirely on his Queen Street Brewhouse in Colchester, and with the big change at Red Fox Brewery, Andy is not even cuckoo brewing the odd beer there any more, and the Dominion website has disappeared.
untappd

Essex Brewery Company
Norton Mandeville, CM4 0LN
Set up in 2014 on his farm after raising turkeys and selling eggs, Ian Chisholm produced a range of beers in bottles, mostly selling at country fayres and the like, rather than to trade, turned his hand to mead, and then to running beer festivals, although that business appears to have fallen foul of covid.
untappd

Fable Brewery
Rochford
A ‘cuckoo’ brewery, Sam Martyn brewed his Fable beers on the kit at George’s Brewery, where he was Head Brewer (he had two brewer’s hats there). In 2020 Sam became Head Brewer at Leigh on Sea Brewery and it’s understandably gone a bit quieter on the Fable front, with no brews since then. However, Sam says the brewery isn’t technically closed, so it’s under the line on this list as ‘inactive’.
website | untappd

Famous Railway Tavern Brewing Co
Brightlingsea CO7 0DT
Brewed in the pub for several years now, with beers on their bar and also at local beer festivals. As of mid-2018 a change of ownership means that brewing at the pub is off the menu for the moment.
untappd

Farmers Ales – Maldon Brewing Company
The Blue Boar Stable Yard, Silvery Street, Maldon, Essex CM9 4QE.
‘Farmers Ales’ had been brewed behind the Blue Boar Inn in Maldon for many years, with a dozen or so regular ales. With a tap room on Maldon High Street and their ‘Blackwater Brewhouse’ branding, and new premises appearing to be on the horizon, things were looking up. However, COVID threw a spanner in the works, and the business was sold and rather than being kept as a going concern, was sadly asset-stripped. A few of their most popular beers are now being brewed at Red Fox Brewery in Coggeshall.
website | untappd

Felstar Brewery
Crix Green, Felsted CM6 3JT
The lowest of low profile breweries which evidently closed quietly in the summer of 2018.
untappd

Fox Meadow Brewery
Braintree
2 firkins at a time, established 2017, but as of mid-2019 their website has disappeared and nothing on untappd/ratebeer, and I heard mention of brewing being ‘suspended’ during 2019.
untappd

Hart of Stebbing Brewery
Stebbing CM6 3SQ
Brewing at the The White Hart pub in the village, although in late 2019 the NW Essex CAMRA website noted that the pub was up for sale and the brewery closed (it’s website has disappeared).
untappd

Harwich Town Brewing Company
Station Approach, Harwich, Essex CO12 3NA.
Established in 2007, with a half dozen regular beers, and similar number of specials. In 2018, Paul closed down his brewery in Harwich and started cuckoo brewing at the Red Fox Brewery in Coggeshall. And in 2023 Paul and Glenn Ackerman from Witham Brewery (also cuckoo brewing there) bought Red Fox from Russ, and set up Wharf Brewery.
website | untappd

Hope Brewery
Little Thurrock
Originally brewing on a very small scale in Stanford le Hope, (hence the name), upsized to a 6BBl enterprise, producing an increasing range of beers, and bottles, all named with the prefix “SX …” But in July 2018 Phil Evans announced that after much thought, the brewery was closing.
untappd

Keppels Brewery
Rayleigh
Established in 2016, home of Tipsy Crow Stout and a small number of initial beers brewed at Billericay Brewing, brewer Dan got his own kit and premises in late 2017, and upsized mid 2018, but sadly COVID-19 brought the brewery to a closure in 2020.
untappd

KHP Brewery
Pebmarsh/Halstead
Originally brewed for the King’s Head in Pebmarsh (hence KHP), after a bit of a hiatus they were brewed at nearby Silks Brewery, and from May 2019 their beers have been brewed at Red Fox Brewery in Coggeshall, although it appears to have been quite quiet from them since that has happened.
untappd

Mr Majolica’s Brewing Company
Grays
2.5bbl brewery in Gray’s town centre. Low profile on the interwebs, and untappd reviews have dried up as of Nov 2018 and the brewery is no longer listed on the SW Essex CAMRA list of local breweries.
untappd

Pitfield Brewery
Moreton
Founded in 1982 in the cellar of The Beer Shop on Pitfield Steet in London, brewing moved to Moreton in Essex, and focussses on organic and vegan ales. For many, many years the brewery was run by Andy Skene who also produced his own Dominion Brewery beers there, but in late 2017 Andy moved his Dominion brewing to Red Fox in Coggeshall and waved goodbye to Pitfield/Moreton. Not so much an Essex brewery as a London/national brewery that happens to be based on the London/Essex border, if you get my drift. There is an ‘active proposal’ to strike the company off the Companies House register as of late 2019, and their Facebook/website presence has disappeared.
untappd

Red Fox Brewery
The Chicken Sheds, Upp hall Farm, Salmon’s Lane, Coggeshall CO6 1RY
Established in 2008 by Russ, with half a dozen regular beers and specials, brewed ‘the traditional way’. In April 2023 Russ, due to ill health, sold the brewery to Paul Mellor from Harwich Town Brewing Co. and Glenn Ackerman from Witham Brewery, who had both been brewing their beers at his brewery for some years. Their combined brewery is Wharf Brewery.
website | untappd

Round Tower Brewery
Unit 11a, Robjohns House, Navigation Road, Chelmsford CM2 6ND
Set up in 2012 by Simon Tippler. In July 2018 announced he was looking to sell the brewery, and a local buyer appeared to be found, but in a FB post in late October 2018 Simon announced the last brews had been done and the brewery was closing.
untappd

Saeburh Brewery
Tendring
There wasn’t too much information about the brewery on their website/facebook page, but clearly a small scale nano/pico setup. After brewing ‘some of the finest ales in the land’ for a year or two, the company has been dissolved and their website disappeared, and their Facebook page has gone deathly quiet.
facebook | untappd

Silks Brewery
Wash Farm, Queen Street, Sible Hedingham CO9 3RH
A one-man (Ross) 5bbl setup which began in late 2015, but which was was put up for sale in late 2019 (with, if memory serves me right, the description of the kit being ‘state of the art’ being a little, how shall we say, wide of the mark). As of August 2020 there has been no sign of life on untappd, twitter or facebook since 2019, and during 2021 the website disappeared, so I’m assuming the brewery is now defunct.
untappd

Sticklegs Brewery
Primrose Farm, Hall Road, Great Bromley, CO7 7TR
Previously based at the Cross Inn pub, then in Elmstead Market, then at Primrose Farm in Great Bromley, a low profile brewery mostly supplied nearby pubs and fests, but quietly closed not too long after moving to Primrose Farm. A new brewer evidently re-started the brewing there in late 2021, but that didn’t appear to last long.
facebook | untappd

That Weird Brother Brews
Brentwood
A pico brewer who produced a few commercial brews in 2019 as The Obnoxious Brewing Co. and then things went quiet before a rename and beers being delivered locally in April 2021. But after a Facebook post in Sept 2021 indicating a dalliance with cider-making, it went quiet again.
facebook | untappd

Vendetta Brewing Company
Southend
A v.e.r.y short-lived, small scale brewery (2018-early 2019??).
untappd

Witham Brewery
Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1RY, England
Set up as a brewpub in Witham in 2012, Glenn brewed them at the Red Fox Brewery in Coggeshall for some years, until Russ at Red Fox sold the business, to him and Paul Mellor from Harwich Town Brewing Co. (also brewing at Red Fox) and they set up Wharf Brewery.
untappd