The story
The earliest recorded brewing on the Adnams site was in 1396 by Johanna de Corby.
The Sole Bay Brewery in Southwold was purchased in 1872 by George and Ernest Adnams. The company was incorporated in 1890, and has remained independent since then, producing a range of beers for distribution mainly in East Anglia.
The mixed-culture yeast used by Adnams was sourced from Morgans brewery of Norwich in 1942.
Until 1953 and from 1970 to 2006, casks of Adnams ale were delivered to the six pubs of Southwold by horse and dray; the tradition ended when a new distribution depot was built three miles from the brewery.
The company founded a charity, The Adnams Charity, in 1990 to celebrate its centenary as a public company. A percentage of the company's annual profits is used to support worthwhile causes within a 25-mile radius of Southwold.
In 1993, Adnams Extra won the Champion Beer of Britain, an award presented by the Campaign for Real Ale at the annual Great British Beer Festival. New fermenting vessels were installed in March 2001, and the brewhouse was completely re-equipped in July 2006, making it one of the most energy efficient in Europe.
At the beginning of 2004, Adnams purchased land in neighbouring village of Reydon to expand its business with a new distribution centre, designed by architect Jeremy Blake, which was nominated for the 2007 RICS East of England Award for Sustainability. Adnams was awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the sustainable development category in 2005.
The distribution centre features the UK's largest living roof known as the Sky Garden which is made up of a variety of sedum species. Not only does this help to insulate the building, but the water stored in the sedum plants is also harvested and used to flush the staff toilets and clean company vehicles. This, combined with the solar panels and the environmental construction have meant the energy bills have been cut by half.
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In June 2009, Adnams signed a five-year agreement to supply Ipswich Town FC with beers at their Portman Road stadium, replacing the 14-year-old association with Greene King. The rights went back to Greene King in July 2014.
In 2010 Carl's Copper Pot still and Rectifying columns were installed and put in operation in November of that same year for the production of Gin, Vodka & Whisky.
In March 2019, Adnams launched a new English cider called Wild Wave - marking the company's first foray into cider production.
From Wikipedia’s article on Adnams, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5