Collection: Norfolk Lager

Discover lager brewed in Norfolk by some of the county's independent breweries – from crisp, refreshing craft lagers to modern interpretations of one of the world's most popular beer styles.

There's an especially strong connection between beer and Norfolk. Look across the county's fields and you're looking at one of Britain's great malting-barley growing regions. Some of that barley ultimately becomes the malt at the heart of beers brewed here in Norfolk and much further afield.

So when you choose a Norfolk lager, there's often an agricultural story behind the beer as well as a brewery.

What makes a lager a lager?

The difference between lager and ale isn't simply that one is light and the other dark.

Lagers are generally made using bottom-fermenting lager yeast and fermented at cooler temperatures, followed by a period of conditioning. In fact, the word lager comes from the German word associated with storing.

That slower, cooler process helps produce the clean, crisp and refreshing character we tend to associate with lager.

But lager is a family of beers rather than one flavour. Norfolk brewers are increasingly demonstrating just how much variety can exist within it.

What does Norfolk lager taste like?

That depends very much on the brewer and the particular lager.

You'll find clean, crisp and refreshing lagers with gentle malt character and a dry or hoppy finish alongside fuller, more malt-driven styles and contemporary interpretations using different grains, hops and brewing techniques.

If your idea of lager has largely been shaped by mass-produced international brands, Norfolk craft lager is an opportunity to discover just how much flavour and individuality the style can have.

From Norfolk fields to Norfolk beer

One of the things that makes Norfolk particularly well suited to brewing is what happens before anybody switches on the brewing equipment.

The county is renowned for growing malting barley, including the celebrated Maris Otter variety, prized by brewers for generations.

Maris Otter has particularly strong Norfolk connections. It is grown in the county, malted here and used by brewers both locally and around the world.

That means the connection between Norfolk's farmers and its brewers can be remarkably short: barley grown in Norfolk can become malt in Norfolk before finding its way into beer brewed in Norfolk.

Not every ingredient in every Norfolk beer will necessarily have been grown here – hops and other ingredients may come from elsewhere – but barley gives Norfolk beer a particularly strong connection to the county's agricultural landscape.

Craft lager versus mass-produced lager – what's the difference?

The basic brewing principles may be similar, but scale, ingredients, recipes and time can produce very different results.

Independent brewers can use particular malts, distinctive hop varieties, longer conditioning periods and their own recipes to create lagers with considerably more individual character.

That doesn't necessarily mean stronger or more challenging beer. A well-made craft lager can still be beautifully straightforward: cold, crisp, balanced and extremely drinkable.

The difference is that there's a brewer, a recipe and often a sense of place behind it.

Norfolk breweries making lager

Our Norfolk Lager collection brings together beers from independent breweries around the county, including producers such as Duration, Moon Gazer and Stump Rat, with the selection changing as breweries release new beers and seasonal brews.

Some take inspiration from classic European lager traditions; others put a distinctly modern Norfolk interpretation on the style.

And that's really the point of this collection. Norfolk lager isn't one beer or one flavour. It's another way of discovering what happens when a county famous for growing brewing ingredients also develops a thriving community of independent brewers.

Explore our current selection of Norfolk lagers below.