Suffolk-born brewer Sean O’Reilly is now based in Rochdale, but he is heading back to his home county for his first meet the brewer event.
Every month, the Theberton Lion holds a beer club. Customers sample a range of five beers, usually from a single brewery. When he lived in Leiston, Sean would regularly attend these events, and he is delighted to be coming back this month as a relative newcomer to professional brewing.
Regulars at the Lion have already enjoyed a couple of beers from Sean’s brewery, Bríd’s Cross Brewing, at the pub’s Winter Beer Festival, in January. For the Beer Club event, Sean will be presenting five beers, talking about the brews, and how he came to start up his own microbrewery.
Proprietor and landlord of the Lion,, Tom Lagden, said “We’re delighted to be welcoming Bríd’s Cross for a tap takeover. Having had Sean as a regular at the Lion’s Beer Club, we’re excited to be showcasing his beers this April at this meet the brewer event.”
Sean was inspired to start homebrewing after a brewery tour at Adnams. Changing life circumstances led to his move up north, and the decision to move away from his 25-year career as a primary school teacher.
Sean said: “It was certainly a risk to set up the brewery, but I had a lot of encouragement from family and friends, including several people in the beer industry. In the end I decided that I didn’t want to live with the regret of not giving it a try.”
Bríd’s Cross beers have mainly been selling in the Greater Manchester area, but Sean has also made deliveries to several pubs in Suffolk and Essex when visiting his family. The brewery has also just taken its first order for 18 casks to be delivered to venues in London.
Sean’s meet the brewer event takes place on Thursday, 25th April, from 8.30pm.
