Two brothers who took a Suffolk cider company to new heights before selling it on have joined forces again and re-launched a brewing business.

Henry and Barry Chevallier Guild sold the family business - Aspall cider of Debenham - to US drinks giant Molson Coors in 2018.

Now they have relaunched Bruha Brewing Co in Eye after snapping it up last autumn.

The new range of products is aimed at honouring local heritage and celebrating East Anglia’s reputation for producing some of the best beer in England, they said.

“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,” said Henry. 

 “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 mainly on lager and kegged beer.

The new range of six keg beers under the sub brand The Chevallier Brewing Company hark back to 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,” said 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.”

Thenew-look business will also offer a selection of BRUHA themed cask ales. These will have a "modern contemporary twist" - but appeal to traditional cask ale consumers, they said. 

“While 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," said Henry.

"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."