Little Earth Project is a forward thinking craft brewery with its roots firmly in the beautiful countryside of Suffolk. We produce mixed fermentation beers, that, much like sour dough bread and natural wine, harvest the power of wild yeast and bacteria to produce a unique flavour.
By using a combination of wild yeast we source from the lees of our own cider, Castlings Heath Cottage, as well as organic hops and barley that we grow ourselves on a field only 3 miles from the brewery, plus ingredients foraged from abundant local hedgerows, we can produce beers that are true representations of Suffolk in a glass.
Our beers are produced in small batches, between 200-800L at a time, which are then moved to wooden oak barrels to rest for anywhere from 3 months to 2+ years, depending on how it develops. This natural, organic approach is applied to all parts of the business and ethos of Little Earth Project, as well as our pub, The White Horse Inn.
Brewing sustainably is something that is more important than ever. Influenced by Tom’s Dad’s involvement with organic grain trading as well as his work with local wildlife trusts, the brewery was built with the environment in mind. We are lucky to have our own borehole on site for water supply and both the brewery and pub next door are equipped with thermal solar panels to assist in heating the water/HLT.
Using coppiced wood from nearby Groton, we are able to heat the pub in the winter via two wood burners, as well as top up the boiler in the brewery. Coppicing wood is a form of woodland management which encourages growth without cutting down trees in their entirety.
The brewery, itself, is also built using local wood, brick and lyme plaster, which is a low embodied energy material.
Once we have brewed our beers, the malt and hop waste is taken to the field where we grow our organic hops and is used as compost and mulch in the winter months.
As we continue to grow, we hope to explore new ways we can brew and operate in an environmentally minded way and continue to protect and celebrate our little piece of the Earth!
As Founder and Head Brewer, Tom has been brewing on the site of Little Earth Project since 2008, originally running Mill Green Brewery, which focused on hoppy cask ales. He began Little Earth Project in 2015, after being inspired by breweries such as Jester King in Texas and the idea of brewing beers that represent the terroir of a region.
Tom spends most of his time split between the brewhouse tending to the barrels and brewing and the hedgerows, where he forages for many of the ingredients we use to enhance our beers!
Desert Island Beer: Brasserie de la Senne - Taras Boulba
Favourite LEP Beer: Organic East India Pale
Dani joined Tom in Suffolk back in 2018 after meeting him at a beer festival in Edinburgh in 2017, where she had been living for 7 years. Originally from Canada, she brings a background in marketing, sales, bar management and now runs, well, pretty much everything outside of the brewhouse!
Let's call it "Operations".
On days she can peel herself away from the laptop, she can be found reorganising the bottle room, as well as labelling and packing orders!
Desert Island Beer: The Kernel Brewery - Table Beer
Favourite LEP Beer: Elderberry Sour
Great Food Club – July 2017
“Q&A With Adventurous Historical Beer Specialist Little Earth Project”
Ferment Magazine – June 2018
“Escape to the Country”
Ferment Magazine – March 2019
“A Life of Lees”
Nibbly Pig – July 2019
“In Conversation: Little Earth Project”
Good Beer Hunting – February 2020
“Where the Wild Things Are – Little Earth Project in Suffolk, UK”
Ferment Magazine – September 2020
“Finders Keepers”
This Week In Craft Beer – July 2021
“Little Earth Project”
Craft Beer Channel – September 2019
