Due to an ever-increasing need for agricultural diversification, Priory Farm in Wrentham near Southwold have opened The Real Ale Shop, a unique off-licence business offering an extensive collection of bottle-conditioned ales from Suffolk brewers and micro-breweries. Set within a beautiful old thatched barn just off the A12, the shop breaks new ground by being located within a classic East Suffolk malting barley farm which supplies the brewers with their prime ingredient, malting barley. These brewers in turn supply the farm with beer for sale direct to the public. Suffolk has an enviable reputation based on hundreds of years of growing high quality malting barley and hops specifically for ale production. Combine this with Priory Farm, which enjoys a special coastal climate that helps to extend the natural ripening process, and the concept of ‘squaring the circle’ of Farm - Maltings - Brewers - Farm - directly to the consumer, becomes a culinary, and thoroughly enjoyable, reality.