Brewery: Hogs Back | Location: Surrey | Find them: Hogs Back Brewery
Hogs Back is a family-run farm brewery that opened in 1992. They keep their carbon footprint down by growing their own hops and using their spent grain to feed their farm animals.
They have a taproom and shop and offer brewery tours. Plus, they host an annual Hop Harvest Festival (you can find out more on their website).
We were given four of their core beers as a gift and decided to give them a try for one of our New Brew Thursday Sessions. All four were very good. Despite having been in the fridge for a while, they all tasted fresh, with lots of lovely malty flavours.
Gardener’s Tipple: Bitter 4%
Kicking us off was Gardener’s Tipple, an English Bitter made with English malts and hops. It wasn’t very bitter for a bitter. In fact, it was quite sweet, like brioche with lots of malty flavour. Very moreish.
Brewer’s note: Gardener's Tipple was first brewed as an exclusive celebration beer for the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Wisley for their 100 year Centenary. It's brewed with a rounded malty base from finest English malted barley in the mash tun combined with fresh local Fuggles and Goldings whole hop flowers in the copper to achieve a long lasting finish. Light amber in colour, it is a refreshing and thirst quenching bitter, perfect for relaxing after a hard day in the garden.
Surrey Nirvana: Session IPA 4%
Next up was the Surrey Nirvana, which was much drier with citrus notes up front and subtle peachy notes on the finish. Another very good beer.
Brewer’s note: A modern and easy-drinking well-balanced Session IPA with an enticing aroma blending citrus and tropical notes with a clean, dry finish and characteristic grapefruit high notes.
Brewed with a combination of Cascade hops from our hop garden and complemented with US Mosaic and Centennial hops added late in the brew to make the perfect tropical marriage.
FIELD TO FIRKIN - At Manor Farm in Tongham, Surrey we have revived the hop growing tradition of the Farnham area and our brewers now grow three varieties of hops over eight acres, including English Cascade, a wonderfully aromatic hop used in this beer.
Tongham Tea: English Ale 4.2%
Despite having tea in the name, this beer has nothing to do with tea - TEA is an acronym for Traditional English Ale and this was one of Hogs Back’s first beers. It had a little bit of bitterness with lots of jammy fruit cake notes.
Brewer’s note: Our top selling, award winning, classic Traditional English Ale [or TEA for short] in bottles. Amber in colour, a malt-forward taste with the hops providing balance. A lingering malt sweetness leads to a long, satisfying finish. Tongham TEA is surely the best drink of the day!
Small-batch brewed with finest English malted barley, Surrey-grown classic bittering hop, Fuggles, and water drawn from the chalk aquifers under the Hogs Back ridge. Named after the village of Tongham, which we have called home for over 30 years. Best with rich, full-flavoured meat and cheese dishes.
Hop Garden Gold: English Pale Ale 4.4%
The final beer was Hop Garden Gold, and yet again, it was a lovely beer. It was actually very hard to pick a favourite from the four as they were all really nice. This one was sweet and malty, and almost tasted like caramel (or maybe fudge). Lovely.
Brewer’s note: A light and very refreshing golden ale crafted with a fine blend of best English malted barley and fresh local Surrey-grown Fuggles hops. Hop Garden Gold is a perfect balance of aroma and bitterness, with a slight hint of fruit and sweetness.
This beer is named in honour of the many hops gardens that used to be found in the fields surrounding the brewery and throughout the Farnham Valley.
