The Hogs Back Brewery Tap is proudly displaying its new Cask Marque plaque after passing the beer quality organisation’s rigorous inspection earlier this summer.
The Brewery Tap first opened first opened last summer, initially in a converted hop kiln overlooking the hop garden. The adjacent building, originally an aircraft hangar and now used for hop picking and drying, was added in the autumn, and the combined space now offers seating for 500+ guests to enjoy Hogs Back’s brewery-fresh beers, wood-fired pizzas and a busy programme of live music and comedy.
The Cask Marque accreditation was welcomed by Hogs Back’s MD Rupert Thompson, who was one of the beer quality body’s founders in 1997. He said: “Serving our beers in top condition is fundamental to the Brewery Tap offer: customers come here to drink our beers close to where they’re brewed, confident that they are going to taste just as the brewer intended.
“The Brewery Tap team, led by Rosie Robinson, have been on top of the routines, such as line cleaning, required to ensure consistent beer quality, and our reward is the Cask Marque plaque. We’re delighted to be displaying it as a ‘stamp of approval’, assuring customers about the beers served inside.”
Handpulls in the Brewery Tap are embedded in the wall adjoining the cellar, so customers will be able to pull their own pints direct from the cask. Cask beers include Hogs Back’s flagship ale TEA (Traditional English Ale), Surrey Nirvana and seasonals such as Three Hogs, which was brewed for the Euros tournament.
More than two decades ago, as brands and brewing director of Oxfordshire brewer Morland, Thompson was part of the small group that founded Cask Marque to address beer quality concerns. He said, “Since helping to establish Cask Marque in 1997, I’ve been part of the movement to improve the quality of draught beer in pubs and bars.
“There’s no doubt that standards now are higher than they were, meaning more drinkers are enjoying a pint of beer served as it should be – and are therefore more likely to order another. This is good news for drinkers, licensees and brewers, and I’m proud both to have been there at the start, and to continue to work to consistently serve great tasting, high quality cask beer.”
Paul Nunny, Cask Marque co-founder, said: “Brewery Taps have been a great success with drinkers and we are delighted to accredit the Hogs Back Tap for the excellent quality of the beer in the glass. We will now be including the Brewery Tap on the free Caskfinder App, which is used 60,000 times a month to find Cask Marque accredited pubs.”
The Hogs Back Brewery Tap is open: Thursday and Friday from 5pm – 10.00pm, Saturday from 12pm – 4:30pm and 5.30pm – 10pm (2 bookable sessions) and Sunday from 12pm – 5pm. Guests can reserve a table for up to 6 people, costing £14 inclusive of a Snorter – a 3.5 pint refillable glass flagon – of any draught beer or cider. For more information and details of upcoming music and comedy events, visit: https://shop.hogsback.co.uk/
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Notes to editors
- Hogs Back Brewery was founded in 1992 in Tongham, in the heart of the traditional Surrey hop growing area.
- Its flagship brand TEA, or Traditional English Ale, is one of the leading regional ales in the South East. The first beer brewed by Hogs Back in 1992, TEA has won multiple awards including runner-up in CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain in 2000.
- Other awards include CAMRA’s Champion Bottled Beer of Britain 2020 for its A over T (Aromas over Tongham) 9% ABV bottle conditioned barley wine and a Bronze medal in the International Cider Challenge 2019 for its traditional cloudy cider, Hazy Hog.
- The Hogs Back Brewery range includes a number of award-winning draught, bottled and canned beers, demonstrating its ability to combine brewing expertise and tradition with product innovation to create distinctive, memorable beers.
- Hogs Back planted a hop garden adjacent to its brewery in 2014, growing three hop varieties: Fuggles – used in its flagship TEA; Cascade – used in Hogstar lager; and Farnham White Bine.
- Hogs Back relocated its hop garden in 2019 and completed its first commercial harvest of this site in September 2020.
- While pubs were closed during lockdown, Hogs Back sold its beers through supermarkets and direct to customers, offering Drive Through and Click & Collect options at the brewery, or delivering direct to homes. Details on all options can be viewed on the website.
- As part of its drive to become an ever more sustainable brewer, Hogs Back is aiming to eliminate single use plastic. They have introduced refillable glass Snorters (3.5 pints) and Snifters (1 ¾ pints), and to date have removed 6,000 PETs, earning them Plastic Free Champion status from Surfers Against Sewage.
Press release from Hogs Back Brewery
Issued by: ShielPorter Communications
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