Dorset Beer Festival hosts county's first beer and music pairing, raises £10,000 for charity

Over 1500 guests visited the Dorset Beer Festival at the Hall & Woodhouse Brewery in Blandford last weekend (13 and 14 June) to enjoy beers and live music in the sunshine. The event, at the home of Badger and Outland beers, has raised an estimated £10,000+ for charitable causes.

The festival also staged Dorset's first beer and music pairing as award-winning writer and Sunday Times beer columnist Pete Brown led visitors through some of his favourite beers, each matched with a different piece of music. Pete explained some of the emerging neuroscience behind beer and music matching before giving them three beers to try while listening to music.

Pete said: "I started matching beers with songs as a joke, then discovered that scientists at Oxford University were doing something very similar and taking it really seriously. So I've been hosting events to show how music can influence the taste of beer - and have just published Tasting Notes, a book about it.

"The crowd at the Badger Brewery were very responsive to the pairings, and particularly enjoyed drinking locally-brewed Outland West Coast IPA with ‘Human' by The Killers. I matched these partly because IPAs and The Killers' music have both been shaped by cross-Atlantic travel; IPAs were first brewed in the UK and then adapted by American brewers, while ‘Human', written by a West Coast USA band, has achieved anthemic status in this country."

Head brewer Toby Heasman said: "The Festival was, as always, a wonderful celebration of beer, food and music. And, as in previous years, all proceeds from the event go to charitable causes, this year The Huntington's Disease Association and The Brewers' Benevolent Fund." Hall & Woodhouse raised over £850,000 for good causes in its heartland last year.

He added: "Pete's sessions were a great addition to the Beer Festival. We all enjoy listening to music while savouring a beer, and this was a fun way to understand how the relationship between the two is closer than we think."

Tasting Notes is the result of Pete's years of pairing beer and music and combines cutting-edge neuroscience, storytelling, humour, music fandom and (obviously) beer tasting. ‘Side One' is a deep dive into the latest learning about how we really taste and hear. ‘Side Two' features 45 pairings of great songs and wonderful beers across many genres and styles, with QR codes linking readers to the tunes. It is available from online retailers including CAMRA.

Photo caption: beer writer Pete Brown and head brewer Toby Heasman at the Dorset Beer Festival at Hall & Woodhouse Brewery in Blandford (Photo: Laura Hadland)

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Issued on behalf of:Hall & Woodhouse

By:ShielPorter Communications

For further information:

Ros Shiel:ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137

John Porter:john@shielporter.com / 07734 054389

NOTES TO EDITOR

Badger Beers

• Badger Beers have been brewed in Blandford, Dorset since 1777 by independent regional family brewer, Hall & Woodhouse, which also owns around 180 pubs across the south of England. The business is now under the stewardship of the seventh and eighth generations of the Woodhouse family.

• The Badger range of characterful, award-winning premium bottled ales (PBAs) have widespread, national distribution, with listings in all major supermarkets and in thousands of independent grocery and specialist drinks stores, as well as with leading wholesalers and cash & carry outlets.  

• The PBA range includes well-known names such as Golden Champion, Fursty Ferret and Tangle Foot. In September 2023, Badger launched vibrant new designs, with each beer featuring an illustration of a Dorset wildlife character - including a mouse, ferret and hare - above a clear, brief taste description. The redesign has driven an increase in consumer penetration for the brand of 9.3%, compared to a -13% decline in penetration for the PBA category overall (Kantar, 12 weeks to 29 September 2024).

• In April 2023, Badger launched a range of craft beers under the new Outland brand.  The range now includes nine variants, packaged in 440ml cans. Outland was developed to offer the interesting, innovative flavours associated with craft beers, presented in a way that also appeals to more mainstream beer drinkers.

• Badger Beers have won an impressive number of awards in UK and international beer competitions over the years. In 2024, Outland was a finalist in the Grocer Gold Awards, and in 2023 was named Supreme Champion, Pack Design, in the International Beer Challenge. Badger took eight medals in the World Beer Awards 2024 across its PBA and Outland ranges, including a Country Winner medal for Outland Ginger Pale Ale.

Pete Brown

• Pete Brown is a British author, journalist and broadcaster and drinks expert. Since February 2025, he has been the Sunday Times Magazine's weekly beer columnist. He has written 13 books that take in social history, cultural commentary, travel writing, personal discovery and natural history and his words are always delivered with the warmth and wit you'd expect from a great night down the pub. Pete has been named named British Beer Writer of the Year four times, has won three Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, and been shortlisted twice for the André Simon Awards.

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Pete Brown and Toby Heasman at the Dorset Beer Festival at Hall & Woodhouse Brewery 

For further information:

Ros Shiel:ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137

John Porter:john@shielporter.com / 07734 054389

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