Surrey-based Hogs Back Brewery has been given an extra 30th birthday present with the news that its flagship ale Tongham TEA has won a prestigious drinks industry design award.
The distinctive new pack design and branding for Tongham TEA, launched earlier this year, won the silver medal for best Design and Packaging in the International Beer Challenge (IBC), which recognises global beer excellence.
Tongham TEA’s new look celebrates Hogs Back’s place at the heart of the community in Tongham, and across Surrey and the south-east. It has a traditional graphic style, with an illustration of the familiar Hog mascot in front of the brewery, farm buildings and fields, and includes the ‘Farm Brewery’ statement on bottle labels.
The IBC judges said the new look is a “beautiful, perfect design” which is “well-considered” and “lifted the brand”. They also admired the “great green accents” in the branding, as well as the way Hogs Back uses the packaging both to tell the brewery story and focus on the ingredients which give Tongham TEA its distinctive character, including Fuggles hops grown in the brewery’s hop garden just yards from the brewhouse
Hogs Back managing director Rupert Thompson said: “The relaunch of Tongham TEA helped to kick off our 30th birthday celebrations this year, so as we approach the end of our anniversary year, we’re delighted to have won this IBC award. To win a Silver Medal in an award entered by brewers from around the world is a great achievement.
“With the new design we focus on the fact that TEA is a local, natural, fresh beer, proudly from a specific location – everything a traditional English ale should be. That goes against the tide of abstract names and designs that currently characterise the craft brewing sector, so it’s particularly gratifying that the IBC judges understood what we set out to achieve”.
The winning design was created by Brighton-based COOKCHICK Design, who have worked with Hogs Back for a number of years.
Tongham TEA, or Traditional English Ale, was the first beer out of the brewery gates when Hogs Back was founded in 1992 and quickly became a favourite with local beer drinkers. The award-winning new branding appears on bottles in supermarkets, as well as on the pump clip and other marketing support in pubs.
Tongham TEA is a full-bodied, well-balanced bitter, brewed in small batches using English malt carefully balanced with Fuggles hops. It is gently fermented to leave some of the natural malt sugars, giving a full and satisfying flavour with a long, dry finish.
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Notes to editors
Hogs Back Brewery
· Hogs Back Brewery was founded in 1992 in Tongham, in the heart of the traditional Surrey hop growing area.
· Its flagship brand Tongham TEA (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 its original, 3.5-acre hop garden in 2014 before moving a larger site in 2019. In September 2022, they harvested hops from 6,000 plants, and their Hop Harvest celebrations attracted 3,000 people over a weekend.
· Hogs Back cultivates three hop varieties: Fuggles – used in its flagship TEA; Cascade – used in Hogstar lager; and Farnham White Bine.
· 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 12,000 PETs, earning them Plastic Free Champion status from Surfers Against Sewage.
Press release issued on behalf of: Hogs Back Brewery
By: ShielPorter Communications
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