Surrey-based Hogs Back Brewery continues to grow its off-trade presence with new listings in Lidl for two of its existing bottled ales and a new winter beer brewed exclusively for the retailer, as well as providing hops from its recent harvest for a Lidl meat rub.
Lidl is stocking 500ml bottles of both Hogs Back’s Hop Garden Gold, a light, refreshing, 4.4% ABV golden ale and Gardeners Tipple, a 4% ABV, amber bitter. Initial sales have been encouraging with both ales featuring in Lidl’s advertising campaign fronted by farmer and former musician Alex James.
Hogs Back has also produced an exclusive winter beer for Lidl’s premium Hatherwood Craft Beer Company range. ‘The Winter Warmer’ is a 5.5% ABV dark beer, brewed with mulled winter spices to create a rich, complex, full-bodied taste, and packaged in a 330ml bottle. Hogs Back will provide further seasonal ales for Lidl as part of its two-year contract with the retailer.
In addition, Lidl is using hops from the Hogs Back Brewery hop garden as an ingredient in a pork rub within its ‘Deluxe with Love’ range, created with Michelin-starred chef Kevin Love. Hogs Back harvested its first hops in September this year, including the revived Farnham White Bine variety.
A team from Lidl including Love and Ben Hulme, head of beers, wines and spirits, spent time in the Hogs Back hop garden around harvest time as part of their research and planning for the winter beer and rub.
Hogs Back Brewery managing director Rupert Thompson said, “We’re delighted with this partnership with Lidl, which enables us to bring our beers to a new customer base. Lidl is developing a strong reputation for its interesting range of quality beers and support for regional produce, so both our existing ales and the winter beer are a perfect fit.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
- Hogs Back Brewery was founded in 1992 in Tongham, Surrey, in the heart of the traditional Surrey hop growing area.
- Its flagship brand TEA, or Traditional English Ale, is the leading independent ale in Surrey and increasing in popularity throughout London and the South East, as well as being sold in leading supermarkets. TEA was awarded the 2015 Gold medal in the Best Bitter Category for the London and South East Area by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
- The Hogs Back Brewery range includes a number of award-winning draught and bottled beers. Recent launches include Hogstar English Lager and Montezuma’s Chocolate lager, both demonstrating Hogs Back Brewery’s ability to combine brewing expertise and tradition with product innovation to create distinctive, memorable beers. Hogstar won a Gold award at the Society of Independent Brewers’ National Keg Beer Competition 2015. In 2013, Hogs Back also launched a traditional cloudy cider, Hazy Hog.
- In September 2015 Hogs Back Brewery harvested the first hops from its own hop garden on a 3.5 acre plot adjacent to the brewery, bringing the traditional but near-extinct Farnham White Bine hop variety back to its Surrey home. Once fully mature, the hop garden will provide 25% of the brewery’s hop requirements.
- Hogs Back Brewery is growing its presence in both the on and off trade. Customers include Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Lidl, Majestic Wine, JD Wetherspoon, Mitchells & Butlers, Greene King and Spirit Pub Company.
Issued on behalf of: Hogs Back Brewery
Further information: Ros Shiel: ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137
John Porter: john@shielporter.com / 07734 054389