Raising a glass of locally brewed beer to friends and family will bring a familiar feel to Christmas celebrations, even in this strangest of years, says Hogs Back Brewery. Concerted efforts by the team at the brewery in Tongham, near Farnham, will ensure that draught, bottled and canned beers are available for collection or home delivery, with some great offers to encourage early purchase.
Managing director Rupert Thompson said: “As Surrey moves into Tier 2 restrictions, it’s clear that the traditional pre-Christmas pub visit with groups of friends or extended families is off the table. So we’re doing all we can to bring a drop of festive cheer to people’s homes, enabling them to raise a festive toast with their loved ones, whether in person, or virtually if needs be.
“We’re busily brewing our favourites like TEA and Hog IPA, and seasonal ales like Mistletoe and Swine, scheduling longer hours for our Drive Through at the brewery and increasing our home deliveries
“Coronavirus may be forcing us to celebrate Christmas at home this year, but we’re confident that many drinkers across Surrey will still be keen to make local beer part of their celebrations. And, for those missing their pub pint, our draught, brewery fresh beers are the next best thing!”
A ‘buy early for Christmas’ incentive is running until 10 December, offering £10 off purchases of £70 or more and £5 off £45, via the Drive Through, Click & Collect, or online.
Although the Brewery Shop remains closed, Hogs Back has converted its spacious Kiln Bar into a ‘browsing shop’, primarily for customers wanting to see gift packs before purchasing. They are also setting up new beer collection points locally to manage festive demand, with The Pavilion at Guildford Cricket Club offering this service on Thursday evenings with other local sites to follow shortly.
Hogs Back’s festive offerings include:
- Brewery fresh beer: refillable glass flagons to cater for any size of ‘festive bubble’, with Snorters (3.5 pints) and Snifters (1 litre – available from early December) which can be filled with any of Hogs Back’s draught beers including seasonal ales as well as year-round favourites such as TEA, Hog IPA and Surrey Nirvana Session IPA. Five-litre mini kegs for larger groups are also being launched for Christmas, with Hogstar lager initially, while the full range of beers in recyclable PET bottles is available as usual. Brewery fresh beers can be collected from the brewery, or delivered to addresses in the Home Delivery area.
- Seasonal ales: two festive favourites return this year: Mistletoe & Swine, a full-bodied ale with subtle hints of sultana, peppery ginger, warm cinnamon and orange zest, available on draught, and Advent Ale, a deep chestnut ale with notes of sweet liquorice and rich dark chocolate aftertaste, on draught and in bottles.
- Christmas hampers and Pub at Home sets: with the office party off the table, the Hogs Back gift hamper is an alternative way to thank employees after a tough year! Another popular gift for beer-lovers, the Pub at Home set contains16 bottles or cans of beer, a Hogs Back pint glass, pork scratchings from local butcher Alf Turner and beer mats.
- Utopia Limited Edition: a very special beer, released mid-December to celebrate Hogs Back’s 7,000th brew. At 4.9% ABV, Utopia is a golden ale with citrus, tropical and floral notes, and will be canned for the first time.
Thompson added: “We’ve been adapting the way we do business since the first lockdown in March and we hope that, by giving our customers different ways to buy our beers for Christmas, they will continue to support us. After the challenges of the last nine months, we all deserve a beer or two – so let’s raise a glass and toast a better 2021!”
Details of opening hours for the Drive Through, addresses eligible for Home Delivery and festive collection points are all online at www.hogsback.co.uk
-ends-
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.
- 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’s traditional cloudy cider, Hazy Hog, launched in 2013, won a Bronze medal in the International Cider Challenge in 2019.
- Hogs Back planted a hop garden adjacent to its brewery in 2014, growing three hop varieties: Fuggles – used in its flagship TEA ale; 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.
Issued on behalf of:Hogs Back Brewery
Ros Shiel: ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137
John Porter: john@shielporter.com / 07734 054389