Hall and Woodhouse is a British regional brewery founded in 1777 by Charles Hall in

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...

, Dorset, England. The company operates over 250

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in the south of England, and brews under the name Badger Brewery.

History

The brewery traces its roots to 1777, when Charles Hall founded the Ansty Brewery in

Ansty, Dorset Ansty is a village in Dorset, England, north of Cheselbourne and west of Milton Abbas. It consists of the settlements of Higher Ansty, Lower Ansty, Pleck (also known as Little Ansty) and Ansty Cross. The Hall & Woodhouse brewing company founded a ...

. The Hall & Woodhouse partnership dates from 1847, when Charles' son and successor went into business with George Woodhouse, who had earlier been employed as head brewer. The King Charles Head - geograph

In 1875, the firm's logo of a badger was first introduced, and in 1900, when a new brewery was built to replace the original, it was named after the logo. The logo has evolved over the years. The firm remains a family business. In 1991 the brewpub ''Gribble Inn'' in Oving, West Sussex was acquired. Though it was sold back to the landlord in 2005, Hall & Woodhouse retained the rights to the brand name ''Fursty Ferret'', the brewpub's most well-known beer. In 2000 the King and Barnes brewery business in Horsham was acquired. Hall & Woodhouse retained the King and Barnes chain of pubs and the rights to the brand names of the King and Barnes beers, but the brewery premises were sold.

Beers

Blandford Fly (formerly ''Blandford Flyer'') is a 5.2% dark bottled ale flavoured with ginger and spices. Cranborne Poacher (formerly ''Poacher's Choice'') is a very strong (5.7%) bottled dark ale with an edge of

liquorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

. Fursty Ferret is an amber ale, 4.1% as a

cask ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

, and 4.4% as a filtered beer in bottles and cans. Originally brewed at the ''Gribble Inn'', which was bought by Hall & Woodhouse in 1991. The pub was sold back to the landlord in 2005, with Hall & Woodhouse retaining the rights to the brand name ''Fursty Ferret''. Golden Champion is a 4.5% pale ale with an aroma of elderflower. Hopping Hare is a 4.4% abv light coloured pale ale made from a mix of American Amarillo, Cascade hops and English Flagon barley. Tanglefoot is a

golden ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

, 4.7% as a

, and 5% as a filtered beer in bottles and cans. It is made from a mix of English Flagon barley, Goldings and Challenger hops, with a pear drop taste. According to a story presently written on the bottle, it was given its name when the Head Brewer drank "several tankards" and "fell on" a name for the beer. The cask version is widely available in the south of England, and a pasteurised version is available in bottles and cans in supermarkets nationally. Wicked Wyvern is a 5.5% pale ale with an aroma of

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

Soft drinks

The company also markets soft drinks known as

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. In 1957 Hall and Woodhouse started manufacturing soft drinks, from 1974 under the Panda Pops brand, but closed the plant and sold the brand to Nichols plc in 2005, citing its key competitors as having the strategic advantage of lower production costs through greater scale, lower wage costs, better geographical location and more efficient and up-to-date plant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall and Woodhouse 1777 establishments in England Food and drink companies established in 1777 Breweries in England Companies based in Dorset British companies established in 1777

History

Beers

Soft drinks

References

Further reading

External links