The Hampshire Hog Ringwood Brewery Ringwood Hampshire - geograph

Ringwood Brewery is a small brewery on the edge of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, near the

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

border. It produces mainly

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 ...

s and some bottled beers. The

emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...

for the

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

is a

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

. There are records from the early 19th century of four breweries, one owned by a banker named Stephen Tunks, that stood on the site of the present day Ringwood Brewery. Of the four, none survive today. The last to close was Carters on West Street, in 1923. In 1978, Ringwood Brewery was established. Ringwood Brewery founder Peter Austin was an influence on Britain's

craft brewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

rebirth in much the same way that

Fritz Maytag Frederick Louis "Fritz" Maytag III (born December 9, 1937 in Newton, Iowa) is the former owner of Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco and is Chairman of the Board of the Maytag Dairy Farms (maker of Maytag Blue cheese). He is also the owner o ...

of San Francisco's

Anchor Brewing Company Anchor Brewing Company is an American alcoholic beverage producer, operating a brewery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. The brewery was founded in 1896 and was purchased by Frederick Louis Maytag III in 1965, saving it from closure. ...

and Pierre Celis of Belgium's

Hoegaarden Brewery Hoegaarden Brewery (, ) is a brewery in Hoegaarden, Belgium, and the producer of a witbeir, which is different from a wheat beer. Hoegaarden de-emphasizes hops, and is unfiltered, giving it the hazy, or milky, appearance--which makes it a wit ...

were to their countries. However, Austin had a much more direct role in brewery development through his consulting business and equipment sales. Several American craft brewers use his equipment: Geary's Brewing,

Shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

and Middle Ages Brewing Company. In 2007, Ringwood was purchased by

Marston's plc Marston's plc is a British pub and hotel operator. Founded by John Marston in 1834, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Marston's disposed of its brewing operations in 2020, selling the assets to a newly formed joint venture with the Ca ...

for £19.2 million. Marston's stated that they would keep the brewery in operation and continue producing the full range of Ringwood beers. In 2013, Ringwood underwent a full re-brand, and the ABV of Old Thumper was reduced from 5.6% to 5.1%. In 2015, Ringwood Best Bitter was rebranded as Ringwood Razorback.

Beers

Permanent ales

* Razorback (previously Best Bitter) – 3.6%. - Bitter * Boondoggle – 4.2% - Blonde Beer * Forty Niner – 4.9%. - golden ale * Old Thumper – 5.1%. - Strong ale, used to be as strong as 6%, then 5.8%, now 5.1%

Seasonal ales

* Scuttle Butt - 4.0%. Amber ale * Young Scrumper - 4.0%. Blonde ale * Filly Drift - 4.7%. Bitter * Showman's Tipple - 3.8%. Bitter * True Glory - 4.5%. Amber ale * XXXX Porter - 4.7%. - Porter * Shy Giant - 4.5% - NE IPA

Commemorative ales

* Seventy Eight Spring Ale 4.2% alcohol by volume, special brew produced in 2008 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the brewery.

References

External links

Ringwood Brewery website
Breweries in England Companies based in Hampshire Ringwood, Hampshire {{beer-stub