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Hook Norton - A Traditional Brewery
 Recently
we were fortunate enough to visit this characterful brewery, hidden in the
depths of the Oxfordshire countryside, that has been run by the same family
for five generations, using traditional methods and ingredients.
A wonderful example of a Victorian tower brewery (it dates its operations
back to 1849), it is still powered by a steam engine which is over 100 years
old. (now running on oil). The engine runs a system of belts, pulleys and
pumps which supply the power for all operations, e.g. pumping the spring
water used for brewing up to the great tanks high in the top storey, and
powering the grist mill.
As we entered the brewery building the engine was running and all the belts
and gearing machinery were rumbling away – they were pumping the day’s brew
into the hop back The day we were there they were doing a small brewing run
which meant they were using the old open topped copper which sits next to a
modern large enclosed stainless steel version; as we went round we saw the
mash tun being dug out by hand in a fine display of masculine muscle, and as
we reached the top of the brewery, the brew was being pumped up from the hop
back to fill the enormous copper cooling tray (now very seldom used, so we
were lucky!). It looked (and smelled) wonderful, steaming away in the shafts
of sunlight filtered through the wooden louvered windows, open to the
elements.
 After
admiring this sufficiently we clattered back down the old wooden staircases
to visit the fermenting room and racking line, finishing off with a look at
the stables. Three exceedingly large horses, that deliver beer to the
surrounding villages and go to shows, eyed us and snorted contemptuously, so
in the face of such equine magnificence we retired to the sample room.
This truly is the best example of a tower brewery we have ever seen, and the
description may read to you like a giant wallow in nostalgia, but the
brewery is continually evolving; recent improvements include a new mash tun
and modern paraflow (the old dairy cooler they used to use is now in the
brewery museum). Bringing in large items of equipment is difficult in a
listed building – when part of an outside wall had to be removed to install
the mash tun, all the outer bricks had to be numbered so that they all went
back in the same places!
 The
traditional nature of the beer remains though, with English barley and hops
being used, and all the beers are dry hopped in the cask. The Mild (3% ABV)
and Bitter (3.4% ABV) are excellent examples of beer that has plenty of
taste without being heavy on the alcohol.
Beer produced in a spotless modern brewery
such as Oakham – all stainless steel and indicator panels – can be just as
excellent – but some of the magic has gone with the cobwebs. Visit Hook
Norton if you can and drink in the atmosphere of a largely bygone age.
Rhoda, Nigel & Mary
Nottingham Brewery Tour
From: InnSpire - Issue 43 – June 2003
 What
do you get if you put 32 CAMRA members onto two minibuses? The answer ~ an
excellent night at the Plough Inn at Radford, Nottingham, which included a
tour of the adjoining Nottingham Brewery. Primarily this was a trip to thank
the volunteers for all their hard work at this year’s Beer Festival in
February, but, some of us new members went along for the ride!
The minibuses set off in convoy and after a short trip down the motorway, we
arrived at our destination. We all trooped through to the bar to get a pint
in before we visited the brewery itself. The Plough Inn is a two roomed pub
with a central bar area; a friendly pub that is frequented by a variety of
people (ranging from Beer lovers to students). All the Cask Beers ranged
from £1.70 to £2.10 and the choice was truly excellent ~ our only problem
was deciding what to drink first! In honour of CAMRA’s Mild Month, we
ordered a four pint jug of the Rock Mild (3.8% ABV) which turned out to be
not only great value, but a very tasty Mild indeed!
WWe were split into two groups for our tour of the Brewery, and seeing that
we were in the second group we finished our initial pints and ordered our
next round of drinks to take on the tour with us. Our group then made our
way through to the brewhouse. What followed was an extremely interesting and
informative tour; and the pints of Legend (4% ABV) that we were clutching
was top class too! Philip Darby (who was showing us round) used the right
mix of facts, anecdotes and humour to explain the history of the Brewery
and the brewing process. There was enough information for the more
knowledgeable, but it wasn’t too scary for us Brewery Tour Virgins!
Nottingham Brewery is owned by Niven Balfour and Philip Darby. They brew a
selection of beers, in their custom built brewery by the side of The Plough,
based on the recipes of the old Nottingham Brewery (which was finally closed
in the 1950s). Their beers are sold in The Plough and also to some other
local outlets. They use a majority of Hereford grown hops (mainly
Challenger, Goldings and Fuggles) and their malt is supplied by the Maltings
in Warminster. The tour came to an end once our pint glasses were empty and
the rest of the evening was spent back in The Plough, after all there was a
very nice buffet on offer
and plenty more beers to try!
Of the seven Nottingham beers available, we tried four of them and I can
honestly say we didn’t have a bad pint all night. Judging by the happy faces
around us in the bar (and on the journey home), everyone else had as good a
night as us. We sampled the Rock Mild (3.8% ABV), the Legend (4% ABV), the
Bullion (4.7% ABV) and the Magpie’s Pride (4.5% ABV) ~ all of them were
good, but our favourite of the night was the Bullion.
All too soon (and before we could try the Nottingham Supreme) it was last
orders at the bar and the minibuses came to take us back home. We set off;
tired, happy, but undoubtedly merry! It had been a great night, enjoyed by
all!
Andrea Waterhouse
This webpage was last updated on
Sunday, 07 October 2007
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