Three Breweries, Three Anniversaries, 525 Years of brewing excellence

Hook Norton Brewery has teamed up with fellow family breweries Everards and Joseph Holt to brew three unique beers as they all celebrate 175 years of beer and brewing.

The breweries will work together and brew three different beers in March, May and September with the head brewers coming up with unique recipes. All the beers will feature hops from Charles Faram, who have generously donated them from their existing range and their hop development programme.

Established in 1849 by John Harris, a farmer and a maltster, and now with his Great Great Grandson James Clarke at the helm, Hook Norton continues to brew award winning ales, lagers and stouts. Tradition runs deep at Hook Norton, all through their iconic Victorian Tower Brewery where original machinery is still used to brew, across its pubs at the heart of their communities and of course in the shire horses and dray, still used to deliver beer the traditional way.

Hook Norton Brewery Managing Director James Clarke said: ‘Whilst we have collaborated with other breweries before, working with our fellow family breweries who are also celebrating 175 years of beer and brewing makes these beers extra special and we are very excited to get brewing!’

The first of these unique beers, Tower Ale, will be brewed at Hook Norton Brewery with the brewers from Everards and Joseph Holts on hand to help with the brew.

Brewer Andy Thomas said ‘We are very excited to be using Olicana in our special one off 175 beer. We have used Olicana before and loved brewing with it for its tropical and floral notes. This variety in our eyes is on another level. We’ve combined it with Goldings, the UK’s oldest variety and Fuggles, a mainstay of our Hooky beers over the years. It’s great to continue our longstanding association with Charles Faram.’

Tower Ale 3.8%
Enjoy this unique ale in the best, most enjoyable environment, your local pub with friends and family. Taste tradition with a modern twist.

See: Light amber
Smell: Floral, light passion fruit and grapefruit notes
Taste: Sweet toffee notes and a light fruity finish

Tower Ale is a limited edition release and is available on the bar at the brewery, in Hook Norton pubs across Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire and also through Everards and Joseph Holts outlets.

Hook Norton Brewery Co Ltd Est 1849.

ENDS

Supporting Information
Charles Faram & Co Ltd has been hop suppliers for over 150 years, and has one of the largest range of hop varieties available from stock in both nitrogen flushed leaf hops and Type 90 (T90) pellets. Charles Faram have come a long way since the standard three hop varieties on offer and the base in the old hop market in Worcester city centre. Hop picking has become more mechanised and brewery numbers all over the world have increased dramatically. Tastes and trends have changed, and so too have the hops. Check out their hop development page to find out the commitment that the industry is making to ensure that they can help brewers to create great beer. https://www.charlesfaram.co.uk/new-hop-varieties/

Varieties come from the UK, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, New Zealand and the USA. Faram’s provides an artist’s palette of flavours to create every type and style of beer from the traditional varieties to exciting new developmental varieties from Faram’s own breeding and development programme. Their own varieties include Archer®, Godiva™, Harlequin™, Jester®, Minstrel®, Mystic®, Olicana® and Opus.

Goldings Hops Goldings has been grown in England for over 100 years and, as with Fuggles, were named after the grower who developed them. The variety includes clones that differ in maturity and it is therefore possible to spread picking over the whole of the harvest period. These clones include Early Bird, Cobbs, Eastwell, Canterbury Whitebine, and Mathon. A traditional English aroma variety highly valued for its smooth, sweet, delicate, slightly spicy aroma. THE finishing hop for British Bitters, Pale Ales and IPA’s.

Fuggle Hops It is reputed that Mr Fuggle of Brenchley in Kent originally selected this variety as a seedling in 1861. Fuggle was the dominant hop variety in England for over 70 years until the development of high-alpha varieties made it less economical for bittering purposes. The delicate, minty, grassy, slightly floral aroma produces a clean, refreshing, full-bodied flavour present in many traditional ales. Often complimented by an addition of Golding to give the rounded, full-bodied flavour for which English Ales have became world-famous.

Olicana® Made its commercial debut in 2014. It is a sister of Jester® and a daughter of Cascade. Olicana® is also available processed as a T45 pellet. The delicate fruity aromatics of Olicana® are most apparent when used as a dry hop or in lighter bodied beers. The T45 pellets provide a greater concentration of it’s flavour characteristics allowing it to shine in more robust brews.