Ringwood Brewery

Ringwood Brewery is a small brewery situated on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England near the Dorset border. It produces mainly cask ales and some bottled beers.

The emblem for the brewery is a boar.

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, which closed in 1923.

In 1978, the Ringwood Brewery was established.

Ringwood Brewery founder, Peter Austin, is thought to be an influence on Britain's craft brewery rebirth in much the same way that Fritz Maytag of San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company and Pierre Celis of Belgium's Hoegaarden Brewery were to their countries. However, Austin had a much more direct role in brewery development through his consulting business and equipment sales. Several notable American craft brewers use his equipment: Geary's Brewing, Shipyard, and Middle Ages Brewing Company to name a few.

On 12 July 2007, it was announced that Ringwood had been purchased by Marston's plc for £19.2 million. Marston's have stated that they plan to keep the brewery in operation and continue producing the full range of Ringwood beers.^[1][2][3]

Beers

• Best Bitter 3.8% alcohol by volume ^[4]
• Fortyniner 4.9% alcohol by volume
• Old Thumper: 5.6% alcohol by volume, light, hoppy taste. Awarded 'Champion beer of Britain' by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1988.
• True Glory - no longer brewed

Seasonal Ales:

• Bold Forester Spring Ale 4.2% alcohol by volume
• Boondoggle Summer Ale 4.0% alcohol by volume
• Huffkin Autumn Ale 4.4% alcohol by volume
• XXXX Porter Winter Ale 4.7 % alcohol by volume

Commemorative Ales:

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

Pubs

Ringwood Brewery owns several pubs which tend to be older style traditional pubs rather than modern bars.

They are as follows:

• The Inn On The Furlong in Ringwood
• The Porterhouse in Westbourne, Bournemouth
• The Boot in Weymouth
• The Drovers Inn in Gussage All Saints near Wimborne
• The Angel in Poole (close to Poole Quay)
• The Cartwheel in Whitsbury near Fordingbridge
• The Crown in Winterborne Stickland

References

1. ^ Marston's swallows Ringwood Brewery for £19m
2. ^ CAMRA voices concern over Ringwood takeover
3. ^ Marston's buys Old Thumper brewer
4. ^ http://www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk/beers/beer.aspx?bid=4

External links

• Ringwood Brewery website