Work is due to start this month on the new hop garden, which will be more than double the size of the existing 3.5-acre site. The new garden is located within Manor Farm, where the brewery itself is sited.
The brewery has been closely monitoring hop growth during the heatwave and, although there has been some concerns over the lack of rainfall affecting lateral growth, estate manager Matthew King is confident of a high-quality crop this year.
“This is the first extended period of dry and hot weather we’ve experienced since planting the hop garden in 2014,” he said. “Hops thrive on heat and sunshine, but the lack of rainfall has affected their development.
“They are drawing water up to the top of the plant which is looking very healthy, but we’re not seeing as much lateral growth lower down."
Quality over quantity
King continued: “For this reason, we’re expecting this year’s harvest to be more about quality than quantity. We’ve learned a lot this summer about how hops respond to hot and dry weather, which will stand us in good stead when we move to our new hop garden.”
Speaking about the new garden, Hogs Back Brewery managing director Rupert Thompson said: “This is a huge investment in the future of Hogs Back Brewery and we’re proud to be continuing the journey that started with the planting of our hop garden in 2014.
“The new hop garden embodies everything Hogs Back stands for as a ‘farmer brewer’ and will make us an even more sustainable, environmentally conscious business – we can measure the distance from hop garden to brewery in ‘food feet’ rather than ‘food miles’!
Self sufficient
Thompson continued: “Expanding to the new garden will make us more self-sufficient in hops, ultimately, providing around half our hop requirement, compared to less than 25% currently. Just as importantly, growing our own hops has made us better brewers because with each harvest, we’ve learned more about how the flavour of the hops is affected by the weather and how that then impacts the quality and taste of the beer.
“Getting closer to this key ingredient has given us a level of control over our beers that few, if any, other British brewers can claim.”
Hogs Back will harvest a total of four hop varieties this September: Farnham White Bine, a traditional local hop that Hogs Back revived from near-extinction; Fuggles, used in the brewer’s flagship TEA (Traditional English Ale); Cascade, used in Hogstar Craft English lager; and Pioneer, added alongside the other varieties to the seasonal Home Harvest Ale.