Hogs Back Brewery is gearing up to meet increasing demand for its flagship beer TEA (Traditional English Ale), as well as its keg beer range, with a further £300k investment programme in the brewery at Tongham in Surrey. TEA is now sold in more than 1,000 supermarkets across the South-East and is a favourite cask ale in pubs throughout the region.
The first part of the programme is a new building housing a beer kegger, enabling Hogs Back to meet growing orders for Hogstar English Craft Lager and London’s Outback Pale Ale from pubs and bars. A new beer filtering system will also be installed. These will also help support Hogs Back’s innovation programme as it develops new products for the dynamic UK and export beer market.
The new building will be finished by the end of January, and the increased flexibility it delivers will also enable the brewery to meet demand for TEA from both the on-trade and off-trade. A further phase of significant investment in improvements and additions to the brewhouse is also scheduled for later in 2018, which will see the capacity of the brewhouse increase by 70%.
Rupert Thompson, managing director of Hogs Back Brewery, said, “This is a significant investment in the brewery, and will enable us to be even more flexible in terms of the range of beers we can brew and pack, as well as enabling us to increase capacity when needed.
“The UK beer market is more diverse than it’s ever been, with consumers enjoying beer in a wide range of styles and formats. As a local brewer combining heritage with innovation, it’s vital that we continue to invest to meet those consumer expectations.
“We’re delighted that there is growing demand for our two innovative keg beers, Hogstar lager and London’s Outback pale ale, and it’s equally important that this latest investment gives us improved flexibility to supply TEA. Over the past two years we’ve invested circa £300k, planted our 3.5 acre hop garden, and created five jobs at the brewery as a result.”
A new visitor reception area will also be completed in early December as the first stage to improving facilities in response to increased demand for tours and meetings, as well as providing a special event bar space.
The new beer kegger is from Brewology, while the filtration system was supplied by Liquid Solutions.
