Ringwood Brewery
Ringwood Brewery is a small brewery 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, in 1923.
In 1978, Ringwood Brewery was established.
Ringwood Brewery founder Peter Austin was 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 American craft brewers use his equipment: Geary's Brewing, Shipyard and Middle Ages Brewing Company.
In 2007, Ringwood was purchased by Marston's plc for £19.2 million. Marston's stated that they would keep the brewery in operation and continue producing the full range of Ringwood beers.[1][2][3]
In 2013, Ringwood underwent a full re-brand, and the ABV of Old Thumper was reduced from 5.6% to 5.1%.
In 2015, Ringwood Best Bitter was rebranded as Ringwood Razorback.
Beers
Permanent ales
- Razorback (previously Best Bitter) – 3.6%. - Bitter
- Boondoggle – 4.2% - Blonde Beer
- Forty Niner – 4.9%. - golden ale
- Old Thumper – 5.1%. - Strong ale, used to be as strong as 6%, then 5.8%, now 5.1%
Seasonal ales
- Scuttle Butt - 4.0%. Amber ale
- Young Scrumper - 4.0%. Blonde ale
- Filly Drift - 4.7%. Bitter
- Showman's Tipple - 3.8%. Bitter
- True Glory - 4.5%. Amber ale
- XXXX Porter - 4.7%. - Porter
- Shy Giant - 4.5% - NE IPA
Commemorative ales
- Seventy Eight Spring Ale 4.2% alcohol by volume, special brew produced in 2008 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the brewery.
References
- Walsh, Dominic (12 July 2007). "Marston's swallows Ringwood Brewery for £19m". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
- Withrington, Adam (12 July 2007). "CAMRA voices concern over Ringwood takeover". The Publican. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
- "Marston's buys Old Thumper brewer". BBC News. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2018.