History of Ringwood Brewery

BEER has been brewed in Ringwood for centuries ever since mediaeval man first mixed the crystal water of the River Avon with the malted barley harvested from the surrounding fertile fields of Hampshire.

The market town was a magnet for merchants and dusty drovers who needed their thirst slaked and whistles wetted before they could get down to the business of bargaining and bartering and many a deal was sealed over a draught and a noggin in one of the many taverns, inns and ale houses that gave Ringwood one of the highest pubs per head of population in olde England.

But it was not until 1978 that the present Ringwood Brewery was founded by the pioneering Peter Austin, widely regarded as a founding father of the British micro-brewing industry.

He set up his first brewhouse in a converted bakery on part of the town's former railway station yard to produce the staple Ringwood Best Bitter and the liquid gold Fortyniner to tickle the tastebuds of a limited list of local customers.

In 1979 the much stronger Old Thumper ale first came on tap to become the Ringwood flagship brew, not least after it was voted Champion Beer of Britain by Camra in 1988.

The Ringwood range was extended with the introduction of XXXX Porter, a dark ruby ale that is available to warm the cockles from November till February each year.

Meanwhile, having outgrown its original premises, the company moved to its present Christchurch Road site, appropriately the location of the long lost Tunks' Brewery which closed in 1821. While no drawings of this 19th century brewery have been traced it is thought the brewhouse stood between present brewhouse buildings and the Mill Stream from which brewing water would have been drawn.

Changes in the law to stop mergers and mass producers monopolising the pub trade, and the Guest Ale policy opening the doors for landlords of tied houses to offer cask ale from other breweries provided a big boost for the Ringwood Brewery business in the early 1990s which saw production rise almost threefold from to more than 13,000 barrels a year.

By 1994 the bustling, bubbling, brewery plant was at bursting point and work began to build a bigger brewhouse designed to produce 120 barrels (4,320 gallons) batches, more than doubling the output of the old plant which was dismantled in 1995.

The fame and flavour of the Ringwood beers had already crossed the Atlantic where Old Thumper began to be brewed under license in the US Alan Pugsley who after working for Ringwood Brewery in the early days went to the States to become a brewing consultant before setting up his own Shipyard brewery, in Portland, Maine where 'New England' Old Thumper is brewed today.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of VE Day in 1995 a commemorative beer True Glory was brewed and the logo was voted best label of the year.

In 1997 the Hogshead pubs group asked Ringwood to come up with a summer ale and the result was called Boondoggle an American word which roughly translates into English as not working too hard! While the beer proved popular, Hogshead decided against taking it exclusively and in May 1998 Boondoggle was relaunched as Ringwood's second seasonal beer, just right for those hazy, lazy days of summer.

Back at the ranch, the new Ringwood brewhouse with its copper doubling up as a whirlpool to separate the hops was making life difficult when two brews a day were needed so it was decided to install a new copper fitted with steam coils. It took 12 months - and the removal of the brewhouse roof - to complete the project which opened in March 1999 in time to produce the first batch of 21 Not Out, Ringwood's 21st Anniversary brew.

Autumn ale Huffkin, taking its name from a Kentish teacake flavoured with hops, was launched in 2002 and the four seasons were completed the following year with a Bold Forester spring ale which was also bottled with a silver label to mark Ringwood Brewery's 25th anniversary.

As well as supplying pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants over an increasingly wide region around Ringwood the brewery also opened its own pub in the town - The Inn on the Furlong strategically placed between the Market Place and main car park.

Since then the brewery has added six more titles to its growing town and country pub sign portfolio which now includes the The Porterhouse in Bournemouth, The Boot at Weymouth, the Drovers Inn at Gussage All-Saints near Wimborne, The Angel at Poole, the Crown in Winterborne Stickland and The Cartwheel at Whitsbury.

Ringwood Brewery also boasts its own Brewery Store on site selling a full range of its beers as well as a wines, cider and souvenir merchandise. These goods including our bottled beers are available from our online shop.

The company's commitment to continuous improvement by investing in plant and equipment and training and development of staff has been recognised by a number of local and national business awards.

In July 2007, David Welsh decided to retire after nearly 30 years at the brewery and handed the baton over to Marstons Brewery. Marstons are determined to continue the Ringwood success story in the premium cask ale market and share the same passion as Ringwood do for real ale.