Welcome to The Hook Norton Brewery
Visitors to the brewery may be a little disappointed by the scaffolding which does not create a very aesthetically pleasing photograph!
Due to some damage, we are having to replace the wooden hoist which runs down the side of the building. As this part of the building is over 100 years old, the removal process is being carried out very carefully.
Parts are being detached piece by piece in the hope that some of it may be saved in the replacement. We think this work will continue until after Christmas but in the meantime, there are plenty of postcards and pictures in the shop!.
Corney & Barrow Lime Street
London’s leading Wine Bar group is now serving Hook Norton’s Hooky Bitter at their new Lime Street Venue!
Corney & Barrow
Lime Street
23 Fenchurch Avenue
London EC3M 7DQ
Tel: 020 7398 5870
Opening hours
Mon-Tue 7.30am-11pm
Wed-Fri 7.30am-12am
Local news
Training Brass Band OPEN EVENING
more information HERE
Brewery Visitors Centre
The Brewery Visitors centre is now open on Saturdays from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Brewery tours run Monday to Friday and lasts approximately 2 hours. All tours are followed by a sampling of our beer in the visitors centre. For our mature guests only.
Tours are available for educational parties and are free of charge. To book a tour or for more information please visit the brewery visitors page HERE.
Celebrate a 400th anniversary
Hook Norton brewery have produced a beer to celebrate the 400th anniversary of a town charter being granted to Banbury. The beer can be found at the following pubs. Click Here
Brewery History
The brewery at Hook Norton is rooted in an age when most towns and even large villages boasted their own brewery.
Approach the village of Hook Norton from any direction and the first thing you see is the Church tower. The second is the flag waving proudly over the brewery. The Hook Norton Brewery was started over 150 years ago by farmer and maltster John Harris. Today it is run by his great great grandson James Clarke. John Harris' brewery has now achieved a reputation he could have never imagined and the beer it produces today is enjoyed not only in the UK but in many other countries.
Hook Norton Brewery sits on the North side of the Cotswold Hills, an area of rural lushness so pivotal to the ebb and flow of English history, the locals decided long ago that a good, fresh pint should always be within easy reach. A natural spring provided the ideal site for a brewery, and one thing led to another.
1849 was a milestone year. The young Queen Victoria ruled - the 35th monarch since William the Conqueror - the country had endured Magna Carta, the Wars of the Roses, The Reformation, Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians, the Restoration of the Monarchy and was well into the Industrial Revolution when John Harris set up his brewery at Hook Norton. After Centuries of tempestuous history the locals were ready for a few beers. After a short while the sales of this fledgling brewery began to improve. And before long, the brewery John Harris started in a local farmhouse became the seed for the Hook Norton Brewery Company Ltd, and things evolved rapidly.
Hook Norton Brewery remains one of only 32 independent family-run breweries; and you won’t find a finer example of a Victorian tower brewery anywhere. It's also the only brewery still driven by steam. On the ground floor of the brewery is a fine 25 horsepower steam engine, supplying through a series of belts, cogs and shafts most of the motive power the brewery needs to produce it's beer .
Hook Norton is still "a real local brewery" and this is a rarity these days; awesome commercial pressures brought about change, but the brewers at Hook Norton became adept at keeping a restless World at arm’s length.
Brewery research shows most of us are more familiar with the drinking process than the skilled preparation that leads up to it. But every pint produced by Hook Norton brewery that you raise to your lips has a story to tell. Beer is very much a natural product; and the brewery puts a lot of effort into the whole brewing process to provide you with a refreshing pint. The traditional methods employed to make traditional beers, and that's what counts at Hook Norton.
The Shire Horse at Work in the Brewery
The shire horse drawn dray at Hook Norton ceased deliveries in 1950, but was revitalised in 1985, mainly for public relation purposes. The shire horses now only deliver locally within 5 miles of the brewery, but attend many public functions such as fetes, pub openings and on the odd occasion, weddings. It should be noted that out of all of the breweries that own horse drawn drays, only two still actually deliver their products by dray and shire horse. At present the Brewery has three shire horses (Consul, Major and Nelson), who are looked after by their two draymen Roger Hughes and Philip White.
Steam Engine
Steam engine power is perhaps the most remarkable survivor at the brewery. The 25hp steam engine still drives much of the machinery used in the brewery, just as it has done for the past hundred years. Installed in 1899, it is believed to be the last steam engine in the country still in daily use for its original purpose.
Ringwood Huffkin at 4.4 per cent ABV has a good floral and perfumed hop aroma with strong citrus fruit character. Initial malt sweetness with clean bitterness drying to an ashy burnt finish. It is full-bodied.
Ringwood Fortyniner at 4.9 per cent ABV has a light, fresh hop bouquet. Rounded malt in the mouth with strong hop balance and a deep bitter-sweet finish. It is a golden full-bodied malty beer.
