The Ringwood Brewery Trip

On a fine, but cold Saturday in late November 2014, the OLD FARTS visited the Ringwood Brewery which is in Ringwood, Hampshire (funnily enough).

Having arrived early we signed in and the staff kindly furnished us with halves of Ringwood Bitter from the bar to keep us occupied until the tour commenced.  An excellent welcome!

The tour was interesting and the 'L' word was only mentioned once by way of explaining how it does not compare with real ale which is full of nice things.  At the cask filling area we were told of a worker who they say is barely human and grunts - they call him 'the casker'.  This part of the presentation had distinct overtones of Top Gear so we assumed he was related to the Stig.

After an exhausting tour of the brewery (lasting just over an hour) we returned to the Brewery bar for some much needed sampling and refreshment as the photo below shows.  The full range of beers were on draft and free to sample as many times as you liked before time was called at the end of the tour.  The beers on draught were Best Bitter, Forty-niner, Boondoggle (a favourite with our lager drinker), Old Thumper and the winter special brew of XXXX Porter.

The OFs sampling in the Brewery bar.

In an unexpected turn, the Brewery staff called upon an OF to assist as temporary barman when one of the barrels needed changing, and after a momentary reluctance,  an OF rose to the challenge with relish (though in general the OFs prefer drinking the beer to serving it).

OF acting as temporary barman.

When the bar closed we were bid farewell with our complementary half pint sampling glasses and there was just enough time to return to the Brewery shop and stock up on our favourite tipples.  The OFs were seen to purchase beer glasses, jars of Old Thumper marmalade and beer relish,  and a variety of packs of beer including Marston's Owd Rodger (couldn't resist trying this 7%+ brew), XXXX Porter etc.

So a thoroughly enjoyable trip was had by all, rounded off by a visit to a local hostelry serving Ringwood beers (of course) together with filling (but slightly less than gourmet) burger and chips.

Get them in....