Hook Norton Brewery is a regional

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

in Hook Norton,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England, several miles outside the Cotswold Hills. Founded in 1849, the brewing plant is a traditional Victorian 'tower' brewery in which all the stages of the brewing process flow logically from floor to floor;

mashing In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining ground grain – malted barley and sometimes supplementary grains such as corn, sorghum, rye, or wheat (known as the " grain bill") – with water and then heating the mixture. Ma ...

at the top, boiling in the middle,

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

and

racking Racking, often referred to as Soutirage or Soutirage traditionnel (meaning racking in French), also filtering or fining, is the process of moving wine or beer from one container to another using gravity rather than a pump, which can be disrupti ...

at the bottom. Until 2006, the brewing process was powered by steam. Beer is still delivered in the village by horse-drawn dray.

History

The brewery was founded in 1849 in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire and was designed as a 'tower' brewery in which all the stages of the brewing process flow logically from floor to floor. Until 2006, the brewing process was powered by steam. However, the historic Victorian

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

(dating from 1899) is still in the brewery. It is run weekly for visitors. Beer is also still delivered in the village by horse-drawn dray.

Beers

Museum

Visitors can take a tour of the brewery, brew their own beer in the micro brewery and visit the museum with historic brewery artifacts and local history displays.

Steam engine

Hook Norton Brewery uses a Buxton & Thornley

that has powered most of the machinery in the brewery since 1899. It is the last commercially working open crank stationary steam engine in the UK. It is a small, simple engine consisting of a cylinder, flywheel, connecting rods and little else. The engine drives a system of shafts and belts connected to most of the machinery in the brewery; different sections of machinery can be engaged and disengaged by levers which slide drive belts on and off their wheels. Where there are gears in the lineshafting, each pair consists of one iron and one wooden wheel. Thus, if any machinery should jam, only a few wooden teeth will be damaged and can then be replaced by the brewery's mechanics instead of needing a complex iron casting. The machinery once powered by the steam engine includes: *Pumps, both for "liquor" (water) and wort. The pumps are located next to the engine and are original. *The grist mill, which crushes the grains of malt by a precisely-regulated amount. This is also an original 1899 machine. *The

and raking equipment in the mash tun. *A lift for filled casks, dating from 1900. *The sack hoist for loading malt. The steam engine now only powers the mashing equipment, mill and sack hoist on certain days. The mashing rakes and cask lift have been removed.

Tied houses

Outlets for Hook Norton ales include

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s, off licences and free houses. The brewery also has a network of 47 tied houses spread across a region from Thame in the east to Worcester in the west and Grove in the south to Napton-on-the-Hill in the north. In total there are 23 Hook Norton pubs in Oxfordshire, nine each in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, and three each in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

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References

External links

Hook Norton Brewery website

Directory of beers at Brewmad
{{Authority control Companies based in Oxfordshire Beer museums Museums in Oxfordshire Food museums in the United Kingdom Tower breweries Food and drink companies established in 1849 1849 establishments in England Breweries in England British companies established in 1849