Hogs Back Brewery has managed to bring in its entire hop harvest in record time this year, thanks to the efforts of the ‘Hogs Back Hoppers’.
Estate manager Matthew King. Photograph: Natalia Sharomova
These doughty volunteers, led by estate manager Matthew King, completed the harvest in just three weeks.
The Hoppers, comprising locals and some from further afield, who help out in the hop garden throughout the year, come into their own at harvest time. They made short work of the three hop varieties grown at the brewery:
- Fuggles, used in flagship traditional English ale, Tongham TEA;
- English Cascade, used in Hogstar lager, Surrey Nirvana session IPA, and Little Swine alcohol-free pale ale; and
- Farnham White Bine, the heritage hop, which Hogs Back have brought back to its spiritual home.
The hop garden, which is adjacent to the brewery, covers eight and a half acres, and ordinarily provides more than 50% of the brewery’s annual hop requirements.
“2025 has been a real challenge given the extraordinary weather,” said Matthew. “We experienced the UK’s warmest and sunniest spring on record, as well as the driest for more than 100 years. June produced another record temperature, while August saw the fourth heatwave of the summer.
“To exacerbate issues, there was a multitude of male hop plants in the hop garden — far more than normal. It is only the female plants that produce the hop cones, but a few male plants are needed for obvious reasons!
“The lack of rain during the important growing season has meant the hop bines were sending out roots in search of ground moisture, rather than producing the laterals, where the hop cones form. This has resulted in a much smaller crop than normal. But we have high hopes that the quality of the hops will be good, giving our beers their distinctive flavour.”
