Day 54 - Playing Hooky

Ah, the traditional English ale. Records indicate that beer was being consumed in this country well before the Romans arrived. Today we were heading over to the local Hook Norton Brewery, the brewer of a number of ales including Old Hooky, one of 30 English beers one is to drink before they die. The brewery is named after the town it is located in: Hook Norton. Founded in 1849 by a local malter named John Harris (he malted barley oats for other brewers), it is an example of a Victorian Tower Brewery where gravity plays a large role in the brewing process.  Water is pumped to the top of the building where it is mixed with the barley mash and then flows under gravity into the fermentation tanks and then to the bottom where it is put into barrels, kegs or into tanker trucks to be taken to a bottler.

Our friends, Baroness Jane von Zinfandel and her husband Major Trevor, joined me on a tour of the brewery. Our guide, Chris, had worked here early in his career when they bottled their own beer. When they outsourced that aspect of the business, he left the industry but returned back about 13 years ago to take us touristas through the operation. His experience and insight made it a great tour. It was quite clear that this family-owned business (it has remained in the family for all this time, although it is now run by a Clarke who is a descendant of John Harris' daughter) believes in the importance of sustainability. They produce very little waste that is not recycled either internally or provided to local farmers for animal feed. Their water is sourced from a local well, which helps make their beer unique. In addition to their environmental sustainability activities, the business is also heavily vested in the local community in the tradition of the founding fathers. Chris indicated during the tour that a neighbouring plot of land was looked at most recently by Prince Harry as a possible building site. He pointed this out as we stood on the highest level and could look out over the local landscape. The tour also took us outside to a set of stables where they have two pairs of Shire Work Horses who three days a week delivering beer to three local pubs.


In all, the Hook Norton Brewery owns 28 pubs in the area. After visiting the horses, it was time for sampling the beer! They brew all of the traditional English ales from a mild 2.5% amber ale to a 5% red rye ale.  They also brew a stout ale. All in all, I sampled their entire line up - now before you think I was totally soused, let me tell you that the samples were about a quarter of a pint in volume. So in the end, while I was feeling no pain, I was still able to walk.

Angela did not partake in the tour but instead had walked into the village to identify potential Sunday roast locations. The Sun Inn is a pub that sits in the middle of Hook Norton so we walked back to that spot (the brewery is on the west edge of the village) to sit down to our meal and of course one of Hook Norton's ales.

And the aliens came from where?

On the drive back to MiM we stopped at the Kings Men Stone
Circle.  It is a circle of weathered rocks that were placed here at least 400 years ago but could be 800 years old. They are thought to be a communal meeting ground as opposed to a burial ground.

They are called "Kings Men" because there is a legend that a witch had turned a King and his army into stone statues. And, they are supposed to be uncountable.  In fact, if you can count the same number of stones three times in a row then your wish will be granted.  I was able to do so and when I turned around my wish was granted: a view across the countryside that was priceless!

Ale of the Day:  Anything from Hook Norton Brewery, Hook Norton, Gloucestershire.