Ever wanted to see how the Victorians brewed their beer?
The Hook Norton Brewery Tour, based in the scenic Cotswolds, is a great way to experience history and beer-tasting all in one place. Read on to find out my honest review!
On a chilly, bright Autumn morning, my friends and I walked the scenic 10 minutes from our Cotswolds holiday cottage to Hook Norton Brewery.
Just down a country path, the towering Victorian brewery sits proudly above its wandering, happy patrons. Scattering the courtyard below are wooden tables, filled with people chatting over pints of freshly brewed beer.
I’m not a massive beer drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional pint on a summer (or Autumn) afternoon. Even if you don’t drink beer, it’s still fascinating to see how it's made, and the old, time-tested traditions that are still being utilised by brewers today.
At the beginning of our visit, we walked into the well-stocked, rustic gift shop, filled with boxes of beer, cheeses, chutneys and Hook Norton Brewery merchandise. We signed in, and waited for our guide.
We were met in the gift shop by our guide, and led up to the first floor to receive an introduction to the tour and a history of the brewery. We learned that this brewery had remained in the same family for generations, and that the mechanics had changed very little since its founding in 1849. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
The individual parts of the brewing process (mashing, boiling, fermentation and racking) are separated onto their respective floors, forming one well-oiled and time-tested machine that systematically produces some of the region's best-loved beer.
We were firstly introduced to Hook Norton Brewery’s most important employees: The horses that they still use to transport some of their stock! After visiting the stables, we were led back into the brewery to learn more about the process.
If you’re someone who is fascinated by the mechanics behind how things are made, you’ll love this tour. Around every corner there was another example of Victorian ingenuity, including my personal favourite: a humble square cut into the wall, to prevent the doorknob from scratching the wallpaper. (Nothing to do with beer, but just a nice touch.)
Our knowledgeable guide meticulously led us through each part of the brewing process, from the steam engine they still use to operate all their machinery, through to the mash tun that mixes malt with water to make the beer. We saw the piles and piles of malt in branded sacks that were stored in one of the rooms, and learned about the process behind harvesting barley.
Grown in a field in East Anglia, the barley is then harvested. Next, the grains are dried and roasted for various different times to yield different results. We were shown different types of malt, from chocolate malt through to black malt, which were all used to produce different flavours of beer in the mash tun.
This stood in the middle of a big room, which also had a small office to the side, and a wall containing all the keys to the various rooms. As an admirer of old objects, these keys caught my eye.
It's difficult not to be impressed by the simplicity and effectiveness of the equipment, and its ability to stand the test of time. As well as the equipment’s practical application, it also had the benefit of being aesthetically pleasing, made from wood and brightly coloured metals.
I won’t spoil the tour for you by giving away all the brewery’s secrets, but it was fascinating to learn the traditional art of brewing from start to finish, from a knowledgeable guide who did it every day.
After we had learned the brewing process, it came time for the tasting! Our guide led us into their very cool cellar bar, which was decked out with a TV, comfortable seating, and of course, a fully functioning bar equipped with multiple beer taps.
We were then led through a tutored beer tasting, during which we were each treated to multiple different beer samples and talked through their flavour profiles. As I mentioned before, I’m not a huge beer drinker, but going through the tour and learning all about the intricate process behind creating the beer made me appreciate it much more, and I found myself enjoying quite a few glasses of it!
It's safe to say I’m a lightweight, so after a few beer samples I was feeling quite merry. My friends and I bid farewell to our friendly tour guide and made a stop at the gift shop on the way out to buy some presents for our family and friends, before heading to the pub just down the road to enjoy more Hook Norton Brewery beer!
This was a fantastic way to spend a mild afternoon in Autumn, and made for a fun addition to our Oxfordshire trip. If you’re in the Oxfordshire area, I highly recommend giving the Hook Norton Brewery Tour a go.
