Ringwood Brewery
Ringwood Brewery is a small brewery situated on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England near the Dorset border. It produces mainly cask ales and some bottled beers.
The emblem for the brewery is a boar.
There are records from the early 19th century of four breweries, one owned by a banker named Stephen Tunks, that stood on the site of the present day Ringwood Brewery. Of the four, none survive today. The last to close was Carters on West Street, which closed in 1923.
In 1978, the Ringwood Brewery was established.
Ringwood Brewery founder, Peter Austin, is thought to be an influence on Britain's craft brewery rebirth in much the same way that Fritz Maytag of San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company and Pierre Celis of Belgium's Hoegaarden Brewery were to their countries. However, Austin had a much more direct role in brewery development through his consulting business and equipment sales. Several notable American craft brewers use his equipment: Geary's Brewing, Shipyard, and Middle Ages Brewing Company to name a few.
On 12 July 2007, it was announced that Ringwood had been purchased by Marston's plc for £19.2 million. Marston's have stated that they plan to keep the brewery in operation and continue producing the full range of Ringwood beers.[1][2][3]
In July 2013 Ringwood underwent a full re-brand, and the ABV of Old Thumper was reduced from 5.6% to 5.1%.
On the 1st of November 2015 Ringwood Best Bitter was rebranded as Ringwood Razorback.
Beers
Permanent ales
- Razorback (previously Best Bitter) – 3.8%. - Bitter
- Boondoggle – 4.2% - Blonde Beer
- Forty Niner – 4.9%. - golden ale
- Old Thumper – 5.1%. - Strong ale, used to be as strong as 6%, then 5.8%, now 5.1%
Seasonal ales
- Scuttle Butt - 4.0%. Amber ale
- Young Scrumper - 4.0%. Blonde ale
- Filly Drift - 4.7%. Bitter
- Showman’s Tipple - 3.8%. Bitter
- True Glory - 4.5%. Amber ale
- XXXX Porter - 4.7%. - Porter
Commemorative ales
- Seventy Eight Spring Ale 4.2% alcohol by volume, special brew produced in 2008 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the brewery.