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WELCOME TO HOGGLEYS BREWERY

The brewery officially began in 2003 but this was really the culmination of
years of home brewing by Hoggleys brewer Roy Crutchley.

Roy began brewing in the same way as thousands of others, as a teenager
buying tins of concentrate from the local brewshop. After a number of years
trying to make the one brew that would be as good as the real stuff you
could get in the pub, he decided to look in to full mash brewing. From this
point onwards he was hopelessly addicted to the whole business of brewing                                         
and having a much greater control over the final product began experimenting                                   
with different beer types and different brewing techniques. After a while                                
the beer improved and the golden chalice of licensed brewing became a goal                                   
to aim for. This goal, at first the dream of an idle moment (although as any                                
full mash brewer with family commitments etc will confirm, idle moments are                                
few and far between) grew and grew until it became an irresistible burden. A                                
licence was applied for, planning permissions were applied for,                                   
environmental health were contacted etc,etc. After an intense few months of                                
climbing a steep learning curve Hoggleys Brewery was born and took its first                                
faltering steps into the big wide world.

The first beer to be sold was Northamptonshire Bitter and was brewed using
the simplest of recipes, pale malt only and a combination of Northdown and
Fuggles. This was served up at the Alexandra Arms in Kettering amid great
publicity from local press, regional television and national press, (the
brewery was even a factoid on radio 2).The dream was complete, fame had been
found (but not fortune, that remains a myth). Now after all of the welcoming
and flattering attention has gone the brewery is continuing to consolidate
its position as a small scale but serious brewery, which produces high
quality ales not always governed by what is the most popular beer style at
the moment, but specialising in real ales which give traditional taste and
quality along with modern brewing techniques and marketing.

The brewery remains a part time concern although it is planning some
expansion, on a limited scale. Any profit from sales has been put back into
the purchase of equipment etc. and this has led to a more professional
                                    approach to brewing and business, with a more consistent end product. Beer
                                    has been supplied to most of the true free houses in the county, along with
                                    beer festivals from Manchester to Hitchin. Beers produced have included
                                    Northamptonshire Bitter (4%), Kislingbury Bitter (4%), Solstice Stout (5%)
                                    now produced at all times of the year, Bottomblacker Stout (5%) (it?s a
                                   Narrowboating thing) and Mill Lane Mild (4%). The brewery is beginning to
                                bottle its beers, and this is complimented by also selling in polypins.

                                    One of the problems faced by the brewery has been trying to keep up with
                                    orders. This has been the biggest frustration as demand has outstripped
                                    supply. Some landlords or festival organisers have been disappointed and
others have been very patient. Beer takes a couple of weeks or so to make
and whilst it is possible to speed processes up this is not what Hoggleys is
about, so in the foreseeable future this problem will continue but we are
committed to brewing as much as we reasonably can without compromising quality.

In the first two years of the brewery there has been much to celebrate, some
disappointments, from which I hope we have learnt. Along the way there has
been an incredible amount of support from real ale drinkers, landlords,
festival organisers, club stewards and individual drinkers, only one
customer disappeared without paying or returning the cask. If any home
brewer is thinking of "going all the way" I would say "DO IT". That was the
advice a close friend of mine said to me a couple of years ago and my feet
haven't touched the ground since.