Surrey-based Hogs Back Brewery has celebrated its 10th hop harvest, with a record number of more than 4,200 revellers flocking to the brewery in Tongham near Farnham for live music, family entertainment, beer and street food over three days of festivities.
The Hop Harvest celebrations followed two weeks of harvesting in the hop garden next to the brewery, where the team of Hogs Back Hoppers worked hard through sunshine and rain to bring in the crop. The hop hangar, where the hops are processed and dried at optimum freshness, was transformed on Friday night into a party space for the crowds who gathered over the weekend to watch a diverse line up of bands, including Saturday's headliners, Britpop tribute band Blurasis.
The entertainment started with a sold-out ‘Roots' concert of original music, headlined by Newton Faulkner, a graduate of Guildford Academy of Contemporary Music. On Saturday, bands played the Festival stage from 2.30 - 11.00 with six sets offering everything from indie folk from The Dunwells to the classic blues rock of Wille and The Bandits. Compere and comedian, Patrick Monahan, kept people entertained as bands changed over, and performances were live streamed to the Beer Garden for those wanting a more chilled musical experience.
On Sunday, families joined in the fun of the TEA Party, with entertainment for children of all ages in the Kidzone. Activities included bungee trampolines, a climbing wall, mini Bumper Carz, archery, inflatable slides, farmyard animals and the children's entertainer, Hop The Twig, as well as the ever-popular dray rides around the Hop Garden. There was music for the younger crowd too, with Kaylie as Taylor Swift topping the bill.
Across the weekend, guests enjoyed the full range of Hogs Back beers, including Green TEA, variation of the brewer's flagship Tongham TEA, brewed with fresh ‘green' hops straight from the hop garden, as well as Surrey Nirvana, One Planet Hazy IPA and, for the first time, Dennis Hopp'r IPA from Mondo Brewing, Hogs Back's sister brewery in south London.
Food included pulled pork, BBQ burgers and hot dogs, chilli nachos, dirty fries and cakes, with products sourced locally where possible. In line with Hogs Back's ambitious sustainability aims, no single use plastics were used, replaced with reusable or compostable items.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the traditional charity fundraising, with over £3,300 collected for British Heart Foundation, Hogs Back's chosen charity this year.
Rupert Thompson, Hogs Back managing director, said, "The Hop Harvest Party is always the highlight of our year and this year's celebrations were extra special as we marked 10 years of hop growing.
"Over that decade, our hop garden has gone from strength to strength. Although this year's crop wasn't our biggest ever, largely because of wet weather early in the growing cycle, the quality of the hops is excellent, and they will add a distinctive flavour to our beers. With more hops still to be harvested this week, we're only down 10% on last year's volumes across the Fuggles, Cascade and Farnham Whie Bine varieties.
"As always, we are enormously grateful to our band of volunteer Hoppers who now number than 70, and who help us year-round in the hop garden. Thanks also go to estate manager Matthew King for his skilful and dedicated care of our hops."
He added: "We planted our first hop garden in 2014 to help us become a more sustainable brewery, to bring hop farming back to the Farnham region, and to build ties with the local community. It gives me great pleasure to see how we have achieved all these goals, with the Hop Harvest celebrations a wonderful reflection of the community's support, as local businesses and volunteers helped to make the event a success.
"We've already set the dates for next year's Hop Harvest celebrations, which will run on 12th, 13th and 14th September 2025."
Hogs Back harvested three hop varieties this year: Fuggles, used in Tongham TEA; English Cascade, used in its Hogstar lager and Surrey Nirvana Session IPA; and Farnham White Bine, a traditional local variety. The harvest provides around 60% of the brewer's hop requirement.