Hobsons Brewery and Cleobury Mortimer Concert Brass are organising a Beer and Brass Festival as the first event of a month of activities taking place in the market town of Cleobury Mortimer, South Shropshire.

The Beer and Brass Festival will take place on Saturday 4^th September from 11.00am till 11.00pm, a secret garden accessed from the churchyard will play host to this special event bringing together two great traditions of English country living – real ales and brass bands!

During the event visitors can enjoy an excellent range of award winning real ales provided by Cleobury based Hobsons Brewery whilst listening to a wide range of music performed by over 100 musicians. Local bands performing at the festival include the Bell Inn Brass Band, Teme Valley Band, Worcester Concert Brass, Cleobury Mortimer Concert Brass and Wellington Band, music will be played from 1pm until approx 6 – 6.30pm.

Hon. Band Secretary, Mrs Stella Wilcox from Cleobury Mortimer Concert Brass commented “We wanted this event to appeal to a range of audiences that’s why we’ve invited other local bands to play during the event to bring variety.”

The Beer & Brass festival is the launch event for the Cleobury Country Fringe, a first for the town, which is expected to attract a host of visitors with its programme of activities taking place during September ranging from a classic bike show, Taste of Cleobury event, antiques roadshow, archery tournament and a fireworks finale.

As well as great beers and music, the event will have stalls offering local food and refreshments. For more information contact Nick Davis Hobsons Brewery 01299 270837.

Over 20 farmers attended the first Hobsons Crop Walk aimed to encourage local farmers to grow Maris Otter malting barley for the brewery based in Cleobury Mortimer. Early reports from the Grain Merchant Robin Appel indicate they are close to achieving the total acreage of 150 acres.

The event was held on the 7^th July at Hall Farm, Leinthall Earls by kind permission of Stuart Hutchings Farm Manager at Gatley Farms who gave a special tour of the farm and its crop of Maris Otter malting barley. The evening concluded at the Sun Inn at Leintwardine with the group enjoying the end product – a pint of Hobsons real ale.

The Hobsons Crop walk was set up by a partnership of companies with the shared interest of establishing a supply chain of locally grown malting barley including Hobsons Brewery, John Amos & Co., Grain Merchant Robin Appel and Fawcetts the maltsters.

John Amos from John Amos & Co., reported that “The feedback from farmers for growing malting barley has been exceptional.  Many farmers recognised the need to spread their risk across different crop types and the returns from malting barley, particularly Maris Otter, particularly Maris Otter is creating a good deal of enthusiasm through Growers”.

As users of Maris Otter malt in their award winning beers Hobsons are keen to get closer to the local farmers who are growing the crop on contract. Maris Otter is an old variety of winter barley but is in high demand as brewing barleys go, its brewhouse performance and its flavour is unrivalled.

Nick Davis of Hobsons Brewery commented “We certainly were very enthusiastic from the Farm Walk and feel that everything is moving in the right direction, we have close to 150 acres of malting barley lined up for next year which is fantastic news”.

Farmers who were unable to attend the event but are interested in growing Maris Otter malting barley should contact either John Amos & Co on 01568 610007 or Mike Farrell from Robin Appel Ltd on 01489 897104.

Hobsons Brewery are striving to source locally grown malting barley for their brewing process and are inviting farmers along to a special event being held at Hall Farm, Leinthall Earls on the evening of Wednesday 7^th July.

John Amos & co is assisting Hobsons Brewery in their plight to have all its malting barley produced locally to the brewery, based in Cleobury Mortimer. The Hobsons Crop walk is the second event to be held and will be welcoming local farmers along to learn about growing Maris Otter malting barley and the commercial benefits – with a premium of 50% sales value above the value of spring barley this is a great opportunity not to be passed up.

The Hobsons crop walk is being hosted at Hall Farm, Leinthall Earls, Wigmore, Leominster by kind permission of Mr. Stuart Hutchings, Farm Manager for Gatley Farms, who this year has planted 80 acres of malting barley.

Local farmers interested in growing Maris Otter are invited to come along to the event starting at 5.30pm prompt to speak to representatives from all stages of the process from a farmer growing Maris Otter to the seed merchant Robin Appel Limited. The event will conclude at The Sun Inn at Leintwardine where guests can see the end product by sampling some Hobsons real ale.

Interested parties are requested to contact Sarah Holt at John Amos 01568 610007 or Kate White at Hobsons Brewery 01299 270837 to book a place on the Hobsons Crop Walk.

Hobsons Brewery based in Cleobury Mortimer has picked up the Excel business award at the prestigious Heart of England fine foods Diamond Awards Gala dinner, which took place on Saturday 15^th May at Aston Villa Football Club.

The Heart of England fine food Diamond Awards were first launched in 2008 to bring increased recognition to the finest produce in our region, the ceremony awards nine product categories and four special diamond awards recognising business achievement.

Hobsons Brewery were awarded the prestigious business accolade of “Excel winner” – one of the Special Diamond Awards, the company went through a process of being shortlisted and interviewed to present their business case to a panel of experienced judges before being presented with the award at the gala dinner.

Judge’s commented: “Hobsons Brewery presented a clear model that balanced a customer focus through excellent marketing with a constant sense of process improvement for business profit. A perfect case study on how to do it”.

Nick Davies of Hobsons Brewery said: “It’s an absolute privilege to have won this award, we put a strong emphasis on technology and sustainability so this is a trade mark to the development of the business.”

Click here to view the list of 2010 winners

Hobsons Brewery have teamed up with John Amos & Co on an initiative to set up a supply chain of Shropshire grown malting barley to enable Hobsons to produce all their beer using locally grown malting barley.

It is anticipated over the next two years that around 150 acres of malting barley per annum will be required to supply the Brewery with a variety of Maris Otter which is recognised in the industry as being the best malting barley available.  Despite the fact that Otter is an old variety, it continues to produce high quality beers with great taste and remains after all this time unrivalled.
Robin Appel Limited, a grain merchant from Hampshire own the rights to Maris Otter and joined with Hobsons Brewery and John Amos & Co., to form a small “Producers” club to grow Maris Otter in Shropshire and immediate surrounding areas.  A meeting for farmers and growers, together with John Amos & Co, Robin Appel Ltd and Maltsters, Thomas Fawcetts from Wakefield was hosted at the brewery on Wednesday 5^th

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Hobsons Mild picked up the Silver award at last weekend’s SIBA Wales and West Region Beer Competition which coincided with the start of the Ludlow Spring Festival which took place in the grounds of Ludlow Castle.

Hobsons champion Mild 3.2% ABV won the Silver award in the Milds category up to 4.0% ABV voted by a panel of experienced industry experts. The award winning Hobsons Mild is a classic mild, the complex layers of taste come from the roasted malts that gives it a lot of flavour. The National Champion beer (CAMRA 2007) embodies the Hobsons art of brewing beers to drink well beyond their weight, the chocolate malt gives plenty of flavour and aroma that belies its strength.

The award for Hobsons Mild also ties in nicely with the CAMRA May campaign which has been dedicated to the brew of Mild, the Campaign for Real ale is promoting Mild throughout May and celebrated National Mild Day on Saturday 8 May 2010. Publicans are encouraging pub-goers to try Mild, with many stocking Hobsons Mild in the region.

For further information about SIBA and a full list of winners click here

Britain’s only grade 2-listed pub was run by the countries longest serving landlady Flossie Lane until her death at the age of 94 in June 2009. The Sun Inn is one of the last surviving ‘parlour pubs’ and it has attracted national interest over the years as a result of its historic value. There is no bar or serving hatch in the pub, beer was brought from stillage in the kitchen by Flossie herself and regulars enjoyed their drink with a chat in what was in affect Flossie’s sitting room. The pub is listed on CAMRA’s national inventory of historic pub interiors and it is considered by many to be the best example of an unspoiled UK pub.

The Sun Inn never pretended to offer its visitors any frills, its charm was always its simplicity and timelessness, something its regulars are keen to preserve. The pub was so loved by the locals who frequented it that following Flossie’s death a Save the Sun Inn campaign was launched and the pub continued to open each evening thanks to the dedicated volunteers. The campaign was backed by CAMRA and ourselves and when rumours began to circulate that the pub may be purchased for development Nick Davis, head brewer at Hobsons and Gary Seymour, Sun Inn regular and Leintwardine business man decided to buy the pub in a bid to secure its history and Flossie’s legacy. Read the rest of this entry »

Set directly opposite St Mary’s Church (famous for its twisted spire) in the centre of Cleobury Mortimer – gateway to the Shropshire Hills the Kings Arms or KA as it is known is a welcoming 15th century inn. Part owned by Nick Davis, head brewer at Hobsons, the KA is run as a Hobsons pub and so stocks all of our cask and bottle beers. Fully refurbished only a couple of years ago the KA is a cozy and welcoming pub with an open fire, comfortable seating, great beers and delicious food.

When it comes to the KA’s food they work on a philosophy of ‘Fresh where possible, local if we can and good old fashioned home made’ so you can be sure that what you are served is not only delicious but grown or reared just down the road. The veg is from Fred’s Veg Shop, the sausages are from Hems the Butcher and the bread is from Ashley’s Bakery all located in Cleobury Mortimer. The quality of food which is served from 10am – 3pm daily has created a real following in and around the town and the pub is often packed out with people enjoying a relaxing lunch in the rustic bar.

If you want to experience what Hobsons is about then theres no better place to go than the KA. Our beer is served with care and skill to ensure a fantastic pint every time and our philosophies regarding sustainability are embraced 100%.

There’s often events on like live acoustic music and PINK, a yearly event which is a whole month of activities to raise money for breast cancer. 2009′s PINK event raised a fantastic £8700. You can find out more about the KA and PINK by visiting the KA website  www.kingsarms-cleobury.co.uk. Alternatively keep popping back her for news and events.

Until recently, if you weren’t lucky enough to live within our ‘cask in 50′ delivery area, rarely could you enjoy the fruits of Henry’s team but a growing awards cabinet is helping to spread the Hobsons message beyond the county borders – in a light weight bottle. More and more ‘purveyors of quality’ up and down the country who share a passion for great natural produce are choosing to sell our award winning bottled beers. In fact our bottle sales have increased by an impressive 46% since we launched our new labels back in the Spring of 2009.

With new stockists taking on our innovative bottles almost everyday it seems our delicious beer is reaching many more of you out there than was previously possible. Its impossible to say whether this is totally due to our fresh new look but with compliments flying in from retailers and consumers a like we think its pretty safe to assume the new packaging has been well received. Why don’t you let us know what you think of our new labels and of course our beer by leaving us a comment.