Ringwood Old Thumper

The Ringwood brewery has quite a chequered history. It is claimed that beer has been brewed in Ringwood for centuries ever since mediaeval man first mixed the crystal water of the River Avon with the malted barley harvested from the surrounding fertile fields of Hampshire. The market town was a magnet for merchants and dusty drovers who needed their thirst slaked and whistles wetted before they could get down to the business of bargaining and bartering and many a deal was sealed over a draught and a noggin in one of the many taverns, inns and ale houses that gave Ringwood one of the highest pubs per head of population in olde England.

The Ringwood Brewery was founded by Peter Austin in 1978, a man who is revered as "the father of British Micro-brewing". Ringwood Brewery's first brewhouse was in a former bakery in the old station yard brewing for a handful of local customers. In 1986, having outgrown the Minty's yard premises, the brewery moved to its present site, ironically the location of the old Tunks' Brewery which ceased trading in 1821. Today the brewery is able to produce circa 40,000 barrels of its renowned and distinctive beers.

In July 2007, David Welsh, the then owner of the Ringwood brewery, decided to retire after nearly 30 years at the brewery and handed the baton over to Marston's Brewery. Marston's say they are determined to continue the Ringwood success story in the premium cask ale market and share the same passion as Ringwood do for real ale. Read more at www.ringwoodbrewery.co.uk.

1979 was the year that saw the first production of Old Thumper, which has since become the brewery's flagship brew. Old Thumper was voted Champion Beer of Britain by CAMRA in 1988. It is a powerful, sweet, copper-coloured beer which is very much to my taste. A fruity aroma precedes a strong sweet malty taste with soft fruit and caramel, which is not cloying, and leads to a surprisingly bittersweet aftertaste.

The New Forest (where the brewery is located) was historically the hunting ground of legendary fierce wild boar, the prize kill of many an English king of the middle ages. Ringwood brewery celebrates this heritage with the beast of a beer that is Old Thumper, a strong ale with a spicy fruit hop aroma and a warming malty finish, a distinctive taste that has made it a champion beer.

All we are told of the ingredients is that it contains barley malts. It is pretty strong, with an ABV of 5.6%