Blog

Badger on the BBC

Badger Badger — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:53:01 GMT

From next Friday Badger will be on the BBC, not the British Broadcasting Channel, rather the Beer Bloggers Conference in Leeds. It promises to be a fantastic event with lots of interesting seminars covering all the hot-topics; from Improving Your Beer Writing to The Current State of the Hops Industry – wel

Vintage Signs - a blog from our garden designers

Badger Badger — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:42:12 GMT

Vintage has been all the rage in fashion, and apparently London trends only reach the regional towns after 1 year for every 10miles from Hyde Park Corner. With Blandford being over 100 miles from London, you expect to see people sporting Alexis Colby shoulder pads and gigantic mobile phones. Alas, nothing so ext

The best of what England has to offer

Badger Badger — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:24:00 GMT

With all the impending Olympic and Jubilee related excitement on the horizon, it may have escaped your attention that this Monday was St George’s Day. At Badger we don’t like to create a song and dance about these sorts of things – but we do like to tip our cap to our dragon slaying Saint, and raise a glass

National Gardening Week

Badger Badger — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:26:06 GMT

This week is National Gardening Week. We know that we’re all being bombarded with national ‘days’ ‘weeks’, and ‘months’ but as this one is concerning something close to our hearts – we have given it the two thumbs up – Paul McCartney style! At Badger we’re all focusing on our Beer Garden at this year’s H

A blog from Toby our Head Brewer

Badger Badger — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:15:44 GMT

I recently spent a fantastic weekend in St Merryn, nr Padstow. What more could a brewer dream of than fantastic beer, great seafood and warm spring sunshine. Rick Stein’s pub The Cornish Arms in St Merryn nr Padstow was hosting its inaugural Beer & Mussel Festival organised in conjunction with Roger Ryman

A blog from our garden designers

Badger Badger — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:46:23 GMT

Here is an introductory blog from John Warland and Sim Flemons who are designing the Badger Ale Garden at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this summer… The date: July 2012. The destination: Hampton Court Palace. We are honoured to have been chosen to venture down this long and invariably winding road

A blog from Larry Nelson..

Badger Badger — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:42:17 GMT

Here is a blog from Larry Nelson, editor of Brewers'Guardian ... Of beer & women This is a blog that’s been started and scrapped several times, false starts aplenty in a diligent attempt to craft a politic, clever way of making a very simple yet utterly crucial point regarding the fortunes

When the Badger met Larry...

Badger Badger — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:20:16 GMT

After a teetotal boyhood in Canada, Larry Nelson has been making up for lost time since being introduced to the joys of beer at university. He is editor of Brewers'Guardian , the international brewing industry magazine and next week he will be blogging for Badger. Before all that though he answers the all

The Badger beer garden at Hampton Court

Badger Badger — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:30:29 GMT

As you may already know, we will be the first Brewery in the history of Hampton Court to have a garden at the famous flower show. We took a look at past entries and thought, with gardens that represent Monaco roof tops perfected, Japanese flower gardens covered, and gardens that recreate the glamour of the Ri

A blog from Beer Beauty

Badger Badger — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:09:47 GMT

Here is a blog from Marverine Cole. Marverine is a journalist, who also blogs about beer under the guise of The Beer Beauty. She even recently appeared on The Alan Titchmarsh show to talk to him about … you guessed it, beer. There’s something exciting about telly. I was struck by the bug as a nippe

What better way to say I love you?

Badger Badger — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:53:31 GMT

If, like the Badger, you’re sick of rushing around buying flowers (from the petrol station!) and chocolates (are milk tray still considered romantic?!) for Valentine’s Day then why not take some advice and think outside the box (of overpriced chocs). Creating this perfectly romantic tipple will not only show

The Six Nations - a Badger's eye view

Badger Badger — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:35:52 GMT

To help you kick off proceedings in style here is Badger's 'beer and fixture' matching guide. Much like our beer and food pairings, but more sporty! France v Italy Italy, the perennial whipping boys, are improving year-on-year and their brutal pack will always give as good as they get, but against a

Guest blogger Adrian Tierney-Jones

Badger Ale — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:28:44 GMT

This week on the Badger blog we welcome back our friend Adrian Tierney-Jones, his latest book Great British Pubs (CAMRA Books) is a fantastic read and not only does he write for Badger

Burn’s Night

Badger Badger — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:43:56 GMT

On St Patrick’s Day we all go scrambling for our family trees, to unearth some Irish lineage, not just because we like a good excuse for a party you understand...but because we want to celebrate with the Irish even if we’re not!

Resolutions

Badger Badger — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:59:44 GMT

You can join the gym to begin your gruelling new fitness regime you can throw out all the tasty goodies in your cupboards and swap them for whole grains, kale and goji berries and you can replace your favourite pulp

A Christmas drink

Badger Badger — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:17:46 GMT

Pete Brown, one of our favourite beer writers and author of ‘Man Walks into a Pub’ and the award winning travel book ‘Three Sheets to the Wind’, gives us his take on two of the best things in the world,

Mulled ale – clinically proven to warm your cockles

Badger Badger — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:17:41 GMT

As a continuation on our quest to dislodge wine from its mantel and make real ale the ‘top-dog’ we thought we’d share this recipe with you – ok, to be honest, we like a nice glass of red as much as the next man/Badger – but this makes for a delicious alternative on a cold winter’s evening. Golden Gl

A guest blog from Real-Ale-Reviews, Mark!

Badger Badger — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:23:30 GMT

This week we have a guest blog from Mark Fletcher aka @fletchthemonkey! Mark started writing about beer in 2009 when he set up Real-Ale-Reviews.com with a friend. Intending to write about the beers they found in the supermarket, the website is now a co-operative of beer lovers who wax lyrical on everything fr

The steward’s enquiry

Badger Badger — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:57:41 GMT

The rules of conduct state, and I quote…. Once registered at movember.com each mo bro must begin the 1st of Movember with a clean shaven face. For the entire month of Movember each mo bro must grow and groom a moustache. There is to be no joining of the mo to your

Slowly does it...

Badger Badger — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:00:58 GMT

At Badger we’ve been campaigning for the recognition of beer as a fine substitute (if not superior alternative!) to wine for matching with food for some time – well finally people are starting to take notice! First off we had the beer and cheese matching rallies…. well rally may be a bit strong to describe some f

Foraging with the Badger

Badger Badger — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:48:09 GMT

Recently the Badger took a few friends on a magical mystery tour of the Dorset coast, well it wasn’t that much of a mystery, as there was a fairly clear itinerary, but it was jolly good fun all round. In the morning they all met nice and early, the pain of which was eased with flasks of piping hot ‘wobbl

Movember

Badger Badger — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:35:56 GMT

Remember, remember the month of November for t’was in this month that our intrepid brewery team decided to take on the most arduous and daunting of challenges – growing upper lip hair for a full month – all in the name of a good cause though. As everyone knows, in modern day Britain moustaches are

A guest blog by Jeff Evans

Badger Badger — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:05:06 GMT

This week's guest blog comes from award-winning writer Jeff Evans. Jeff is author the Good Bottled Beer Guide and A Beer a Day. His latest book, the second edition of the best-selling Book of Beer Knowledge (a treasure trove of beery facts, figures and fun), is published this autumn. See Jeff's website, w

A perfect partnership

Badger Badger — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:59:14 GMT

At 3.00pm this Sunday, Mark Woodhouse, Chairman of Hall & Woodhouse will be ‘working’ (nice work if you can get it!) alongside Charlie Turnbull and holding a Beer and Cheese Tasting Tutorial at the Feast of Dorset in Wimborne. They will be taking attendees on a tantalizing tour of their taste buds by matc

The Great Dorset Steam Fair …..

Badger Badger — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:43:38 GMT

And it is GREAT, make no mistake about it! Now in its 43rd year, the Fair is held just near the brewery at the village of Tarrant Hinton, in the heart of the beautiful Dorset countryside. It’s a pretty big deal in the area, the instructions of how to find the event read - Further directions are superfluous. Just

Cheese and beer

Badger Badger — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:23:15 GMT

We’ve veered from the traditional this month and our guest blogger is not a beer expert but is in fact the self proclaimed ‘International Man of Cheese’ - Charlie Turnbull. Charlie is an international cheese judge and proprietor of the fantastic Turnbull’s deli in Shaftesbury. On 18 September Charlie will be

New look line up set to be a big hit!

Badger Badger — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:05:43 GMT

We’re not talking about the cricket by the way! Whilst Cook, Strauss and the boys have been hard at work cementing their place as the best test side in the world, here in Blandford we’ve been busy preparing our own new-look team. Our opener was Hopping Hare, launched back in March, the first of our n

The Great British Beer Festival

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:50:19 GMT

Contrary to what many people think about the GBBF , it is not just an excuse for beer lovers to muse over as many ale s as they can, well it might be, but so what – it’s fantastic! Before the event itself on Tuesday we thought we’d make the most of our trip to the big smoke with a Monday evening w

The Thinking Drinker's Guide to Alcohol

Badger Badger — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:02:15 GMT

Our good friends Tom and Ben from Dwink are putting on a show, not just any show mind you , it’s a month long stint at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They’ll not only lead you down the path to imbibing enlightenment, dispensing fun and happiness along the way, there’ll also be free drink – what could be better?

All hands to the pumps

Badger Badger — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:31:01 GMT

It’s all systems go and all hands on deck here in the new brewery. The roof is on (very important!), the electricians are laying the cable trays, and Musk has started fabricating over 1785 metres of stainless steel pipe work - 981 pipe bends which includes 259 valves– that’s a lot of pipe work! There

Festival season….

Badger Badger — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:38:37 GMT

For all those who have tickets to the various festivals taking place this weekend, T in the Park, Newt Beer Festival, Dorset Seafood Festival …… to name but a few – we hope you enjoy your chosen event. For those who don’t have any specific plans but want to join in with the general festival festivities – this

Special Bitter: going large for the barbecue - a blog from Malt Jerry

Badger Ale — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:47:18 GMT

Summer is upon us. In typical British style, the last Test Match saw storm clouds gathered over Hampshire unleashing unbidden April over bemused Sri Lankan cricketers wishing for fleeces to cover their whites. The roof has been on Centre Court, but we’ve also had the first taste of heat. The “Phew! What a Scorc

A beginners guide to Malt Jerry........

Badger Badger — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:08:06 GMT

Next week we will have a blog from Malt Jerry. Jerry, was runner up in the British Guild of Beer Writers' Award for Best Online Communication - so a pretty good bloke to have blogging for Badger then! To see Jerry's blog click here . To find out a little more about Jerry ... read on.......... 1.If you ha

Founders’ Day

Badger Badger — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:52:52 GMT

In 1777 Dorset farmer Charles Hall started turning his excess grain into beer. In 1845 his son Robert made Edward Woodhouse, his niece’s husband, a partner and Hall & Woodhouse was born, (well that’s a very potted version!). In 1875 Edward established the Badger, one of the world’s oldest trademarks, as t

Easy does it - a blog from our Head Brewer Toby

Badger Badger — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:35:30 GMT

Excitement mounted, and more than a few cheers were heard, at the Hall & Woodhouse Brewery in Blandford, Dorset, on Monday 16 May when the first new brewing vessels were lowered into their final position in the new brewhouse. A crucial part of the £5 million new brewery development programme, the ne

Zak's blog...........A beer drinking dad.....

Badger Badger — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:13:41 GMT

There's no getting away from the fact that being a parent changes your priorities. When my son burst into our life, three weeks early, I was far from prepared. In fact, I wasn't even in town – I was driving a transit van back to Leeds from hosting a beer tasting in London. I got the call at about Milton Keyne

Zak's back ............

Badger Badger — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:35:44 GMT

Zak Avery - The Beer Boy, is back to share his thoughts with the Badger - for more on Zak take a look at his Beer Expert profile here, or visit his very own website - thebeerboy.co.uk . Before he blogs for us next week we had a little catch up .... 1 – What’s been your highlight of the last 12 m

Founders’ Sweepers

Badger Badger — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:55:24 GMT

On 8 th June, back in 1898, George, Alfred and Frank Woodhouse made Hall & Woodhouse a limited company - and we at Badger think that’s a very important date indeed! So each year we like to mark the big day by doing something a little special and this year we’re going all out – literally! Everyone at all

New brewery update

Badger Badger — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:36:40 GMT

Here is a little update on the progress of the new brewery - it's really starting to take shape now as you can see. The first photo shows the second of the five fermentation vessels being moved from our existing brewery. The vessel was moved onto the lorry, then offloaded into the yard by crane ready for refurbi

Your Highness

Badger Badger — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:12:04 GMT

New hit comedy ‘Your Highness’ is a fantasy tale about wizards, dragons, knights and adventure. Filmed in Northern Ireland, it’s basically a group of knights going for a bloomin good stomp out in the countryside with a few obstacles to traverse along the way - something that we at Badger can relate to! T

Perfect pairings….

Badger Badger — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:21:29 GMT

There are certain things that just go together perfectly - salt and pepper, sausage and mash, ale and ……… well everything (what isn’t better with a pint of ale in your hand?!) but more specifically – in this case – ale and cheese! We think that each of our ales can be perfectly paired with a different ch

Hares Crossing

Badger Badger — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:45:52 GMT

A little clip some may remember from 2009 – the back story to one of our most popular beers - Hopping Hare! Click here to see for yourself!!

Drinkability – a blog by Beer Reviews Andy aka Andy Mogg!

Badger Badger — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:02:36 GMT

There’s been a lot of talk recently about drinkability of beers. It seems to have different meanings depending on who you are listening to. Some say it’s a way justifying a boring beer, other say it’s a sign of a

Meet Beer Reviews Andy- our newest guest blogger!

Badger Badger — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:03:28 GMT

What's been your highlight of the last 12 months - both professionally and personally? Personally completing the coast to coast walk from st bees to robin hoods bay, it was just a big 13 day pub crawl with lots of nice scenery in between. Professionally - if you can call blogging that, getting to try s

It’s hare to stay………….

Badger Badger — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:41:00 GMT

Much like dogs and Christmas - we think Hares should be for life, not just for Easter! That’s why our new Hopping Hare (now even hoppier!) is hare to stay! Brewed using aromatic Goldings, Cascade and First Gold hops, the new Hopping Hare has a well-balanced and uplifting grapefruit flavour and

‘I don’t like lager. Fizzy. Yellow poison. Soup. I don’t like lager.’ - a blog from ATJ

Badger Badger — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:33:43 GMT

I’m sitting next to the speaker at a beer competition and we’re evaluating a British brewery’s craft lager. It’s got a bitter lemon bite reminiscent of a Bavarian Pils and a sensuous and generous mouth feel that puts me in mind of some Bohemian Světlý Ležák 12°s I tried over there last year. A meeting of influences w

Adrian Tierney Jones....

Badger Badger — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:38:09 GMT

Adrian is a journalist and writer who happens to have beer and pubs as one of his specialist subjects - well its lucky for us that he does because he's darn good at writing about them both! He wrote such a good blog for us last time that this week he's back for more - but before that we caught up with the man fr

The new brewery film.....

Badger Badger — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:25:07 GMT

This week Toby, our Head Brewer, takes a tour of the new brewery construction ..... click her to take a look on YouTube........

QUIET PLEASE - a blog from Head Brewer, Toby

Toby Brewer — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:59:09 GMT

The mill has had its bearings changed, rollers aligned and nipples greased. There is a quiet in the brewery. The sound of chinking bottles has temporarily ceased. January was all go, fantastic sales in bottle and a period of stock build. When Giggs and Scholes have weary legs, Ferguson looks after them. The

“You must be Ron’s grandsons. Pint of his usual?” - a blog from Tom Stainer

Badger Ale — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:37:55 GMT

It was probably almost 20 years ago, but even at the time those words brought home to me just what a community pub actually means. My dad’s side of the family have long had their roots, quite literally, in Dorset – with great uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents involved in both farming and building in

Tom Stainer...

Badger Badger — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:25:10 GMT

Tom Stainer’s back…………… and he’ll be blogging on the BSAC next week. As the first of our Beer Experts to return to our pages we thought we’d better catch up with Tom to see how he is. So Tom …..how the devil are you?............. What’s been your highlight of the last 12 months – both professionally and perso

New brewery vessels arrive in Blandford - a blog from Head Brewer Toby

Toby Brewer — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:44:26 GMT

On Wednesday 12 th January the brewing team visited Musk engineering to look at the first phase of the new brewery vessels that had been fabricated. We were impressed by Musk’s build quality, from the robust nature of the vessels to the shiny stainless steel, and the glass manway doors engraved with the Badger

Surviving January…

Badger Badger — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:32:50 GMT

Well here at the Brewery it’s been all go – despite the big freeze. Our drivers persevered through the snow to ensure deliveries were made, but it’s certainly a lot easier now we have reverted to our climatic default setting – drizzle! At least we have had something very bright to keep us all going after the Chri

The Beer Beauty's blog......Beer chic has arrived, laydeez!

Badger Badger — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:48:20 GMT

Beer chic has arrived, laydeez! Girls, it’s cool to drink beer I guarantee you that by the time you’ve read this article – you’ll want to try some. There are beers out there that knock me out with a burst of flavour so good and strong that I jump up and down like an

Marverine Cole

Badger Badger — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:46:19 GMT

Welcome this month to the Beer Beauty, aka businesswoman and journalist Marverine Cole. Based in Birmingham, Marverine has her own fun blog www.beerbeauty.co.uk which is linked to special ad-hoc beer events and news. The Beer Beauty doesn’t just love beer….. she’s crazy about beer and wants to spread her m

Fabrication of brewery plant gathers momentum – a blog by Head Brewer Toby

Toby Brewer — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:48:43 GMT

Recently we visited Musk Engineering, to inspect the progress on our plant and equipment for the new brewery. In the picture above you can see the hot liquor tank which has now been rolled and welded and is awaiting cladding. The tank is made out of a special duplex stainless steel to handle our special water and

The Beer Writers’ Oscars

Badger Badger — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:05:07 GMT

Forget Clooney, forget DiCaprio and forget Winslet, last night was a night for Avery, Bartlett, Conen and Dredge – the glitterati of the beer writing world The British Guild of Beer Writers’ Awards dinner was a real old fashioned knees

Johnny Goodall - the blog

Badger Badger — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 10:12:10 GMT

Browsing in my local offie before it was transformed into a Tesco Express, it occurred to me that describing beer as “malty and hoppy” is like saying a wine is “grapey”. In terms of usefulness it’s right up there with “mind the gap” and “serving suggestion” (basically, just add peas). Let me stress tha

Johnny Goodall

Badger Badger — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:34:10 GMT

Next up we will have a blog from beer expert Johnny Goodall he’s written books on beer, articles for the Spectator and Telegraph on beer, he came with us last year to River Cottage to learn about cooking with beer

An update on the new brewery – a blog by our Head Brewer Toby

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:25:36 GMT

The preparation work for the new brewery marches onward with the demolition of some internal offices and labs from the old soft drinks factory, which will help provide a new fork lift truck route from the bottle line to the

Ben McFarland - the Dwink blog

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:24:53 GMT

There’s a big place just outside London. It’s called the countryside. You may have heard about it or, at the very least, seen it on TV. If you haven’t, Dwink suggests you watch the comedy where the old dude

Ben McFarland

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:23:18 GMT

Ben McFarland, part of the dwink duo has kindly agreed to write a blog for us all about his exploits with his partner in crime Tom Sandham, whilst they filmed their alternative Badger tasting tutorials. Next week we will have

Countryside pursuits…… a blog from the Badger

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:22:34 GMT

We recently had some great fun here in Dorset with Tom and Ben, the guys from Dwink. They’re real city folk and we’ve been teaching them a little bit about how we do things in the countryside. They came

Our new Brewery – a blog by Toby our Head Brewer

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:21:21 GMT

The work in preparation for the new brewery continues to gather momentum. This weekend Ronnie Lee has been stripping down the Boby mill. The Boby mill has a distinguished history having been installed in the old brewery in 1899, and has over

The Cock Inn - a blog by Toby our Head Brewer

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:20:30 GMT

The Cock Inn at Sarratt in Hertfordshire hosted a beer and game gourmet evening on Friday 17th September. I was honoured to be asked if I could pop up and give a brief talk on the brewery and tastings on

10 Things I Like About Badger Beers by Mark Dredge

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:19:34 GMT

1 The bottles labels. Bright and bold, branded to neatly reflect the key values of the brand, but it’s the back which sells it to me concise tasting notes, a food pairing suggestion, a visualisation of taste and aroma in

Mark Dredge

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:18:46 GMT

1.If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone, who would it be? Marilyn Monroe (plus a luxury hamper of booze and snacks). Or Lisa Gherardini (I’ve always been fascinated by her…). 2.What is your

Cooking Lager - the blog!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:13:40 GMT

I have to confess to a combination of surprise and pleasure at being asked to guest blog on the Badger website. Surprise as being a lager lout I don’t really “do ale”, though from time to time I will neck

Cooking Lager

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:12:57 GMT

Next week we will have a blog from the infamous and anonymous beer blogger – Cooking Lager. Rather than attempt a polite introduction to ‘Cookie’ as he is known – I will let him explain in his own words,

Cooking Lager!!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:12:14 GMT

Tim Hampson's blog......

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:10:54 GMT

The telephone alarm exploded into the darkness of my sleep. It was 5am, and I was grateful that at midnight I had decided not to have – just one more beer.Blandford was quiet as I stepped put into the street, where

Tim Hampson's blog...........

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:09:39 GMT

Tim Hampson

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:08:39 GMT

Tim Hampson has been writing and broadcasting about beer for many years. His published work includes contributions to Eyewitness Companion Guide to Beer. Tim is Beer Correspondent for BBC Good Food Live and contributor to the Sky Pub Channel. He is

Harvest

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:07:36 GMT

It is the time of year when the combines are dusted off and soon harvest will be upon us. Beer is a natural product made from only the finest malted barley and hops. As such these ingredients are subject to

The Malt Shovel and new brews…………

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:06:52 GMT

Last month the Hall & Woodhouse Cricket team took part in what has been lovingly described as the Dorset brewer’s equivalent of the ashes Not quite England vs Australia but the contest between ourselves and Palmers Brewery, of Bridport, is

Zak Avery - the blog

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:04:07 GMT

For my 40th birthday party recently, I held a beer dinner. It was a grand event – I managed to talk a fancy restaurant in Leeds (The Piazza by Anthony) into hosting us, using lots of posh Riedel glassware, and

Zak Avery

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:03:12 GMT

Zak, AKA The Beer Boy, is a prolific commentator on the UK beer scene, with a regular column in trade newspaper Off Licence News and his own site,thebeerboy.co.uk. In 2008 Zak was named Beer Writer of the Year by the

Adrian Tierney-Jones - the blog!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:01:42 GMT

When I tell people that one of the things I write about are pubs I get two stock responses. 1. How does one get such a job? 2. What is your favourite pub? Having been a journalist since the 1980s

Adrian Tierney-Jones

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:01:06 GMT

This month’s guest blogger will be Adrian Tierney Jones. Adrian has been writing about beer for well over a decade with numerous books and articles under his belt and a new book, 1001 Beers you must try before you die

Swapping the Brewery for the Institute…..

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:59:42 GMT

I am part of the Southern Committee Section for the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and last week I met with other regional brewers including James Stephenson (Wells & Young), David Homes (Shepherd Neame), Steve Livens (BRI) and Julian Herrington at the Campden

Pete Brown's new blog

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:59:07 GMT

This is always a bit weird to talk about, but now I’m building a bit of a profile as a writer, I keep being surprised to find myself in places I didn’t know I was. Visiting the Badger brewery a

A blog from Melissa Cole

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:56:43 GMT

A blog from Melissa Cole freelance beer & food writer broadcaster, member of the British Guild of Beer Writers, as well as a judge at major beer festivals all over the world like the Great American and Great British Beer

Pete Brown

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:57:22 GMT

This month’s guest blogger will be Pete Brown. Pete was crowned British Guild of Beer Writers’ Beer Writer of the Year in 2009 and has written three books on drink and drinking Man Walks Into a Pub, Three Sheets to

The Duke would have approved

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:58:18 GMT

This is always a bit weird to talk about, but now I’m building a bit of a profile as a writer, I keep being surprised to find myself in places I didn’t know I was. Visiting the Badger brewery a

Melissa Cole

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:55:30 GMT

Next week we will continue our series of guest bloggers with a blog from Melissa Cole. Melissa is a freelance beer & food writer broadcaster and member of the British Guild of Beer Writers, as well as a judge at

Tom Stainer

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:54:55 GMT

Tom Stainer Below is the blog from our first ever guest blogger Tom Stainer. Tom is Editor of CAMRA’s What’s Brewing and Award winning, Beer Magazine, but to let you get to know a little bit more about the ‘real’

Meeting the brewer………..

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:54:02 GMT

Last week, to celebrate National Cask Ale Week, I went to The White Hart, a lovely little pub in Bishops Caundle, Dorset, to run a guided tasting session on Badger ales. There was a great turn out including some real

The reverse tour…….

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:51:58 GMT

We recently welcomed beer journalists Pete Brown and Tim Hampson for a brewery tour with a bit of a difference – they also came to see the mashing in at 6.00 am Pete is a beer writer, author, and blogger

All hands to the pumps!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:50:01 GMT

We have had a pretty hectic week, which is great and keeps us all out of trouble. Bottle sales particularly on Ferret and Tanglefoot have been going great guns and as a result we have been running an extended working

Pickled Partridge comes out on top!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:48:36 GMT

This week I received a lovely letter from Patrick McAlees explaining all about the Clifton Yule Tide Ale Festival. Now there are many important calendar dates in a Head Brewer’s diary including the World Beer Cup and the World Beer

How high should you hop?

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:47:57 GMT

The ‘Old Brewer’ asked me a very interesting question in the forum here. Basically he wants to know how to get the correct levels of hop flavour and aroma in his home brew – here are my thoughts, I hope

Badger on ice!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:46:21 GMT

The cold weather can cause problems for the brewing process and the conditions recently have made for some, shall we say interesting obstacles to our normal process We had brews fermenting over Christmas so I popped in to check the

First Golden hops

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:45:46 GMT

Just before Christmas Paul Corbett the Hop Merchant from Faram's came down to the Badger brewery so that we could assess the 2009 First Gold hop samples for aroma and quality. Paul is a leading merchant of First Gold hops

Brewing the Badger way...

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:44:10 GMT

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are now looking forward to ringing in the New Year. Before we move on to ingredients and seasonality I thought I would post a little bit about how we brew at

Welcome!

Badger Badger — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:41:47 GMT

Hello Badger Sett Ale Club members, I’m Toby the Head Brewer at Hall & Woodhouse and, you may have guessed by now, this is my blog Each week I will be writing about the job in a million that I

Blog

Badger on the BBC

Vintage Signs - a blog from our garden designers

The best of what England has to offer

National Gardening Week

A blog from Toby our Head Brewer

A blog from our garden designers

A blog from Larry Nelson..

When the Badger met Larry...

The Badger beer garden at Hampton Court

A blog from Beer Beauty

What better way to say I love you?

The Six Nations - a Badger's eye view

Guest blogger Adrian Tierney-Jones

Burn’s Night

Resolutions

A Christmas drink

Mulled ale – clinically proven to warm your cockles

A guest blog from Real-Ale-Reviews, Mark!

The steward’s enquiry

Slowly does it...

Foraging with the Badger

Movember

A guest blog by Jeff Evans

A perfect partnership

The Great Dorset Steam Fair …..

Cheese and beer

New look line up set to be a big hit!

The Great British Beer Festival

The Thinking Drinker's Guide to Alcohol

All hands to the pumps

Festival season….

Special Bitter: going large for the barbecue - a blog from Malt Jerry

A beginners guide to Malt Jerry........

Founders’ Day

Easy does it - a blog from our Head Brewer Toby

Zak's blog...........A beer drinking dad.....

Zak's back ............

Founders’ Sweepers

New brewery update

Your Highness

Perfect pairings….

Hares Crossing

Drinkability – a blog by Beer Reviews Andy aka Andy Mogg!

Meet Beer Reviews Andy- our newest guest blogger!

It’s hare to stay………….

‘I don’t like lager. Fizzy. Yellow poison. Soup. I don’t like lager.’ - a blog from ATJ

Adrian Tierney Jones....

The new brewery film.....

QUIET PLEASE - a blog from Head Brewer, Toby

“You must be Ron’s grandsons. Pint of his usual?” - a blog from Tom Stainer

Tom Stainer...

New brewery vessels arrive in Blandford - a blog from Head Brewer Toby

Surviving January…

The Beer Beauty's blog......Beer chic has arrived, laydeez!

Marverine Cole

Fabrication of brewery plant gathers momentum – a blog by Head Brewer Toby

The Beer Writers’ Oscars

Johnny Goodall - the blog

Johnny Goodall

An update on the new brewery – a blog by our Head Brewer Toby

Ben McFarland - the Dwink blog

Ben McFarland

Countryside pursuits…… a blog from the Badger

Our new Brewery – a blog by Toby our Head Brewer

The Cock Inn - a blog by Toby our Head Brewer

10 Things I Like About Badger Beers by Mark Dredge

Mark Dredge

Cooking Lager - the blog!

Cooking Lager

Cooking Lager!!

Tim Hampson&#39;s blog......

Tim Hampson&#39;s blog...........

Tim Hampson

Harvest

The Malt Shovel and new brews…………

Zak Avery - the blog

Zak Avery

Adrian Tierney-Jones - the blog!

Adrian Tierney-Jones

Tim Hampson's blog......

Tim Hampson's blog...........

Pete Brown's new blog