Hook Norton Brewery facts for kids
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| Industry | Alcoholic drink |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1849 |
| Headquarters |
Hook Norton, Oxfordshire
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United Kingdom
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Production output
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Beer |
| Owner | Family-owned |
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Number of employees
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c. 50 (as of 2014) |
The Hook Norton Brewery is a special old factory in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England. It's known for making drinks and has been around since 1849! This brewery is a unique "tower brewery." This means all the steps to make the drinks happen on different floors, flowing from top to bottom. Imagine mixing ingredients at the top, boiling them in the middle, and then finishing them at the bottom.
For a long time, until 2006, amazing steam power ran the whole process. Even today, some deliveries in the village are still made by a horse-drawn cart, called a dray. It's like stepping back in time!
Contents
A Look Back: The Brewery's History
This cool brewery started way back in 1849 in Hook Norton. It was built as a "tower brewery" on purpose. This design makes the process of making drinks super efficient. Ingredients start at the top and move down through each step.
For over 150 years, a powerful steam engine helped run the brewery. Even though it's not the main power source anymore, the original Victorian steam engine from 1899 is still there! Visitors can even see it working every week. It's a real piece of history.
And guess what? Some deliveries in the village are still done the old-fashioned way. A horse pulls a dray (a special cart) to deliver the drinks.
What They Make
Hook Norton Brewery makes different kinds of drinks. They have a range of traditional English styles. These drinks are enjoyed by many people.
Explore the Museum
If you visit the brewery, you can take a tour to see how everything works. There's also a museum filled with old tools and items from the brewery's past. You can learn about the history of the area too. It's a great way to see how things were done long ago!
The Amazing Steam Engine
The Hook Norton Brewery has a very special steam engine made by Buxton & Thornley. This engine has been powering most of the machines in the brewery since 1899! It's the last working steam engine of its kind in the UK that's still used for business.
It's a simple but clever engine with a cylinder, a big spinning wheel (flywheel), and connecting rods. This engine turns a system of shafts and belts. These belts connect to almost all the machines in the brewery. Workers can use levers to connect or disconnect different machines.
Here's a cool fact: where there are gears in the system, each pair has one iron wheel and one wooden wheel. If a machine ever gets stuck, only a few wooden teeth might break. This is much easier to fix than a complex iron part! The brewery's mechanics can just replace the wooden teeth.
In the past, this steam engine powered many things, including:
- Pumps for water and other liquids. These pumps are original from 1899.
- The grist mill, which crushes the malt grains just right. This machine is also from 1899.
- The mashing and raking equipment that mixes the ingredients.
- A lift for moving heavy barrels, which dates back to 1900.
- The sack hoist for lifting bags of malt.
Today, the steam engine still powers some parts, like the mashing equipment, the mill, and the sack hoist on certain days. It's a fantastic example of old technology still at work!
Where to Find Their Drinks
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You can find Hook Norton's drinks in many places. They are sold in supermarkets and other shops. The brewery also has many local places, like pubs, that sell their drinks. These places are spread across different counties in England, like Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire.
See also
- List of breweries in England
- Museum of Oxford
