The Badger set
Dorset brewer Hall & Woodhouse uses the most advanced retailing and marketing techniques to stay competitive. But it hasn’t forgotten its roots either. Dominic Roskrow reports
A few years ago a group of trade journalists were invited down to Hall & Woodhouse in Dorset for what it is technically known in the industry as a jolly.
Ostensibly we were there to learn about the brewer’s strong link with Hofbräu Lager, a genuine Munich lager that Hall & Woodhouse brewed to German purity laws and distributed through its estate. In truth, though, this was spurious, and the plan was to eat lunch and have a few drinks, visit some of the brewery’s best pubs and have a few drinks, enjoy a dinner and have a few drinks and end the evening by having a few drinks. This was some years ago before we all got responsible, you understand.
We arrived late morning to be greeted with a pint of Badger and quickly became aware of two elderly men in our midst. Both chubby and balding, they could have been brothers. And from the laughter, the swaying, and the way they kept putting their arms round each other in a brotherly sort of way, we concluded that they had started on the Badger considerably earlier than we had.
It transpired that the two gentlemen were the head brewer of Hall & Woodhouse and the master brewer from the brewery in Germany, where such a position is akin to being a rock star and is accompanied by a high degree of celebrity status.
Anyway, the two men joined us for the day and evening, swaying and laughing their way from venue to venue. But as the hours passed and we began to increasingly feel the effects of the drinking, we noticed that the two brewers we.....
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By Dominic Roskrow
Section : Brewery Focus
Page number : 21
