Ringwood Brewery is a small brewery situated on the edge of the New Forest

New Forest

The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....

 in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England near the Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 border. It produces mainly cask ale

Cask ale

Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...

s and some bottled beers.

The emblem

Emblem

An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...

 for the brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 is a boar

Boar

Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...

.

There are records from the early 19th century of four breweries, one owned by a banker named Stephen Tunks, that stood on the site of the present day Ringwood Brewery. Of the four, none survive today. The last to close was Carters on West Street, which closed in 1923.

In 1978, the Ringwood Brewery was established.

Ringwood Brewery founder, Peter Austin, is thought to be an influence on Britain's craft brewery rebirth in much the same way that Fritz Maytag of San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company

Anchor Brewing Company

Anchor Brewing Company is an American alcoholic beverage producer, operating a brewery and distillery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. The brewery was founded in 1896 and was purchased by Frederick Louis Maytag III, in 1965, saving it from closure. It moved to its current location in...

 and Pierre Celis of Belgium's Hoegaarden Brewery were to their countries. However, Austin had a much more direct role in brewery development through his consulting business and equipment sales. Several notable American craft brewers use his equipment: Geary's Brewing

D. L. Geary Brewing Company

D. L. Geary Brewing Company is a brewery in Portland, Maine, USA, incorporated in October 1983 by David and Karen Geary.Geary's, as it is more commonly known, was one of the first new microbreweries during America’s late 20th century brewing renaissance. In 2006 Geary’s London Porter won a New York...

, Shipyard

Shipyard Brewing Company

Shipyard Brewing Company is an American microbrewery and soft drink manufacturer based in Portland, Maine and founded in 1994. Maine ranks among the top five states in the U.S. for microbreweries, with Shipyard the largest brewer...

, and Middle Ages Brewing Company to name a few.

On 12 July 2007, it was announced that Ringwood had been purchased by Marston's plc for £19.2 million. Marston's have stated that they plan to keep the brewery in operation and continue producing the full range of Ringwood beers.

Beers

• Best Bitter 3.8% alcohol by volume
• Fortyniner 4.9% alcohol by volume
• Old Thumper: 5.6% alcohol by volume, light, hoppy taste. Awarded 'Champion beer of Britain' by the Campaign for Real Ale
  Campaign for Real Ale
  The Campaign for Real Ale is an independent voluntary consumer organisation based in St Albans, England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub...
  
   (CAMRA) in 1988.
• True Glory - no longer brewed

Seasonal Ales:

• Bold Forester Spring Ale 4.2% alcohol by volume
• Boondoggle Summer Ale 4.0% alcohol by volume
• Huffkin Autumn Ale 4.4% alcohol by volume
• XXXX Porter Winter Ale 4.7 % alcohol by volume

Commemorative Ales:

• Seventy Eight Spring Ale 4.2% alcohol by volume, special brew produced in 2008 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the brewery.

Pubs

Ringwood Brewery owns several pubs which tend to be older style traditional pubs rather than modern bars.

They are as follows:

• The Inn On The Furlong in Ringwood
  Ringwood
  Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
  
  
• The Porterhouse in Westbourne
  Westbourne, Dorset
  Westbourne is an affluent residential and shopping area of Bournemouth, Dorset. It is located in between Branksome, Poole and the centre of Bournemouth, just off the main A338. Poole Road, mainly full of specialised shops and small cafes, runs though the centre Westbourne with Seamoor Road curving...
  
  , Bournemouth
  Bournemouth
  Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
  
  
• The Boot in Weymouth
• The Drovers Inn in Gussage All Saints
  Gussage All Saints
  Gussage All Saints is a village in Dorset, England situated 8 miles north east of Blandford.The Ecclesiastical Parish of Gussage All Saints since 2001, is one of ten Ecclesiastical Parishes which form ‘The Chase Benefice’ under its first incumbent the Reverend Dr Michael Foster...
  
   near Wimborne
• The Angel in Poole
  Poole
  Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
  
   (close to Poole Quay)
• The Cartwheel in Whitsbury
  Whitsbury
  Whitsbury is a village in Hampshire, England, close to Fordingbridge.Whitsbury is part of the group of villages on the edge of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
  
   near Fordingbridge
  Fordingbridge
  Fordingbridge is a town and civil parish with a population of 5,700 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near to the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest. It is south west of London, and south of the city of Salisbury. Fordingbridge is a...
  
  
• The Crown in Winterborne Stickland
  Winterborne Stickland
  Winterborne Stickland is a village in the English county of Dorset. It is situated in the North Dorset administrative district of the county, about four miles west of the town of Blandford Forum. It is sited in a winterbourne valley in the Dorset Downs. The village has a population of 576...