‘We’re farmers as well as brewers so we want to do everything we can to support British growers’
Great Newsome Brewery has pledged support for British hop growers(Image: Great Newsome Brewery)
An East Yorkshire brewery is backing hop growers around the UK with a new series of beers, amid moves to support sustainable home-grown brewing. Great Newsome Brewery in Winestead, near Withernsea, has pledged support for UK growers through the creation of its Love British Hops collection, which is going on sale in pubs across the country.
The award-winning microbrewery, based on the Hodgson family farm, is known for its brews which are made using Yorkshire water, home-grown malt, whole hops and its own yeast strain. Over the years it has toasted multiple award wins, and it showcases British beer styles with names such as Sleck Dust, Pricky Back Otchan and Frothingham Best.
The brewery, which also operates an online ecommerce business, has now been inspired to counter competition from imports with a special series showcasing British hops, which it is making over the course of the year. The first of six cask beers, sold as the Love British Hops series, is available this month.
The firm explained how hop growing is on the decline in the UK, with some growers choosing to switch to fruit instead. According to the British Hop Association, the UK grew approximately 8,200 hectares – around 10,000 football pitches – of hops in 1962. That number had dropped to 1,060 hectares by 2007 and now stands at just 500 hectares on 42 farms.
The decline has been triggered by competition from imports, changes in brewer preferences and the climate. James Hodgson, head brewer at Great Newsome, said: “We were inspired to come up with this idea after visiting a hop farm in Herefordshire a couple of years ago.
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“We had noticed a field there where the hops had been grubbed out. Although the hops had been growing there for around 70 years, the grower was considering replacing them with apple trees as these were more profitable. That seemed a real shame to us.”
Great Newsome Brewery’s six-beer “Love British Hops” series will be available throughout 2026. The first beer — Jester, a 4% punchy pale ale — is available this month. The Jester hop used in the beer gets its name from the time an experienced hop merchant mistook Jester for a US hop and thought a group of botanists were pulling his leg.
Director Matthew Hodgson added: “The thing is, the UK is now home to an incredibly diverse assortment of hops. Not only does buying British cut our carbon footprint down, but we’re also allowing ourselves the privilege of brewing with fantastic, world-beating ingredients. Why wouldn’t we do it?
“Each beer in this new range uses a single hop variety, allowing us to focus on that one plant, its story and the passionate growers behind it. We’re farmers as well as brewers, after all, so we want to do everything we can to support British growers.
“Our mission with the “Love British Hops” series is to prove that high-quality, flavoursome beers can be brewed using modern British hops.”
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