A HANDFUL of pubs in the Farnham and Guildford area are serving up a unique beer during January and February after taking some of the first casks of Farnham White, brewed by Hogs Back Brewery with Farnham White Bine hops from its hop garden.

Farnham White is a 4% ABV golden bitter, brewed with the first commercial crop of Farnham White Bine hops in more than 100 years. The hops were harvested in September from the Hogs Back hop garden adjacent to the brewery in Tongham.

As well as Farnham White Bine hops, the beer is brewed with fine English malts and has a fresh, robust flavour with a lasting, bitter finish. It is being sold in around a dozen pubs in the Farnham and Guildford area, as part of a national distribution to some 120 pubs within the Enterprise Inns group.

Rupert Thompson, managing director of Hogs Back Brewery, said, “Unique can be an over-used word, but Farnham White is a genuinely unique beer as we are the only brewer in the country, indeed the world, to be brewing with this hop.

“The local community has supported our hop garden from our first planting in 2014 to our first harvest in September last year. Our Tongham TEA Club members helped to bring in the harvest and celebrated its end at our Harvest Party. We’re confident that many will now want to taste the resulting beer and are delighted that a number of local pubs are selling it.”

The Farnham White Bine hop was first grown 250 years ago and was a major contributor to the local economy of the area for more than a century. The hop was highly prized by brewers, commanding a higher price than hops from elsewhere in the country.

Farnham White is available in the following pubs, while stocks last:

• The White Hart, Tongham

• The Nelson Arms, Farnham

• The Waverley Arms, Farnham

• The Keep, Guildford

• Kings Head, Guildford

• The Bricklayers Arms, Shamley Green

• The Royal Oak, Haslemere

• The Hen & Chickens, Bisley

• The Crown, Knaphill

• The Golden Fleece, Elstead