Brewers Grains.

Regular visitors to Hook Norton Brewery will be aware of the Farm trailer parked at the base of the Brewery tower which is there to collect the spent grist from the brew mashing process. The grain is dispensed from the mash tun into the trailer via a tube in the centre of the tank-like structure that juts out from the side of the brewery (see pictures). The grain is then transported to a local farm where it is used in cattle feed, the supply being tightly controlled in accordance with the Feed Materials Assurance Scheme (FEMAS).

Visitors in the 1950′s would have seen a different arrangement as shown in the picture below. As can be seen there is a shute arrangement and a drum in the centre of the tank.  The drum was actually a dispenser which measured 1 Bushel, or 4 Pecks.

I am told that Brewery would supply the local Pig keepers with Brewers grains to add to the Pig Meal and scraps used to feed  their animals, hence the need to measure these supplies.

The keeping of Pigs in Hook Norton in 1950′s was a carry-over from the village Pig Club of the Second World War. In The Bourne alone, 8 householders out of 26 still kept them.  To earn a little pocket money local lads would borrow a trolley and with empty sacks go to the Brewery to fetch the Brewers Grains for these Pig keepers. Here the Grain would be dispensed from the drum and be shovelled into the sacks. Then it was into the Brewery Office to pay Harold Wyton the Company Secretary.  Unlike today there appeared to be no control over the supply of Brewers Grains for animal feed, other than the need to pay the formidable Harold!

James Tobin.