Surrey Hills Brewery

Surrey Hills Brewery was established in 2005 as the project of beer enthusiast Ross Hunter, whose ambition was straightforward but demanding: to make exceptional beer without compromising on ingredients, flavour or consistency. The brewery began near Shere, a village in the Surrey Hills that would also lend its name to one of the brewery's best-known beers.

Developing the range involved repeated trials and test brews as Ross worked towards recipes that could be reproduced consistently. Surrey Hills jokes that the finished recipes are now carved into stone and kept in a vault near the brewery — before admitting that the practical versions are laminated brew sheets in the brewery office. That attention to repeatability remains central to a business that deliberately concentrates on a relatively small range rather than constantly changing what it brews.

In 2011 the brewery moved from its original home to Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, placing beer production within one of Surrey's best-known drinks destinations. Despite that move and the recognition its beers have subsequently received, Surrey Hills remains unusually local in its outlook. Around 95% of production is sold within 15 miles of the brewery, and its eight-beer range can be found in more than 150 pubs around the surrounding area.

Real Ale is the brewery's particular focus. Rather than spreading production across a large number of styles and formats, Surrey Hills concentrates on producing a limited range to a consistently high standard using carefully selected ingredients. That approach has delivered an impressive awards record: all of its regular beers have won CAMRA Gold medals within their categories, while Shere Drop went further by being named Champion Beer of Britain.

That local connection extends to the brewery itself. Customers regularly visit the Denbies site to buy their favourite beer directly, and cask ale can be enjoyed at the brewery as well as taken home. For some regulars, buying beer at the source has become an everyday habit, giving Surrey Hills an unusually close relationship with the people drinking its beer.

Visitors can also get behind the brewing process through the brewery's tours. Rather than simply walking around the equipment, the experience explores malt, hops and yeast and how each affects a beer's appearance, aroma and mouthfeel. A little brewing science and comparative tasting help connect what happens inside the brewhouse with what eventually appears in the glass.

Two decades after its first beers were produced near Shere, Surrey Hills remains closely aligned with Ross Hunter's original idea: brew a relatively small number of beers exceptionally well and serve the community around the brewery. Its national awards may have carried the Surrey Hills name much further afield, but the brewery itself remains distinctly local, with most of its beer still being drunk only a short distance from where it was made.