Hidden away on the outskirts of Brockenhurst, just off the road towards Lymington, PIG BEER is not your average brewery.
Based at Hops House in the heart of the New Forest, this independent family-run microbrewery has turned a former pig farm into a proper local beer destination — complete with its own tap room, beer garden, brewery shop, street food, live music and even brewery tours.
The story behind PIG BEER is simple but brilliant: two brothers and a cousin, all sharing a surname and a love of good beer, decided to create their own brewery on a former pig farm in the New Forest. The result is a brand that feels properly local, properly rustic and completely different from the mass-produced lagers dominating pub taps across the country.
The brewery describes itself as an independent family-run craft brewery, serving freshly brewed local beer from its New Forest base. Visitors can drink at the tap room, take bottles and mini-kegs away from the shop, or order online for delivery and click and collect.
What makes PIG BEER stand out is not just the beer — it is the whole experience. Their tap room has a heated stretch tent and beer garden, with their own beers on the bar alongside snacks, guest street food vendors and live music. Dogs are welcome, muddy boots are welcome, cyclists are welcome, and no booking is needed.
That gives it the feel of a brewery built for real people rather than just beer experts. It is the sort of place you can walk to after exploring the New Forest, cycle to on a sunny afternoon, or visit for a pint, pizza and live music at the weekend.
There is also a strong sustainability angle. PIG BEER says it uses renewable electricity, carbon-offset gas, reclaimed materials for bars and furniture, reusable cups where possible, and a 20,000-litre grey water harvesting tank to reuse safe rinse water and rainfall for irrigation.
The beer list has plenty to explore. On Untappd, PIG BEER is listed as a microbrewery in Brockenhurst with 15 beers recorded, including SESSION, STORM, BLAK, SAUBER, CHERY, NEW FOREST LAGER, RUST, SIMCOE and its 12% sparkling beer styles such as Standing Hat and Chorus.
The New Forest Lager is described as a crisp, clean Munich Helles-style lager, while SESSION is a light 4% session IPA using Citra and Prima Donna hops. STORM brings a bolder IPA profile, while BLAK is a smooth milk stout with cocoa and dark fruit notes.
Perhaps the most unusual part of the range is the sparkling beer. Standing Hat and Chorus are both listed as 12% Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut styles, bringing champagne-style fizz and refinement into beer form.
PIG BEER has also become part of the wider New Forest drinks scene. The official New Forest tourism site describes Pig Beer as a newer addition to the local scene, brewed on a family-run smallholding just outside Brockenhurst, and part of the area’s growing independent brewery culture.
For Pub Social, this is exactly the sort of brewery that shows why local beer matters. It is not just about what is in the glass. It is about the place, the people, the landscape, the events, the dogs under the table, the muddy boots, the weekend food trucks and the idea that a brewery can become a proper community destination.
In a world where many drinkers are only just discovering that some “continental” favourites are brewed much closer to home than they thought, places like PIG BEER offer something genuinely rooted in their surroundings.
A former pig farm. A family brewery. A New Forest beer garden. Fresh local beer poured metres from where it is made.
That is a proper pint story.
