Hawkstone Lager

Hawkstone Lager
Bottle and glass of Hawkstone Lager
TypeBeer
ManufacturerThe Cotswold Brewing Company
Country of origin England
Region of originOxfordshire
Introduced2021
Alcohol by volume 4.8
StyleLager
IngredientsBarley

Hawkstone Lager is a lager created by television presenter and farmer Jeremy Clarkson using barley grown at his Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. It is brewed by Cotswold Brewing Co. near Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.[1]

History

Jeremy Clarkson is a British television presenter who owns Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire and has been running it since 2019 for the purposes of the Amazon Prime Video documentary Clarkson's Farm.[2] Due to a lowering of government farm subsidies,[3] in 2021 he decided to make a lager beer using barley grown on his farm.[4] After consulting with his farm workers, he decided it should have a 4.8 ABV.[5] Clarkson had to have the beer rebrewed after an initial attempt due to it failing a blind taste test against a nearby local brand of beer.[5] It was originally planned to only be sold at Clarkson's Farm Shop, but was later sold online as well.[6] The beer was criticised for competing with local brewers and potentially drawing business away from them.[7]

Hawkstone Lager is distributed by the Craft Drink Co.[8]

Advertising

Clarkson claimed that he intended to call the beer "Lager McLagerface", but this was vetoed by the advertising agency for not conveying a premium image.[3][5][9] It was named Hawkstone Lager after a prehistoric stone near Diddly Squat Farm.[10] He produced a number of adverts for the beer to be advertised on television in the United Kingdom, but these were banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, reportedly on the grounds that the first contained Clarkson saying the phrase "fuck me, that's good",[4] the second for Clarkson saying the beer was better than Birmingham, and the third because it promoted alcohol being served irresponsibly as it featured Clarkson drinking the lager in the morning before going to work.[11] When Hawkstone Lager was released, it became the top-selling beer on Amazon.[12] In January 2022, Clarkson announced that the beer would be sold on draught in pubs in Oxfordshire.

In 2024, Waitrose became the first supermarket chain to sell Hawkstone. [13]

References

  1. ^ "Cotswold brewery teams up with Jeremy Clarkson to launch his own lager". Punchline Gloucester. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Jeremy Clarkson's Cotswold beer becomes best selling on Amazon". Business Live. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b Clarkson, Jeremy. "Hic! Turns out I can organise a piss-up in a brewery: My own". The Times. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Jeremy Clarkson shares 'bad news' about 'offensive' lager ad". Dorset Echo. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Quadri, Sami (28 November 2021). "Jeremy Clarkson reveals what he really wanted to call his new lager Hawkstone". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Clarkson's Farm beer now available on Amazon". Oxfordshire Live. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  7. ^ Woodruff, Leanne (10 January 2022). "Clarkson riles locals with new beer for Diddly Squat farm shop". Gloucestershire Gazette. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Hawkstone Lager". The Craft Drink Co. March 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  9. ^ Jeremy Clarkson Reveals Name of Diddly Squat Beer Hawkstone Oxfordshirelive.
  10. ^ "Chilling legend behind Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone Lager name". Gloucestershire Live. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Jeremy Clarkson's banned advert for his Hawkstone lager". Oxfordshire Live. 22 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone Lager is UK's best selling beer on Amazon". Metro. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone lager: The Chipping Norton and Burford pubs selling beer". Oxfordshire Live. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.