Spilsbury & Jones Brewing Co.

Hops have been grown at Orleton Court Farm for over 100 years and it has been in the care of the Spilsbury family for three generations dating back to the winter of 1966. Spilsbury’s however, have been farming in this area for over 300 years making them as local as can be.

 The history of hops at Orleton is a story of highs and lows, as is the case with hop growing across the UK. Hops are a particularly tricky crop to produce, needing the right soil, water, temperature and sun light. Not to mention the myriad of diseases and insects that can decimate an entire crop too. Due to this hops can only be grown in two areas of the UK, one being here, around Worcestershire and the other Kent in the south of England. Back in the 1960’s Orleton Court had roughly 30 acres of hops growing which were at that time all Fuggles, a breed of hop which is even more susceptible to disease than other English hop varieties. Making an already challenging crop to produce, even more difficult.

 The variety and acreage of hops has changed a lot over the years, not just at Orleton but any English hop farm and for this reason Orleton Court has never been solely reliant on hop farming to survive. Towards the end of the 20th century the demand for British Hops had declined so much that the hops here had dropped down to just 6 acres.

 Hop picking which occurs in the Autumn is a rich and interesting part of Worcestershire’s history. In the 1800’s hop picking would draw 1000’s of workers and their families from the black country and Birmingham for up six weeks for a ‘working holiday’. Extra trains ‘hopper specials’ were chartered by farmers to transport people out to the Teme Valley and while parents picked, sorted and dried hops during the day their children would be enrolled at local schools. This was a social event for families as well as an important source of extra income.

 The building in which our Brewery and Tap House are situated is the building where each family had a fireplace for peppering meals and was the area for socializing. As well as a communal fireplace in the wall situated outside. As the majority of these hop pickers came from Dudley, the building was named simply, The Dudley’s.

 Although mechanisation eventually brought an end to the large-scale migration of workers, hop picking still remains an important time of year for many locals still employed for the hop harvest.

 Fast forward through the years, Tom Spilsbury saw the craft beer movement beginning and took the decision to re plant 50 acres of hops at Orleton Court Farm. This and a chance meeting with Master brewer Tony Jones, gave birth to Spilsbury & Jones Brewing Co in 2017.

 All our beers are still brewed here on site using only our own home grown hops from yards just 50m away from the brewery.