Triple Fff Brewery

The Triple fff Brewing Company Ltd is a small independent brewer of real ale based in Four Marks, Alton, Hampshire, England, founded in November 1997, and producing award-winning bitters, milds and stouts. They own two pubs, the Railway Arms in Alton and The White Lion in Aldershot.

Triple fff launched in 1997 by Graham Trott,and his partner Frank. Graham was a jobber, then paint sprayer by trade, and Frank had a small business changing windows. They were keen home brewers. People liked their brews and when they discovered that you did not need to be a chemist to brew beer commercially, they decided to have a go. They installed a 5 barrel plant in one of the units vacated by the now closed furniture factory on Station Approach in the village of Four Marks, in which factory Trott worked. The station still operates on the steam heritage Watercress Line which runs ten miles between Alton and Alresford.

Graham and Frank took a musical theme for their brewery name as triple fff is the strong note; louder, louder, louder. Some people found the name amusing, and referred to their beer as: Frank's Flushing Fluid. Franks' share of the business was bought out after a few years by Graham, with the help of his mother-in-law Eileen, who also helped financially with cask purchasing and various other necessities.

The beer names also came from song titles of many of the 60s rock icons, Van Morrison, Led Zeppelin and Cream with Moondance (4.2%ABV), Stairway (4.6%ABV) and the Pressed Rat and Warthog (3.8%ABV). The psychedelic 60s did not spawn a song called Alton Pride (3.8%ABV) but that joined the lyrical portfolio and is our number one seller following its success at 2008’s Great British Beer Festival having been voted Supreme Champion Beer of Britain.

The year 2000 saw an expansion into an 18 Barrel plant and finally in 2006 the brewery became what it is today, a 50 Barrel system brewing over 31,000 pints a week.

The brewery produces high quality real ale and has won over 35 industry awards, including overall Champion Beer of Britain at the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival. They attribute their success to fine ingredients, including Maris Otter Barley malted in the traditional way at Warminster Maltings. Their beers include:

• Moondance - one of their original beers and champion Best Bitter of Britain 2002 when it also won the bronze award in the overall competition. In 2006 it won silver in the Best Bitter category.
• Comfortably Numb - their other original brew, and a mid brown strong ale
• Alton's Pride - a golden brown session bitter which gained the bronze award in the Bitter category at Olympia in 2003 and 2004 and the overall Champion Beer of Britain award in 2008.
• Pressed Rat and Warthog - champion Mild of Britain 2002
• Stairway - a pale brown ale with a flavour of summer fruits
• Little Red Rooster - a rich, dark beer from a complex combination of pale and dark malts

A recent venture has been to produce a beer from a recipe by Gilbert White, the famous naturalist born in 1720 in nearby Selborne. The recipe uses hops and smoked barley.