"Piggins" and "Pins" Appear

Look out for the new design on our Beer Boxes – “Hogs Back Piggins” and “Hogs Back Pins”.

The beer boxes hold the same plastic bladder and easy-to-pour tap but are now sporting their new livery!

Did you know “Pin” is a traditional term for half a firkin?  A firkin holds 72 pints.  The contents of a “Hogs Back Pin” varies – 40 drinkable pints of Bright cask ale, or 36 drinkable pints if the cask ale is Sedimented (this just means that the yeast is still held in suspension and if left for 48 hours will drop harmlessly to the bottom).

Whereas a “Piggin” is an old-fashioned term for half a “Pin”.  A “Hogs Back Piggin” holds 20 pints of Bright cask ale or 18 of Sedimented.

We always recommend drinking beer as fresh as possible so there’s a handy guide to storing and pouring beer from our “Piggins” and “Pins” printed on the side of each box.....

We rather like these quirky terms as they seem very apt for the Hogs Back Brewery. What’s more, the cardboard outer is 100% recyclable and is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.  This means the forest is being managed in a way that preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local people and workers, while ensuring it sustains economic viability.  So this is just another step towards making our business more sustainable. (If you’re wondering, the plastic bladder is recyclable too!)

Our new “Hogs Back Piggins” and “Hogs Back Pins” will be coming to the Brewery Shop soon.

Here's some pub quiz trivia - the traditional size of beer casks went Barrel, Kilderkin, Firkin, Pin and occasionally, Piggin, each of which was roughly half the size of the previous one.  The largest of all was the Hogshead, which held 432 pints.  We love the porcine connection with the largest and the smallest measures but we don't have any plans to introduce a Hogshead anytime soon!

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