Ringwood Brewery is named after the historic English town of Ringwood on the River Avon just to the west of the New Forest. It had been an important watering hole for several centuries until it lost its last commercial brewery after World War II. Brewing returned to the town in 1978, however, when Peter Austin, head brewer at Hull Brewery, retired to Hampshire to indulge his passion for sailing.

Apparently unable to keep away from the mash tun, Peter cobbled together various pieces of defunct brewery and dairy equipment and a 10-barrel plant evolved. He put his idiosyncratic Yorkshire yeast to work and went on to help spark the birth of the modern British microbrewery movement. Ringwood’s Old Thumper, a robust pale ale, became the brewery’s flagship beer. The success of the brewery, along with the rebound of cask-conditioned beer in Britain, persuaded Austin to engage in brewing equipment supply and brewery education. During the next decade or so, he set up breweries all over the world (including in North America), with his Ringwood plant being used for training purposes. To the new breweries he brought his rough-hewn, wooden-clad vessel design and the Ringwood yeast. The yeast’s signature fruity/spicy quality became ubiquitous in English and American start-up breweries.

As Ringwood prospered, Peter took on two business partners, David and Nigel Welch, who brought greater financial stability to the concern. Further successes and the acquisition of a few pubs were such that larger premises had to be purchased for the brewery, which they found in Christchurch Road. The new site proved to be large enough to accommodate a couple of capacity increases over the years.

In 2007, with Austin long retired and with the brewery capable of producing 40,000 UK barrels per annum, David Welch sold the concern (and a vineyard) to Marstons plc for £19.2 million (31.4 million US dollars).