A look at Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone Lager - where can you get it and is it made at Diddly Squat Farm?

Jeremy Clarkson may be in hot water with the Oxfordshire Council as they continue to deliberate whether the Grand Tour host can build a car park at his farm shop and a restaurant, but he can keep cool with his new beer.

Since Jeremy took control of Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton in 2019, he has tried to capitalise on what the farm can provide for him including beef to serve potential restaurant goers, potato crisps for his farm shop and flour from his wheat sold to the Sourdough Revolution to make fresh daily bread.

He has certainly been successful with the farm having an estimated £1.34 million in assets after less than three years of trading. To wash that figure down, Jeremy has also undertaken a venture to create a lager from barley grown on his Oxfordshire farm called Hawkstone Lager.

Originally wanting to call it ‘Lager McLagerFace’, Jeremy combined forces with the Cotswold Brewing Company near Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire to produce the 4.8% alcoholic beverage.

The refreshing beer was first spotted in season two of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime and much like Clarkson’s farm shop drawing customers from all over the UK (which has in turn created friction between Jeremy and the locals), Hawkstone Lager has begun to sell at a quick pace.

When it was first released, it was only supposed to be sold at the Diddly Squat Farm Shop but it ended up becoming the top selling beer on Amazon, before it was introduced to Oxfordshire pubs on tap.

The resounding demand for Hawkstone Lager meant that the alcoholic beverage is now sold all over the UK in pubs, as seen by a map on the Hawkstone website; even with Cheltenham Festival racegoers able to grab a bottle.

As well as Hawkstone Lager being sold around the country, Jeremy has also expanded the business into Hawkstone IPA and vodka.

However, the Hawkstone Lager now available is Jeremy’s second attempt at making the refreshing drink, as his initial attempt failed a blind taste test against another local beer.

Aforementioned, Jeremy’s farm and farming pursuits such as the infamous restaurant have attracted criticism from locals and the Oxfordshire Council, with Hawkstone Lager not exempt from backlash.

Other local breweries complained that Jeremy’s new venture would subtract attention from other local beers, however not much came out of these complaints.

On the other hand, the Oxfordshire Council are still deciding whether to accept Jeremy Clarkson’s appeal after they originally denied him permission to build a car park and a restaurant on his land. 

Jeremy has not been in attendance at the meetings that have been taking place this week, but finally broke his silence on Twitter replying to a user: “The coverage makes it sound like a civil war is raging. The truth: a compromise will be reached.”

Although the council began the hearing on 14 March, the planning inspector stated that the decision could take a ‘number of weeks’.