What Can I Expect

Forage and ferment on a Wild Alcohol & Foraging course in Surrey! Learn lots about the whole wild brewing process, from picking the fruit to bottling up, on these wonderful three-day courses.

You will be out and about in private woodlands around the Surrey Hills for this experience, which runs in the autumn around harvest time. Teaching is across two consecutive days, then you return for a follow up day six weeks after.

We have to say, these courses take foraging in the woodlands to a whole new level. You will be collecting all those ripe fruits and plants to make a whole range of drinks, from the sweetness and bubbles of Elderflower Champagne, to traditional apple cider and blackberry gin.

Your hosts for these workshops are Lizzy Maskey and Rupert Loch. Lizzy, a highly skilled foraging and bushcraft tutor, will facilitate the course and lead the foraging walk, sharing practical plant knowledge, folklore, and how to sustainably harvest ingredients for wild drinks. Rupert, as a science teacher, winemaker and bushcraft tutor, he has the perfect skill set for showing you how to make delicious, naturally-flavoured alcoholic beverages from you forages finds.

The course is very much hands-on, so you will be collecting those juicy apples and pressing them, assisting with the demijohn set up for fermenting the beer and champagne and preparing botanicals to flavour your gins and whiskeys.

By the end of day two, your wild alcohol will be fermenting nicely. In six weeks’ time you’ll be back to see (and taste) the fruits of your labour, helping with bottling up so you can then take home your share of the wild-brewed alcohol you helped forage for and make!

As well as leaving with your beverages, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to continue your journey into wild alcohol making and foraging.

When Is It Available

• Available selected weekend dates throughout the year
• Workshop starts at 9:30 and finishes at 17:00
• The workshop runs over two consecutive days, with a follow-up day six weeks later
• All dates are subject to availability

2025 Availability

• 6th - 7th September returning on 18th October

Suitable For

• Minimum age 18

Spectators

• Not suitable for spectators

Anything Else

• The workshop needs a minimum of 4 participants to run, if numbers are not met you can rebook onto the next course
• You may join a group of up to 10 participants on this workshop

Menu

At the end of this exciting experience you will be taking home:

• 3x 500ml bottles of cider
• 250ml Crème de Mûre, blackberry liquor
• 750ml bottle Elderflower Champagne
• 750ml bottle Meadowsweet Champagne
• 750ml bottle Mead
• 2 x 150ml bottles Homemade Gin
• 150ml bottle Wild Blackberry Rum
• 150ml bottle Hedgerow Whisky