A limited-edition lager brewed with regenerative-farmed barley is hitting shelves and pubs this autumn, marking a rare large-scale collaboration between two British brands with deep ties to farming. Hawkstone Wildthing Lager, a 4.6% Wild Barley Lager, launches on 8 September in 300+ Tesco stores, the brewer’s direct-to-consumer site, and 600+ participating pubs—its first seasonal special to reach this scale across retail, on-trade, and D2C channels. The campaign represents Hawkstone’s most ambitious seasonal rollout yet, with the brewer expanding beyond its core customer base amid industry-leading growth that has positioned it as one of Britain’s fastest-growing beer brands.
The beer is the result of a partnership between Hawkstone, a fast-growing craft brewer known for its British-focused ingredients, and Wildfarmed, a regenerative farming pioneer. The collaboration aims to spotlight sustainable agriculture while giving drinkers a taste of where their beer’s core ingredient comes from. Wildfarmed’s barley, grown using methods that improve soil health and biodiversity, forms the lager’s backbone, offering a crisp, malty profile with cereal, biscuit, and subtle fruit notes.
The beer’s clean finish also includes a gentle bitterness, a hallmark of regenerative farming practices that prioritize natural grain development over chemical interventions. Andy Cato, Wildfarmed’s co-founder and former Groove Armada DJ, described the partnership as putting regenerative grains straight into your glass, emphasizing how the campaign translates abstract farming principles into a tangible consumer experience.
The launch coincides with a broader push by Hawkstone to expand beyond its core customer base. The brewer has seen strong industry growth, and this campaign represents its most ambitious seasonal rollout yet. For Wildfarmed, it’s a chance to translate regenerative farming—often an abstract concept—into something tangible: a pint in hand. The timing also aligns with shifting consumer priorities, as YouGov data shows one in three shoppers now prioritize locally sourced produce for environmental or sustainability reasons, while 47% actively seek out origin information. For Hawkstone, the collaboration with Wildfarmed lets it extend that narrative into the beer aisle—a category where sustainability claims are less common and where provenance remains a key differentiator.
Charity and music tie beer to community causes
The campaign extends far beyond the beer itself. A £100,000 charitable commitment splits between farming and hospitality causes, with £50,000 from Hawkstone going to Shout, the 24/7 mental health text service, to expand support for hospitality workers. The other half, raised by Wildfarmed’s initiative, will fund Mind, RABI, the Farming Community Network, and the DPJ Foundation.
Cato noted that the farmers’ choir was brought into the studio specifically to raise vital funds for the farming community, reflecting how the campaign ties its artistic elements directly to its charitable mission. Proceeds from the campaign’s musical centerpiece, a reworked version of Wild Thing by Andy Cato (co-founder of Wildfarmed and former DJ for Groove Armada), performed with the Hawkstone Farmers Choir—will also support farming charities.
Cato’s involvement adds a layer of cultural crossover to the project. His transition from DJing to farming mirrors the campaign’s theme of blending unexpected worlds, music, agriculture, and craft beer, into a single narrative. The track, set to launch alongside Hawkstone’s Harvest Festival at The Farmer’s Dog, will stream as part of a wider push to tie the beer’s story to its origins.
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Cato remarked that teaming up with Hawkstone to combine music, farming, and a great pint has been the best of homecomings, showing how the campaign bridges his dual identities as both a musician and a farmer. The campaign’s reach spans 16 million Instagram followers across Hawkstone and Wildfarmed’s combined audiences, with activations in retail, digital, out-of-home advertising, and live events.
Pubs adopt seasonal lager as sustainability sells
In the on-trade, the launch is a first for Hawkstone: a seasonal special offered in keg form at scale. Participating pubs receive two free kegs and bespoke point-of-sale materials, with a requirement to stock Hawkstone’s core range for at least six months. The response has been swift—600 venues have already signed up, signaling strong interest in a product that ties sustainability to taste. The activation forms part of Hawkstone’s continued drive to grow its on-trade footprint, with new participating outlets committing to stock a core Hawkstone line for a minimum of six months as part of the campaign, ensuring long-term visibility beyond the limited-edition release.
Andy Cross, Hawkstone’s sales director, framed the move as more than a product launch. “We’ve always loved creating seasonal specials, but until now they’ve largely been something we’ve shared directly with our own customers. Wildthing felt too important and frankly too good to keep to ourselves. This is much bigger than putting another beer on a shelf or a bar. We’ve got two businesses with farming at their heart coming together, a brilliant beer, and a campaign designed to get people talking about British farming while creating genuine demand for our customers.
We’re backing it properly across retail and the on-trade, and the fact that more than 600 pubs have already signed up shows there’s a real appetite for it.” The campaign’s integrated approach, spanning PR, social media, CRM, and retail activations, aims to build awareness while driving demand, with significant shopper and media investment across the customer journey, including feature space, digital screens, targeted media, and in-store activation in Tesco stores.
The beer’s limited-edition status adds urgency. Availability is tied to stock levels, with no fixed end date, and the campaign’s integrated approach, spanning PR, social media, CRM, and retail activations, aims to drive both awareness and sales. For Wildfarmed, the project serves as a case study in how regenerative agriculture can be marketed directly to consumers, bypassing the usual intermediaries. The collaboration also highlights how Hawkstone’s growth strategy leverages provenance as a key selling point in a category where sustainability claims are increasingly scrutinized.
Beyond beer: A campaign built on movement
What makes this campaign unusual isn’t just the beer’s ingredients or the charity work, but how it stitches together disparate elements, farming, music, and hospitality, into a cohesive story. Most beer launches focus on taste or branding; this one ties itself to a broader movement. The result is a product that doesn’t just sit on a shelf but carries a mission with it.
Hawkstone Wildthing Lager will be available from 8 September at Tesco, Hawkstone.com, and participating pubs nationwide, while stocks last.
