The world champions are in town and heading to the Hogs Back Brewery in Surrey to showcase the best of butchery, BBQ cooking and beer, with the added spice of some familiar rivalry between Germany and England.

The Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), dedicated to creating a world-class food and farming industry, is hosting leading butchers from Germany, including members of the German team, led by captain Dirk Freyberger, who triumphed at the World Butchers Challenge in Sacramento, USA last year.

The visit includes a tour of British farms, including the Hampton Estate near Farnham, exchanging ideas and education around animal welfare, meat production and the import-export market. Next year the German ‘Wolfpack’ team will be using British lamb, as they seek to defend their World Butchers crown in Paris.

Dr Tim Shaefer from Royal Meat (part of AHDB) said: “We value the exceptionally good quality of English lamb and are looking forward to finding out more.”

On Saturday October 14th the German butchers will visit the Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham, Surrey, where they will be hosted by the 2022 captain of Team GB butchery Simon Taylor, who runs Surrey Hills Butchers at the brewery, and members of his team from Sacramento, who won the world’s best pork product at the event.

The evening, in partnership with BBQ magazine and forming part of the Hogs Back Beer Festival, will include butchery demonstrations, before grilling lamb and beef on Monolith and Black Box barbecues.

“The aim is to highlight the value of craft butchers and the provenance of ethically reared and sourced British meat – not to mention the culture of outdoor entertaining and grilling, which is big in Germany and growing incredibly fast in the UK,” said Simon Taylor.

In the spirit of Anglo-German sporting competition through the ages, butchers Taylor and Freyberger will have a ‘grill off’ decided on taste, time and innovation, as well as blind tastings comparing English and German beers and wines.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t go to penalties!” joked Simon Taylor.

David Taylor of BBQ magazine added: “It promises to be a fun and instructive evening at Hogs Back Brewery, highlighting not just the international importance of the meat trade and the world’s best butchers, but reminding us how the BBQ scene is truly global.”