The world champions were in town and headed 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, hosted 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. In March 2025, the German ‘Wolfpack’ team will be using British lamb, as they seek to defend their World Butchers crown in Paris.

The event at the Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham, in partnership with BBQ magazine and forming part of the Hogs Back Beer Festival, included butchery demonstrations led by Simon Taylor of Surrey Hills Butchers, 2022 captain of Team GB Butchery, with lamb and beef grilled on Monolith and Black Box barbecues and rubs supplied by Dalesman.

In the spirit of Anglo-German sporting competition through the ages, butchers Taylor and Freyberger had a ‘grill off’ decided on taste, time and innovation, with Taylor narrowly taking the spoils.

David Taylor of BBQ magazine said: “It was 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.”