Brewery Tap Beer Festival roundup
The Brewery Tap beer festival last weekend was very successful… almost too successful with approximately 1600 pints of beer & cider in the beer tent sold on Friday & Saturday leaving only the 6 ales at the bar left on Sunday. First beer to sell out was WB-40, a limited edition beer brewed by the West Berkshire Brewery to celebrate 40 years of CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale).
April 1, 2011
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Abingdon Beer Festivals – March/April
There’s quite a few real ale related events going on in Abingdon over the next few weeks, coinciding with the Abingdon Arts Festival.
This weekend (Friday 25th to Sunday 27th March) sees the Brewery Tap‘s Beer, Cider, Music & Sausage festival. This features 12 beers in the beer tent, 6 at the bar, and 6 more in the cellar to replace the ones at the bar when they run out. As well as 11 real ciders and perrys.
WB-40 ale
More details including tasting notes of all the beers and ciders can be downloaded here:
Brewery Tap, Spring beer festival tasting Notes
There will be live music each day, as well as the now traditional selection of interestingly flavoured sausages.
Next weekend (1st-3rd April), the Broad Face will be having its first beer festival, combined with several live music events.
Then later on in April, the Kings Head & Bell is holding a Best of British Week, which encompasses St. George’s Day, Easter and the royal wedding, and hopefully some good british ale.
Don’t forget to keep visiting the other pubs in town that serve good pints of real ale including The White Horse, Cross Keys, Punch Bowl, Spread Eagle and Stocks Bar. Remember if we don’t use our local pubs they may close forever. We’ve lost 3 pubs already in the last 3 months and don’t want to lose any more!
March 23, 2011
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Rehanging the Broad Face Sign
Dusty, the landlord of The Broad Face on Bridge Street will be hanging up the restored original pub sign (as featured on the front cover of the current issue of the Oxford Drinker) at the pub on the evening of Friday 4 March 2011.
Local band, Full Circle, will be playing and hopefully it will be a fun event.
Also see this article in the Abingdon Herald.
February 26, 2011
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Tags: Broad Face, Pub Signs · Posted in: Abingdon Pubs
Loose Cannon Pale Ale Trials
The Loose Cannon Brewery in Abingdon in Suffolk Way has just finished brewing a new beer.
As with the Abingdon Bridge when it was launched last year, Will Laithwaite the owner and head brewer has made two different recipies, currently known as Trial Brew 1 and Trial Brew 2. They are made from the same malt and yeast but use different hops.
- Trial Brew 1: Made with Fuggles and Goldings Hops: Smooth, almost sweet, delicate, slightly spicy
- Trial Brew 2: Made with Challenger and Pioneer Hops: Lemon/Gratefruit citrus aroma.
Handpump serving Loose Cannon Pale Ale at the brewery
Both trials can be sampled at the brewery shop, which is at the brewery in Suffolk Way.
You can also buy both of the Pale Ale trials as well as Abingdon Bridge in various sizes including 1 and 2 Litre bottles, mini-casks, polypins and Firkins.
We took a few litres back to our office to get the opinions of our colleagues. The reaction to each trial seems quite mixed. Both are very drinkable and different people seem to prefer different ones. Personally my vote is for Trial Brew 2 as it has a more complex taste, but brew 1 has more traditional English hops.
Bottles of Loose Cannon Pale Ale trial to try at home (or work!).
At the moment it is not being served in any Abingdon pub, but hopefully some of them will start stocking it in the next week or two. In the meantime, I recommend visiting the brewery to try it out. The brewery shop is open weekdays from 8am-6pm and Saturdays 9am-5pm.
The Cricketer’s Arms in Littleworth has both of the Pale Ale trials as well as Abingdon Bridge at their Beer & Sausage Festival this weekend, which features 14 mainly local real ales and 2 real ciders. More information can be found at www2.cricketers-arms.co.uk/beer_and_sausage_festival
February 18, 2011
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Tags: Loose Cannon · Posted in: Abingdon, beer, beer festivals, Local Breweries
This Week’s Beers Available at Brewery Tap
The Brewery Tap in Ock Street has a changing selection of real ales with a mixture of locally brewed ales, award winning beers from further afield and a good selection from Greene Kings guests.
For this week (7th February) they have:
- Morland’s Original 4.0% WEST GATE Suffolk 3.05
RUBY BROWN. Original is a fully fermented, refreshing ale with a very distinctive and intense
bitterness. Hints of subtle fruitiness on the nose follow through to the palette along with a light
touch of malt. - Good Old Boy 4.0% WEST BERKS BREWERY Yattendon, Berkshire 3.45
LIGHT CHESTNUT. A good balance of malt and hops giving a full-bodied bitter with strong malt
fl avours, yet retaining a rounded bitterness and a strong hop fi nish. Champion Best Bitter in
the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain London and South East Regional Beer of the Year Competition
2009. - Riptide 4.1% BREW DOG Fraserbourgh 3.45
DARK. A strong, silky smooth imperial stout with a deep, dark ruby appearance. Mocha, bitter
chocolate, liquorice and dark cherry flavours prevail, before the balanced, warming and
encapsulating finish. - Original 5.5% EVERARDS Leicestershire, 3.55
CLASSIC TAWNY BROWN. A locally brewed ale with a good balance between hop and malt.
Full fl avoured and smooth, with well rounded bitterness from Challenger hops. Savinski hops
give the beer a light citrus and floral finish - Alpha Dog 4.7% BREW DOG Fraserbourgh 3.45
HAZLENUT BROWN. A rock and roll medley of summer fruit and pine gives way to hints of
roasted malt and a heady hoppiness, but with very low bitterness. - Yorkshire Terrier 4.2% YORK BREWERY 3.40
GOLDEN. This multiple award-winning Yorkshire beer is a golden coloured premium bitter with
a rich, creamy malt and full hop palate finish. - In the cellar: Pheonix by Westgate, Henry’s IPA by Wadsworths, Golden Glow by Holden’s, Abingdon Bridge by Loose Cannon
If any other landlords (or customers) would like to keep me regularly informed of the beer range in any Abingdon pubs, particularly ones which have a changing range of guest beers, then I will be happy to post them here.
February 7, 2011
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Abingdon Beer Update: February 2011
I am sorry not to have posted anything here for several months. It has been quite an eventful time for Abingdon pubs.
The Fitzharris Arms has closed down, currently boarded up and sold to Tesco. This was a community pub serving an area of Abingdon without any other pubs close by. The nearest pub is the Spread Eagle which is over half a mile away. See This Abingdon Blog for photos of the Fitzharris in its sad closed down state.
The Nags Head also closed after christmas and is currently boarded up.
The Plough was up for sale and I understand an offer has been made on it. There are several rumours going around town about the buyer and what the intention is, but it seems unlikely to remain as a traditional pub.
The Ox closed down briefly, but appears to have reopened again. I have heard that it is now selling good real ale such as Timothy Taylor Landlord Bitter, but I have not yet had chance to check for myself. If true, then this would be excellent for Abingdon to have a freehouse free of Greene King’s control of most Abingdon pubs.
The Black Swan I believe has changed management and has signs on the window applying for a change in license involving making the bar smaller and removing some fixed seating.
The Blue Boar which has been something of a desert for real ale has been reported as occasionally having real ale available.
The Brewery Tap has reached an agreement with Greene King allowing two handpumps to be free of tie. As part of CAMRA LocAle scheme, it is expected that at least one of these will have a local beer on most of the time. The other four handpumps are from Greene King’s range of guests, and currently include a good range of different ales including two from Brew Dog. They are holding a blues, brews and jazz festival on March 25th-27th.
The White Horse, also a Greene King pub continues to have an interesting range of guest beers.
The Stocks Bar (Crown & Thistle Hotel) also continues to vary its range, mainly from the Marstons group of breweries including Ringwood, Jennings, Wychwood and Brakspear.
The Old Anchor (yet another Greene King pub) always serves its 3 Greene King beers in good condition, but it is likely that landlady Leslie will be leaving in a few months when Greene King find new tenants. Over the last few years several excellent beer festivals have been held there, and you always get a friendly welcome. This is one of Abingdon’s picture postcard pubs, being one of the first sights you get of Abingdon when travelling up the Thames. I hope that it will continue as a pub.
The King’s Head & Bell had its first Winter Beer festival last weekend. This include 16 beers with about half coming from Hook Norton’s range, some local beers from Vale, White Horse and Abingdon’s Loose Cannon, and the Steam Brewery. This was held upstairs in the King Charles’ Room and combined with the Rugby being shown on TV Friday and Saturday and a folk music session on Sunday had a really good friendly pub atmosphere.
The Broad Face have managed to recover and restore the original lost pub sign that was taken down in 2001, and plans to reinstate it soon. They are also holding their first beer festival on 1st-3rd April coinciding with Abingdon Arts Festival. Also remember they have live jazz music every Sunday afternoon as well as live bands most fridays.
Sorry not to mention every pub… The Spread Eagle, Punch Bowl and Cross Keys are always worth a visit. The Prince of Wales just outside Abingdon in Shippon always has 6 real ales, a new dining room, open fireplace and a friendly environment.
February 7, 2011
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October Issue of Oxford Drinker Available
The October Issue of The Oxford Drinker, the newsletter of the Oxford branch of CAMRA (Campaign For Real Ale) is now available.
You can pick up a free copy from most good pubs in the area. There are currently copies in the Brewery Tap, The White Horse and The Loose Cannon Brewery shop. They should appear in other pubs during the next week (deliveries rely on volunteers to take them to pubs in their spare time).
Articles of interest to Abingdonians in this issue include:
- Abingdon’s Loose Cannon Brewery
- Report from Old Anchor Beer Festival
- Oxford City Pub of The Year shortlist
- Publication of new Good Beer Guide 2011, including new entries from the Oxford branch area
- Preview of The Oxford Beer Festival
- Welcome report from the new Oxford CAMRA branch chairman
- List of Beer Festivals
If you can’t wait to get a hardcopy, then you can also read it online as a PDF file from the Oxford CAMRA web site
October 1, 2010
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Tags: Abingdon Pubs, Brewery Tap, camra, good beer guide, Oxford Drinker · Posted in: Abingdon Pubs, beer festivals, camra, Local Breweries, Oxford Drinker
Brewery Tap’s 3rd Beer Festival this year!
Abingdon is having a good share of beer festivals this year. We have recently enjoyed the King’s Head & Bell‘s 1st beer festival in August, and The Old Anchor’s beer festival in July. Starting today, the Brewery Tap in Abingdon is holding its 3rd festival this year (previously ones were in June and March. Incidently, ‘Abingdon’s First beer festival’ was actually held in the car park of The Brewery Tap back in October 2004.
List of beers and ciders, with tasting notes
The Tap’s beer festival features 16 real ales including Abingdon Bridge from Abingdon’s own Loose Cannon Brewery and 8 real ciders, and as with the previous Tap festivals this year…. specialist sausages and live music.
There will be live music on Saturday afternoon (4pm) from The Three Musty Steers and on Sunday afternoon (4pm) from George Haslam’s 18 piece Big Time Swing Band.
Saturday also coincides with the annual Runner Bean Day on Saturday, which offers prizes for things such as the longest runner bean.
If you want to travel outside of Abingdon there are a few other beer festivals going on including The Cricketer’s Arms in Littleworth which is holding its Autumn Beer and Sausage Festival featuring 12 locally brewed beers, and Far From the Madding Crowd in Oxford which is holding its Autumn Beer festival.
September 24, 2010
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Tags: Abingdon, Abingdon Pubs, beer festival, Brewery Tap, pub · Posted in: Abingdon Pubs, beer festivals
Round up of Abingdon Pub News – September 2010
There are rumours that The Plough on Stert street may shut again soon. It only reopened a couple of months ago at the start of July after being closed for several months prior to that. It seems that most of the regulars made other pubs into their regular during the period it was closed and have not returned since it reopened. This is a Greene King pub so there is hope that they might find new tenants, but don’t hold your breath.
The Boundary House on Oxford road has had a complete revamp and reopened a couple of weeks ago. It has branded itself as a ‘Surf and Turf’ and looks more food oriented than beer. The food is very cheap, with the menu comprising burgers, steaks, scampi. The interior has been modified so that it is all one large area instead of the seperate dining area that it used to have. It has the feel similar to an American Sports bar. For beer they were serving Old Speckled Hen on draught, which was in reasonable condition. Previously I have found the beer in there undrinkable, so this is an improvement. The large beer garden at the front has been surrounded by a low wooden fence which makes it safer for children who might otherwise run onto the busy Oxford Road.
The Prince of Wales in Shippon has 6 real ales on, with several being local beers from Loose Cannon and Shotover breweries. The refurbishing of the kitchen, dining area and toilets is complete. The pub is only just outside of Abingdon and not too far to walk or cycle. They have live music and other events on regularly.
The Royal British Legion club on Spring Road is in danger of closing. An EGM was held a few days ago due to financial problems relating to the ownership of the property. However for the time being it is still open and is currently serving Loose Cannon’s Abingdon Bridge Ale at only £2.35 a pint.
The Ox on Oxford Road is having monthly Jazz sessions with Abingdon’s top international jazz musician George Haslam and guests. They only have Morland Original beer on offer, but it was served in excellent condition. Don’t forget also that The Broad Face has live Jazz bands every Sunday afternoon from 4pm onwards.
September 4, 2010
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Kings Head & Bell – 1st Annual Abingdon Beer Festival
The Kings Head and Bell in Abingdon, which reopened last autumn is holding its first annual beer festival this weekend from saturday 29th August until monday. The festival features aproximately 20 real ales, which are all from local breweries including Appleford, Vale, Hook Norton and others that did not have pump clips on yet when I looked on friday.
Kings Head and Bell - Stillage, the day before
The full list of breweries is Hook Norton, White Horse, Abingdon’s own Loose Cannon, Oxfordshire Ales, Appleford, Box Steam Brewery, West Berkshire, Wadworth, Festival Brewery from Cheltenham and Vale Brewery.
The festival was officially opened at midday on Saturday by Beth Fleming, chairman of the Vale and Alastair Fear, deputy mayor of Abingdon.
Also this afternoon, members from the Oxford branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) members will be giving a tutured tasting demonstration and will be on hand to answer questions about real ale and what CAMRA does.
Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers will be performing on Sunday afternoon starting around 2:30pm and will be followed by a folk music jam session.
The Freedom brewery had a stand on Saturday where you could sample their Hand crafted English Lagers, which if you are only used to the bland mass produced lager brands will surprise you with their aroma, taste and body. The King’s Head and Bell regularly serve Freedom Four
There are other things going on as well including a BBQ serving local farm produce. The banner outside also refers to a local craft market and face painting.
August 28, 2010
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Tags: Abingdon, beer festival, kings head and bell · Posted in: Abingdon Pubs, beer festivals
