The Brewery Tap in Ock Street, Abingdon is holding a Cider festival this weekend (Friday 25th June – Sunday 27th June).

It will feature 21 different ciders, including a rare breed of ciders from local sources and CAMRA award winners.

The full list of ciders and perrys along with tasting notes can be downloaded here

There will also be a selection of world beers, and a selection of interestingly flavoured sausages that have been very popular at the previous beer festivals.

Sunday afternoon should be good, watching England beat Germany whilst drinking some traditionally made real English ciders.

They expect to be offering a range of approximately 30 ales and ciders.

You can get more info from their facebook page or main website at www.crownandthistle.com

The Stocks Bar is at the Crown & Thistle Hotel, 18 Bridge Street, Abingdon, OX14 3HS

In recent months following changes of bar management the Stocks Bar has been up and down regarding its beer range, but recently it seems back on track again with a good range of beers including local beers from Witney based Brakspear, Wychwood and Grove based Pitstop, as well as guest beers from further afield such as Jennings. So let’s hope that this beer festival goes well and is a sign of good things to come.

The List of beers is:

• Snecklifter 5.1%
• Cockerhoop 4.6%
• Mans Bitter 3.9%
• Old Empire 5.7%
• Fortyniner 4.9%
• Old Thumper 5.6%
• Marstons EPA 3.6%
• Hobgoblin 4.5%
• Oxford Blue 4.0%
• Brakspear Bitter 3.4%
• Dragon Tale 4.5%
• Boondoggle 4.2%
• Oxford Gold 4.0%
• Stickle Pike 3.8%
• Normans Conquest 7%
• Golden Arrow 4.5%
• Grumpling 4.6%
• SaracenIPA 4.5%
• Dragon Hill 4.2%
• Bitumen 10%
• IPA Indianapolis 7%
• Star 3.8%
• Jumping Jack Flash 3.9%
• Dr Hectors Healer 5.0%
• Mags Mild 3.8%
• Gravitas 4.8%
• Old Father Thames 3.4%
• Tom Fool 4.0%

There are 30 different real ales, 8 ciders and 20 different types of sausage, including Steak & Marmite and other interesting flavours.

There will be live music on Sunday afternoon. Additionally on Sunday, anyone showing a CAMRA membership card will be offered a discount on beer prices

The beer list has a good range, including many local beers from breweries such as Pitstop, Vale, West Berkshire, White Horse as well some from further afield. I particularly recommend you try some of the Pitstop beers as they are unlike anything else you will have ever tried (Try the Sump in half pints as it is very strong… and on Friday was amongst the most popular). The complete beer and cider list is reproduced below:

A new craft micro brewery called the Shotover Brewing Company is due to
open soon in converted stables in Horspath just outside Oxford. The
owner and head brewer Ed Murray has been craft brewing for over twenty years
and has made the decision to turn his interest into a commercial venture.
It is anticipated that beer will be on sale by the end of November.

There are photos of stables being converted into the brewery on their facebook group and their main web site is at www.shotoverbrewing.com.

I am hoping that one of the Shotover beers will be at the Brewery Tap‘s Winter ‘Beer, Cider & Sausage’ festival on Friday 4th December – Sunday 6th December. This festival promises 30 different cask ales, 5 real ciders. The Big Boys Blues Band will be playing live on the Sunday from 4pm.

Note to any publicans reading this… I don’t intend to only mention the Brewery Tap and the Stocks. There are many other good pubs in Abingdon including Nags Head, Spread Eagle, White Horse, Cross Keys, Punchbowl, Plough, Broad Face. If you have any news, information on guest beers, festivals, etc, then please let me know and I’ll post it here.

There will be around 140 different ales and 20 real ciders and perry’s available. This is a good opportunity to try out beers that may not be available locally, try beers from local breweries and to meet other people who appreciate good beer.

You can find more information including an up to date beer list at the Oxford Camra web site.

A new industry report published this week about Cask Ale says:

…over the last few years, cask beer has seen a remarkable turnaround. It’s now outperforming every other beer style, benefitting from the increasing demand for products with local provenance, natural ingredients and interesting flavours.