Visits
Forthcoming visits
Once visits are announced here, phone the Social Secretary Bill Bendall on 01793 495490 (evenings) or us to book a place.
Another visit to Pitstop Brewery is planned for Saturday 4-Sep. Please watch this space for further details.
Recent visits
Braydon Ales, on Tuesday 18 May 2010
The brewery visit to Braydon Ales on 18 May 2010 was a joint effort of the Swindon & North Wilts and the North West Wilts CAMRA branches.
About a dozen of us turned up at the brewery, which is just outside Lyneham. We were greeted by Paul Harrison, one of three owners of this new brewery. The publican of the wonderful Five Bells in Wootton Bassett is another one of the owners. Paul gave us a comprehensive introduction about the short history of the brewery and the plans for the brewery. Needless to say, we enjoyed some excellent samples of what this new 5 Barrel brewery can produce.
Afterwards we retired to the Five Bells in Wootton Bassett to enjoy an excellent supper of bangers and mash.
You can visit the brewery website.
Pitstop Brewery, Station Road, Grove, Wantage OX12 0DH on Saturday 26 September 2009
Pitstop Brewery
Station Road
Grove
Wantage
OX12 0DH
We set off in a minibus from Swindon on Saturday morning to Wantage. To get to the
Pitstop Brewery the journey took us beyond Wantage. The brewery is at the back of a large filling station and Vauxhall franchise. The filling station shop has a huge selection of bottled beers. The discerning beer drinker will be amazed about the choice. As if that was not enough, Peter Fowler set us all up with a large bacon bap. What a breakfast! Anyway, Peter Fowler is the brewer behind
Pitstop Brewery.
We were the beneficiaries of Peter's brewing expertise in theory and in
practice. He has sound views on the chemistry and practice of breweing. His
beers are excellent examples of brewing craftsmanship. After a plentiful supply
of Peter's beers, we returned to Wantage to spend some time in the Royal Oak in
Wantage, one of the main outlets for Pitstop Brewery beers.
Best Mates Brewery at Ardington, Wantage OX12 8QB on Saturday 18 April 2009
On a promising spring morning in April a small group of us left Swindon and headed for Oxfordshire to visit the Best Mates brewery
in the village of Ardington, just outside Wantage. The brewery proved a little difficult to find, but a quick call to brewer Darren
Weal literally put us back on the right track and we were soon at the brewery.
The brewery is in two converted cow sheds on Sheep House farm which is part of the Lockinge Estate in picturesque South Oxfordshire.
Darren explained that the site had become available as he was looking to start a new business venture after moving from the Isle of Wight
with his family.
He and his brother-in-law had carried out the conversion work themselves and installed a 5 barrel plant supplied via Iceni brewery
in Norfolk. Darren admits that brewing was hard work at first and recipes had to be tweaked to suit the available supplies of hops.
But with help from other independent brewers in the area the results were soon what Darren had hoped for and the first commercial
brews started in December 2007.
The first two beers were Vicar's Daughter (3.7% IPA-style beer) and Alfie's (4.4% golden bitter) named after King Alfred the Great
who was born in Wantage. These proved popular on draft in local pubs. Darren quickly realised that distribution was the key and
started bottling on site by hand. This is labour intensive but Darren is happy as the bottled versions are available in local shops
and other outlets further a field.
Following the success of first two beers the regular range doubled with the introduction of Satan's Sister (4.5% dark bitter) and
Scutchamer's Knob (3.7% light bitter). The latter is named after a local landmark on the Ridgeway dating back to Anglo-Saxon times.
So where did the brewery name itself come from? Darren says it is linked with horse racing, although not in any official capacity,
and also it just seemed right.
So what of the future? Running his own business was the inspiration for starting the brewery and Darren has been working hard to
establish its reputation and get the beers more widely known. He is now a member of SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) which
gives him access to their direct delivery scheme.
Darren is also very happy to host brewery tours. The brewery itself is small, but it is set in a lovely location, so why not ask
Darren to arrange a tour followed by a picnic?
Best Mates Brewery Ltd
Sheep House Farm
Ardington
Wantage
OX12 8QB
Phone: 01235 835684
You can visit the brewery on-line at
Best Mates Brewery.
South Hams Brewery on Saturday 12 April 2008
On Saturday 12 April we went down to Plymouth in a minibus to hand over the
Beer of the Festival trophy to South Hams Brewery. Their beer Eddystone had won
the award at the Swindon Beerex last November.
Why Plymouth rather than South Hams? South Hams brewery was formed in 2004.
Its origins go back to 1993 when it started as the Sutton Brewery of Plymouth.
When it outgrew its original premises it moved to South Hams under a new name.
We met with the Ben the brewer and Quintin one of the owners at the Thistle Park
Brewhouse. This is where the brewing operation started. Now it is just a pub
again.
We got a very warm welcome. And a buffet lunch was laid on for us. We did also
have ample opportunities to have generous samples of their good beers. Quintin
and Ben were very pleased to receive the award from Swindon CAMRA.
You can visit the brewery on-line at South Hams Brewery.
Thursday 27 September 2007 - Stonehenge Brewery at Netheravon
Evening visit to Stonehenge (Bunces) brewery.
You can visit the brewery on-line at Stonehenge Ales Brewery.
Tuesday 29 May 2007 - Moles Brewery Melksham
We met at the Cricketers at 14 Emlyn Square. There was only a small turnout for the visit. Bill drove us to the brewery. We arrived at the brewery and were joined by Leo, BLO for Moles and CAMRA member from Laycock.
Roger Catte of Moles Brewery gave us a talk on the brewing process with samples of malt and hops. There were also generous helpings of Best in support of his informative talk. After a quick tour of the brewery we were privileged to sample a new brew. This is a pale organic beer, slightly more hoppy than other Moles beers. Although it was still quite fresh and not quite ready yet, it promised to be an interesting brew. This beer is to be introduced at a special event shortly.
After the visit we headed to the excellent Rising Sun above Lacock, where we had a chance to sample some other beers of the Moles range.
You can visit the brewery on-line at Moles Brewery.
Monday 20 November 2006 - Three Castles Brewery
Evening visit to the Three Castles brewery in Pewsey.
Three Castles 'Tanked Up' was the beer of the festival at the 2006 Swindon Beerex, so we combined business with pleasure when presenting the David Backhouse Shield and sampling their excellent beers
You can visit the brewery on-line at Three Castles Brewery.
Wednesday 23 August 2006 - White Horse Brewery
Evening visit to the White Horse brewery at Stanford in the Vale.
You can visit the brewery on-line at White Horse Brewery.
Friday 9 June 2006 - Cotswold Spring Brewery
It was a glorious summer's evening as we left the Glue Pot in Emlyn Square and headed for junction 16 of the M4 to visit the Cotswold Spring Brewery at Codrington, near Chipping Sodbury. The brewery is very easy to find, it is just 5 minutes off junction 18.
We were greeted at the brewery by brewer Nik Milo who joined Cotswold Spring from the Corref brewery in Brittany in May 2005. Nik has extensive brewing experience including stints with the Firkin chain when they were brew pubs.
The Cotswold Spring brewery is the brainchild of business men John Warlock and Warren Bryant. They set the brewery up from scratch in the spring of 2005 and from the outset they were determined to use the best local ingredients. This includes spring water from the Cotswold Spring Water company which is sited next door and gives the brewery its name. The hops come from Worcestershire and the malt from Warminister.
The brewery is custom built and very compact with a range of three regular beers - Codrington Codger (4.2%), Codrington Royal (4.5%), and Olde English Rose (4.0%). In addition they have a number of seasonal specials including the World Cup themed It’s Coming Home (4.3%) which Nik invited us to sample first. This is a lager beer and went down well on a hot evening; I can see this being very popular over the next few weeks!
The next special will be Apricot Harvest (TBC%) which contains real Apricot and is one of Nik's personal favourites.
By now we had been joined by John Warlock who told us the story of how their first beer CSB Mystery was brewed. This was very much a joint effort. Nik had come over from Brittany to apply for the brewer's job and had immediately impressed John & Warren. He was hired on the spot and started the first Cotswold Spring brew. However, it was John & Warren who had to finish this off while Nik returned to Brittany to arrange his move back to Britain.
John did not explain exactly what happened next except to say that "...everything went wrong" and point to the heat damaged ceiling above the Copper! Luckily all was not lost and on his return Nik declared the beer a success and it was decided to send it to the Avon Vale Festival under the name CSB Mystery. It proved a great success and won the brewery its first award!
After many more samples and some very informative discussions with our hosts we reluctantly headed back to our minibus to head for home, via a few pubs of course...
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.cotswoldbrewery.co.uk
Saturday 22nd April 2006 - Box Steam Brewery
You can visit the brewery on-line at Box Steam
Saturday 25 February 2006 - Loddon Brewery
It was a cold February morning and we were off to visit another brewery. This trip to Loddon Brewery, at Dunsden Green near Reading, had an additional motive however. Their excellent Russett beer was voted 'Beer of the Festival' by the attendees at last autumn's Swindon Beerex, and we were taking them the award.
We were greeted by brewery owner Chris Hearn, who immediately took us to the sample room to fill our glasses from a choice of 5 of his best brews. Suitably refreshed we got round to the hard work of presenting the Dave Backhouse Shield to Chris, who can be seen in the picture accepting it from branch secretary Gill White. This trophy is named for our late Chairman, who started the CAMRA branch in Swindon. Each year the name of the winning brewery is inscribed on the Shield and they hold it until the next winner is announced.
Chris, then, gave us a guided tour of his shiny modern brewery (and more beer of course). Finally we were shown the 'holy of holies': his recipe book. Did he have to experiment much to get the flavours he wanted? No, they pretty much came out the way he intended first time, excepting the occasion his Head Brewer came back from holiday still worse for wear, and got the quantities wrong. Chris's years of experience at Brakspears and then Archers before starting his own brewery have clearly not been wasted.
After spending much of the afternoon chatting and sampling it was sadly time to leave. However we have to visit again next year to collect the Shield, before taking it to the next winner, and the trip is much anticipated.
External view of the Brewery The modern interior
You can visit the brewery on-line at Loddon Brewery
Saturday 26 November 2005 - Visit to Warminister Maltings and Wessex brewery
A rare double visit on a Saturday. Starting with a tour of Warminister Maltings in the morning followed by Wessex brewery in the afternoon and rounding off with a visit to the Horse and Groom.
Wednesday 20 July 2005 - Ramsbury Brewery
A very relaxed and informative visit to one of Wiltshire's newest breweries at Priory Farm, near Axford. We were welcomed by farm manager Alistair Ewing who explained the background to the brewery's establishment.
You can visit the brewery on-line at Ramsbury Brewery
Thursday 7 April 2005 - Loddon Brewery
We left the Glue Pot during a heavy down pour which lasted all the way to Reading. We cut through Reading, past the football ground and the Crucible, heading towards the village Dunsden Green which is on the Berkshire/Oxford border.
The brewery is in a large Barn on a large farm court yard. In side the old barn it was like stepping into a different world, everything was new and gleaming! Owner Chris Hearn welcomed us and took us through to the temperature controlled storage room which also serves as the sample room. Chris gave us a rundown of the 7 beers available which covered the entire Loddon range and asked us to help ourselves.
Suitably refreshed we went back into the main part of the brewery where Chris explained the background of the brewery. Opened in 2002 the location of the brewery had been the first major decision and it was only after many months of searching that a suitable site was found. The barn was in a poor state and major structural repairs were required to make it sound. In addition putting in the power supply and drainage were major headaches.
The end result of all the work was well worth it giving the brewery the location and space it required. All the brewery equipment is new and custom made for the brewery.
Back in the sample room we enjoyed a long chat with Chris who told us more about his experiences at Brakspears and his spell as a consultant to Archer's in Swindon. Chris encouraged us to try the different beer styles that Loddon produce and explained how the names came about. He was justifiably proud of the quality and consistency of the beers produced with their popular 'Hullabaloo' in the National final of the SIBA competition.
After a very pleasant evening there was just time to catch a swift half at the pub down the road before heading back up the M4 to Swindon.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.loddonbrewery.com.
Saturday 2nd April 2005 - Skinners Brewery
A weekend visit to Truro in Cornwall to present Skinners with their beer of the festival award for 'Pennycomequick'.
We were given a very warm welcome by owner Steve Skinner who showed around the brewery before accepting the award in the cosy hospitality suite Skinners presentation (734kb)
After a very enjoyable and informative afternoon Steve gave us a sample of his new beer 'Davy Jones Knocker' to take home and guided us to a nearby pub to continue or sampling.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.skinnersbrewery.com.
Friday 17 September 2004 - Wychwood Brewery
A small group of us set off for Witney to visit Wychwood Brewery. The brewery is on part of the
site of the old Clinch's brewery in the centre of town. There has recently been a major investment,
with new brewing vessels, and some re-used from the former Brakspears brewery of Henley on Thames.
There is now a brewing area which is used for all the beers, containing the mash tun, hop back,
and copper, and two separate fermenting rooms - one for Wychwood, the other for Brakspears.
The Brakspears room is equipped with the Brakspear 'double drop' system, in which the wort starts
its fermentation in one fermenting vessel, then after a day or so, it is dropped by gravity into
another one below, where it stays until fermentation is complete.
The brewery has a large portfolio of products, many of which are bottled, and further expansion is
under way to accommodate more fermentation capacity.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.wychwood.co.uk.
Friday 9 July 2004 - Hidden Brewery
An evening visit to the new Hidden Brewery in Wylye, near Salisbury. The brewery is recently established and is building up it's presence in the Salisbury area. Look out for it as a guest beer in the Marlborough/Pewsey area.
You can visit the brewery on-line at Hidden.
Friday 5 March 2004 - Woodforde's Brewery & Saturday 6 - St Peter's Brewery
A rare weekend trip covering two breweries and including two nights away. We started with the Woodforde's brewery in Norfolk on the Friday afternoon where we had a very long and informative visit hosted by co-owner Mike Betts. This was followed by a chance to sample the full range of Woodforde's beers in the Fur & Feather Inn brewery tap next door.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.woodfordes.co.uk.
On Saturday we visited St. Peter's brewery in Suffolk where we had a tour of the brewery followed by a presentation of the Dave Backhouse Memorial Shield to head brewer Mark Slater. This was for beer of the festival 2003 which was won by St Peter's 'Spiced Lemon & Ginger'. Mark was obviously pleased with the award and explained how St. Peter's was keen to make a bigger impact in the cask conditioned market to compliment their success in the bottled market.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk.
Thursday 11 September 2003 - Wickwar Brewery
Enjoyed a very informative visit to the Wickwar Brewery in Gloucestershire. Ray and Dominic showed us around their new offices and hospitality suite as well as the existing brewery site. I say existing because plans are afoot to move the brewing operation across the road back to it's spiritual home. Their new offices are on the site of the old Arnold Perrett & Co. brewery which closed in the 1950's and the hope is that part of the building will become the new Wickwar brewery. This exciting development would mean a big increase in the brewery's capacity so we wish Ray well with his plans.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.wickwarbrewing.co.uk.
Saturday 1 February - Cotleigh Brewery
Visited Cotleigh Brewery in Wivelscombe, Somerset.
You can visit the brewery on-line at Cotleigh.
28 May 2003 - Bath Ales
Visited Bath ales. The Brewery is located in former farm buildings between Bath and Bristol. In many ways it is typical of the small breweries in its equipment and layout, being somewhat squeeze into the available space. Unusually for a small brewery it uses a steam heated copper for boiling the brew, the boiler being oil fired.
Bath Ales have a policy of developing the tied trade and now own several pubs in the Bath and Bristol area, including the excellent Hop Pole in Bath which we visited on the way back.
You can visit the brewery on-line at Bath Ales.
10 July - Hook Norton
Wednesday 10th July saw us departing from the Glue Pot on yet another tour of inspection. We had an enjoyable ride through the Cotswolds in the evening sun, to Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, where, at the end of Brewery Lane (a bit of a clue there) lies the idyllic Hook Norton Brewery. Next to the brewery itself, which is over 100 years old and is essentially a "tower" brewery, is a well appointed visitor centre, in the old maltings.
We were met by our tour guide, Barbara, and shown round the brewery. Starting in the engine
room on the ground floor, we saw the 103 year old steam engine that still provides most of the
power for the brewing operations, including pumping water from the brewery's own well. We
progressed up the stairs to see where the various stages of the brewing process are performed.
As I said earlier, Hook Norton is built on the tower principle, where all the ingredients,
including the liqour (water) are pumped or hoisted to the top of the building, and then flow down
through the process by gravity. Maris Otter barley, and whole-flower (i.e. not pelleted) Fuggles,
Goldings, and Challenger hops are used, along with the brewery's own water supply.
There is an interesting mixture of traditional and modern equipment - e.g. the mill for cracking the malt still has its original rollers, all driven by that steam engine, but this year an additional mash tun is in the process of being added, and a new copper has been added to increase production. This is the only place where I've seen an open tray used for cooling the wort between the boil in the copper and transfer to fermentation. There is a modern heat exchanger as well, but it goes through the old tray first. Relatively recently a yeast regeneration plant has been installed, and modern quality controls are in force to prevent contamination by unwanted
micro organisms, so its much more than a working museum.
Our tour finished in the cellar, where again, some new equipment has been installed to improve the racking (cask filling) operations. Here we also discovered a couple of cans of Arkell's 3B on
someone's table! After that we returned to the visitor centre for the customary refreshments.
You can visit the brewery on-line at www.hooknortonbrewery.co.uk.
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