Author Archives: The Abingdon Drinker

Beer Festivals this weekend (May bank holiday) around Abingdon

This weekend (May bank holiday 5th-7th May) there are two beer festivals near to Abingdon, as well as morris dancing in town on Saturday.

Waggon and Horses, Culham


This is their first beer festival since the pub reopened last year. It is about 2 miles from Abingdon, which is a short cycle ride and not too far to walk and also has a car park. The beer list is:

  • Village Idiot 4.1%
  • Hi Ho Silver 4.3%
  • Zebedee 4.7%
  • Abandon Ship 4.2%
  • Oxford Scholar 4.5%
  • Cotswold Lion 4.2%
  • Broke Piston 5%
  • Adnams Southwold Bitter 3.7%
  • Black Sheep Bitter 3.8%
  • Hook Norton Bitter 3.6%
  • Smuggler 4.1%
  • Abingdon Bridge 3.6%

On Saturday there is music from the Dirty Earth Band in the evening.
On Sunday music from The Bembos in the afternoon and The Headington Hillbillies in the evening.
On Monday, music form Sub-Way in the afternoon.

Prince of Wales, Shippon


Another great pub within walking or cycling distance from Abingdon is having their 2nd beer festival between 4th and 6th of May with 20 ales from within a 30 mile radius of the pub and 10 ciders. Festival starts at 5pm on Friday

There is also morris dancing there this evening (thursday 3rd May) with Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers and Speckled Hen.

Mr. Hemmings Day of Dance


Mr. Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris dancers along with 7 visiting morris sides will be dancing in Abingdon this Saturday (5th May). This is an annual event celebrating the birthday of Tom Hemmings who was a prominent Abingdon Morris dancer in the early 20th century.

Dancing starts at the White Horse at 10:30am, working down Ock Street to Cross Keys and then into the town center where dancing will take place on the market place and outside town center pubs (Swan, Kings Head & Bell, Punch Bowl, Harp (former Plough on Station Yard).

May 3, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Save British Beer

The beer duty escalator was introduced by the last Government in 2008, and is currently in place until 2014/15. It means that beer duty is automatically increased by 2% above inflation every single year which in this year’s budget meant the beer duty on beer rose by 5%. On top of this you are paying 20% VAT, whereas other European countries have a reduced VAT rate for the hospitality industry as they can see how it benefits their economy. As a result, tax on beer has gone up by over 40% since 2008. You now pay over a third of your pint on tax.

In the last few budgets when the chancellor said he is making no changes to tax on beer, he has meant that he is following the previous governments policy where duty is increase by 2% above inflation. In Abingdon, this has meant that pubs that used to charge £3.20 a pint are now having to charge £3.30 a pint since the budget last month.

Any more increases in beer duty will increase the pressure on pubs already struggling to survive and damage the long term ability of the beer and pub sector to continue contributing over £6 billion a year in duty and VAT, and over £21 billion to the UK’s GDP.

You can help persuade the government that this is a bad thing for the UK economy and the national heritage of British cask conditioned beer which is unique to Britain by signing the petition at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29664 or read more about it at saveyourpint.co.uk. If 100,000 people sign the petition it will then be debated in the house of commons and have a good chance of being changed. At the moment about 30,000 people have signed it, so it needs a few more to reach the required number.

Save Your Pint - Sign the E-Petition

April 24, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Broad Face Easter Beer Festival Preview

The Broad Face Pub signAbingdon’s beer festival season continues next weekend with The Broad Face Easter Beer Festival 2012, starting on Good Friday, April 6th over the Easter weekend.

This will be Dusty’s 3rd beer festival, and features 12 beers and 2 ciders, with live blues/rock and jazz music each day.  Whilst not as big as last weekend’s very successful Brewery Tap festival (which got through 50 ales/ciders and 400 pies), the previous two beer festivals at The Broad Face have been very enjoyable and popular. Continue reading →

March 31, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

Brewery Tap Beer Festival Preview

We are now into beer festival season in Abingdon on Thames. Last weekend we enjoyed The Cross Keys beer festival, where the first drink to sell out was Bristol Port Cider, and next week The Broad Face has a beer and music festival (6th-8th April). However this weekend sees probably the largest beer festival ever held in Abingdon on Thames. The Brewery Tap’s Spring Beer and Cider (and pies and music) festival.

There are several beers here never before seen in Abingdon on Thames, including the launch of Abingdon’s Loose Cannon Brewery’s Blonde ale; three new beers from The recently opened Aylesbury Brewhouse and the launch of XT Brewery’s Number 6. The complete list of ales and ciders along with tasting notes can be found here.

There will live music from Rascals of Rythmn on Friday evening, Big Blues Band on Saturday and George Haslam’s Swingtime band on Sunday at 5pm.

The Festival runs from Friday March 25th to Sunday March 27th.

March 21, 2012Permalink Leave a comment

2012 Beer Festivals in Abingdon-on-Thames

The first of this year’s beer festivals in Abingdon starts this evening (Friday 24th February 2012) at The Kings Head & Bell. There will also be a folk music session on Sunday afternoon starting around 3pm. Please come along with an instrument to join in with, or a song to sing, or come along to listen. The beer list is at the bottom of this post.

More beer festivals coming up in Abingdon in the next few months include:

  • 16th-18th March: The Cross Keys Spring Beer Festival
  • 23rd-25th March: The Brewery Tap Springtime Beer Festival
  • 6th-8th April: Broad Face Easter Beer Festival
  • 4th-7th May: Waggon & Horses in Culham, May Bank Holiday Beer Festival. It is worth making the short trip to Culham to visit this pub which has recently reopened as a freehouse with a good range of local beers.

Continue reading →

February 24, 2012Permalink Leave a comment