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.

Brewery Tap Cider Festival


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.

Flowing Well in Sunningwell

The Flowing Well in Sunningwell near Abingdon has recently reopened with new management.

They are currently serving Morlands Original, Olde Trip and GK IPA and awaiting new guest beer.

They will be holding a Beer Festival from May 27th to June 6th.

I haven’t visited yet since the new management took over, but previously it has been a pleasant place to visit in the summer with a large beer garden (With a well at the bottom), children’s outside play area and situated in the unspoilt village of Sunningwell which is easily reached by walking or cycling from Abingdon along the footpath heading north from Dunmore Road.

You can get more info about the pub from their web site at www.theflowingwell.co.uk

Stocks Bar May Day Weekend Beer Festival

The Stocks Bar has a beer festival this weekend, starting on Friday 30th April and running until Monday 3rd May.

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%

Feb 2010 Issue Oxford Drinker Available

The Oxford CAMRA branch’s newsletter for Feb/March 2010 has now been published. It includes news, articles and information about pubs and breweries in the Oxford and White Horse branch areas.

Free copies can be found in most real ale pubs. In Abingdon this includes Brewery Tap, Stocks Bar, Punchbowl, King’s Head & Bell, Spread Eagle, Nags Head, Broad Face, White Horse, Plough, The Anchor, Cross Keys.

You can also read it online as a PDF at www.oxfordcamra.org.uk/drinker/