Blogger Scott Spencer of Micropub Adventures visits a town near Oxford
Reproduced with permission from https://micropubadventures.co.uk — all images by the author
During the summer I had a few days away before the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. The first day was spent around Swindon, a town made famous with the coming of the Great Western Railway in 1843, transforming it from a small market town to one of the largest railway engineering complexes at its peak. Some great bars are here including brewery taps and brewery pubs as well as some great craft and cask bars.
The first pub, Glue Pot, is a short walk from the railway station and part of the original Railway Village built in the 1840s. The Glue Pot is owned by Hop Back Brewery, based in Salisbury, but its name was originally London Stout Tavern. The Glue Pot name comes from employees at the nearby carriage works bringing in their pots of glue to keep warm while they enjoyed a drink.
A great selection of beers was found here with six from Hop Back Brewery and two from Downton Brewery. I started with Glasshopper, a refreshing Golden Ale, and moved on to Garden Party, another easy drinking light ale, both from Hop Back. A great outdoor seating area to the side of the pub is perfect for catching the sun (when it’s out).
A short walk down the road brought me to Drink Valley, a brewpub which started up in December 2021, and brews cask and keg beers for the pub. A great selection of four cask beers was available today plus a choice of 12 keg beers, some brewed in-house and some guests. I started with Session Ale and moved on to Bright Time, both being really easy drinking pale beers. From Thursday to Saturday, Indian street food is on offer at certain times so is worth dropping in and checking out. The brewery can be seen from the front of the bar.
The next few bars are up in Swindon Old Town, around a 20-minute walk from the railway station end of town although frequent bus services do go up there. The first bar of four within a few minutes’ walk of each other is the Hop Inn, which started the real ale scene on Devizes Road and used to be two doors down before moving to its current premises. This building was built in 1847 and called the Britannia.
A fantastic range of eight cask beers alongside a good choice of keg beers (and fridges filled with cans and bottles) was available. I started off with the house ale brewed by Ramsbury Brewery called the Hop Inn and followed with a sour beer from Play Brew Co, Mellow Yellow, a banana and Tutti Frutti Ice Cream Sour. Delicious! Some delicious smelling food is offered here from an on-site kitchen named Hop Nosh, and Sunday dinners served. This pub also won local CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year this year.
Located directly over the road is Tap & Brew. Owned by Hop Kettle Brewery, this bar opened in December 2019 and includes its own micro-brewery for experimental beers. A great selection of both cask and keg beers was here to choose from, and of the six cask beers today I started with Element, a light, easy drinking session beer. The beers are brewed at either Hop Kettle’s Swindon or Cricklade brewery sites. I went on to try the experimental beer they had behind the bar. Nori Omoi is a Wee Scotch Heavy with the added flavour of Japanese Seaweed, a really smooth drinking beer. The micro-brewery can be seen at the back of the bar, or the side when going to the outside area.
After another jump over the road I found the Little Hop, the previous home of the Hop Inn and what was Swindon’s first micropub. This place really stands out with its bright purple front, and was a sex shop before changing to the Hop Inn. Five cask beers alongside a number of keg beers and ciders were available to choose from, along with a fridge packed full of cans to drink in or take away. I went with One for the Team from Arbor Ales, a tasty hazy pale ale.
My last call in the Old Town was to the Tuppenny, which opened in November 2016 with an emphasis on craft beer. The premises was formerly a hairdressers. The name comes from the Victorian Tuppenny gin which was a more refined, premium product than the infamous Mother’s Ruin gin. Nine keg beers alongside a couple of cask beers, plus fridges packed full of bottles and cans, meant lots to choose from! I went with Pompelmocello from Siren Craft Brew, a favourite of mine and a grapefruit sour beer.
Back down to the railway station end of town and a 10-minute walk out of town from the station brings me to Hop Kettle Brewery Tap. This opens every Wednesday between 5pm and 8pm with beers served out of a van in the car park, with seating outside and inside the brewery. A brilliant selection of cask and keg beers were there alongside other choices. The two cask beers that they had on (and one of the keg beers) were produced for the Air Tattoo, Flying Solo, Chinook and Dog Fight. In addition to the bar, they have “Gurt Wings” on site every Wednesday. You can always tell good food when there’s a big queue for it.
On to a pub directly outside the railway station, the Queens Tap. This pub opened in 1841 and is the oldest surviving pub of “New” Swindon’s fully licensed houses. It was completely refurbished in 2018 and now has a great outdoor beer garden as well. A choice of two cask beers on here changes regularly from different breweries. I went with my local brewery Ossett Brewery and Silver King.
The last call was to a pub called the Beehive, a corner pub built in 1871 by the Belle Vue Brewery. A four-room pub which is really quirky and different, it has lots of artwork and Maxine The Mannequin. A great selection of six cask ales here included some from local breweries. I went with Snow Leopard from Nurtycombe Brewery based in Taunton, a really interesting White Mild beer.