Oxford is about to gain a major new brewery, taproom and smokehouse restaurant as OXBREW gets ready to open, and unlike some new ventures it will brew cask ale as well as kegged and canned beers.
Founder Aaron Baldwin and his business partner are investing around £500,000 in the project, in the former Symm building company headquarters in Osney Mead, West Oxford. He hopes it could open by late autumn but there is still much work to do, although the brewing equipment and food smokers are already on site.
OXBREW can produce up to 1,000 litres of beer per batch, and up to five different types of beer can be made at one time. Theoretically it could produce up to 6,000 litres per week but initial targets are more modest.
The taproom can seat up to 100 plus at least a further 100 outside, and OXBREW hopes to host major events including possibly beer festivals. Its smokehouse menu will include pork, beef and chicken that have been slow cooked in specialist equipment for up to 16 hours.
OXBREW previously operated as a micro-brewery in Enstone, north of Woodstock, when set up by Aaron and his stepfather, Simon Scamp. Aaron later merged it with Little Ox in Freeland, but he then sold his shares in Little Ox and started looking for premises while Simon opened the OXBREW micropub in Witney, now trading under new management as Crafty Pint.
The Osney Mead site is the third Aaron considered in Oxford, and will be the first bar and brewery to operate there. Getting people there could be a challenge but a new footbridge and cycle route will open next year linking Osney Mead with Oxpens Road, close to the ice rink. Road access is from Botley Road, due to re-open as a through route from the city in late September. A footpath also runs from near the Punter pub beside the Thames.
“I would love to sell all the beer we make on site, but I will also sell to independent pubs and through our on-site shop,” he said. “Events will also be important, and we can even offer cans branded for event organisers.
“Cask ale is a great platform but some breweries just forget about it. We want to have two or three rotating cask ales available, and our full range will include red and malt-forward ales and stout, as well as more hoppy styles IPAs and lagers. We won’t disguise the fact that this is a former industrial unit, but the taproom and restaurant will have plants, nice furniture and good lighting.
“There is a redevelopment plan for Osney Mead, but we will be here for at least five years. I’m aware that we need to get people here, but we are only about a mile from the city centre and we are hopefully close enough for people who enjoy good beer and an authentic experience.”
