The Beginnings of Brewing in Witney
The first significant brewery in Witney was started by John Williams Clinch in 1841 and it survived for over 120 years. The brewery won many awards in the 1920s and 1930s and at its peak owned 71 pubs, 14 of which were in Witney. In 1961 Clinch’s brewery sold out to Courage and shortly after the brewery was closed.
A Brief History of the Wychwood Brewery
In 1983 Paddy Glenny, an English brewer trained in Germany, bought the site of the former Clinch’s brewery and started brewing once again. Glenny called the brewery the Eagle Brewery because it was started in the cellar of the Eagle Maltings building which is now home to the offices of the Wychwood Brewery. In 1985 Glenny was joined by Chris Moss and they were soon brewing around 800 barrels a year. In 1990 the brewery changed its name to the Wychood Brewery after the medieval Wychwood Forest which is close to Witney.
The Wychwood Beers
The official Wychwood Brewery website notes that “the artwork and imagery of Wychwood beers pays tribute to the local legends and myths associated with the ancient forest of Wychwood and old traditional folklore of England”. One of these legends is the hobgoblin (a larger version of a goblin and traditionally only visible at midnight when the moon is full) after which Chris Moss named an ale he brewed to celebrate the wedding of a local landlord’s daughter in 1988. In 1996 the first Hobgoblin beer in bottles was produced.
From Hobgoblins to WychCraft
The success of the bottled Hobgoblin beer encouraged Wychwood to bottle some of their other popular cask ales. Beer enthusiasts can now choose from a variety of bottled Christmas and seasonal ales all with their distinctive labels. WychCraft with its citrus aroma is the beer for July 2008. Other popular bottled beers include Fiddlers Elbow, Circle Master (an organic golden oale ale) and BeeWyched Honey'd Ale which has a delicate flavour of honey and citrus fruits.
Brakspear Beers at Wychwood
The Brakspear brewery dates back to 1711 and after its move in 1812 to Bell Street in Henley it remained there until 2002. When the famous Brakspear Brewery in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire finally closed its doors in 2002 after two centuries of brewing, the Wychwood Brewery took over the Brakspear brews and some of its original brewing equipment. This included half a dozen Victorian wooden fermenting vessels used to produce the famous Brakspear “double-drop” beer.
Christine Lightfoot - After completing my degree and a postgraduate teaching course my first job was as a secondary school music teacher. However, after ...
