South Oxfordshire Brewery Tap Room, Wallingford

In the sticks – about three miles out of Wallingford on a site where Chiltern Park Aerodrome was formerly located, and situated in a barn-like corrugated iron-clad building on a small industrial estate, this is one of those places you wouldn't know about, if you didn't know about it (a bit like Waddesdon's Boobytrap brewery). A large car park with some gazebo-covered seating out front, there's a small door which takes you into the tap room itself which is a largish room with a "marquee canopy" creating a large Yurt-like feel (probably better than looking a corrugated iron ceiling), with various seating dotted around, smatterings of breweriana and bottled beers on shelves. A small bar is located on the left-hand side of the room, with 2 x barrels offering SOX beers via gravity dispense. Just the one available on my Saturday afternoon visit, where I turned out to be the only punter – a very good Mr Toad's (NBSS 3.5). Had a good chat with the guv'nor who brews the beers in Wantage (extant since 2022, SOX have recently purchased White Horse Brewery), and despite the location and the lack of footfall on my visit, they appear to be ticking over with various events such as live music, an Oktoberfest (SOXtoberfest) and 10km race all on their recent itinerary. There's a catering company next door that offers food, so this might have to be a summertime revisit in order to fully appreciate.

Official site of South Oxfordshire Brewery Tap Room - www.soxbrewery.co.uk

Official site of South Oxfordshire Brewery Tap Room - www.soxbrewery.co.uk