WARM WELCOMES AS WE VISIT A THRIVING SHROPSHIRE BREWER AND AWARD WINNING PUBS
- stevehobman
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Steve Hobman reports from an early springtime sojourn
For our first big day out on the minibus this year we visited an old favourite, Stonehouse at Weston, near Oswestry - a brewery we have personally known since their fledgeling days almost 20 years ago.
Back then they brewed from a former chicken shed; today it boasts one of the best taprooms in the UK, in our humble, and is successfully brewing new ales alongside the original Station Bitter and other old stagers. These days the brewery plant has 18-brewers-barrel daily capacity with five primary fermenting vessels. Brewery owner Shane Parr, an Aussie who fell in love with British beer and his future wife and business partner Alison while on a world tour - lucky Shane - showed us around the brewery with his splendidly unscripted Oz charm'; well after all these years I'm sure he can tell his beguiling story in his sleep.
Eight per cent up and growing
We learnt that the brewery grew by some eight per cent last year - an amazing achievement at a time when many brewers and pubs are under the cosh of rising costs and a challenging social environment. This from a combination of additional distribution routes and expansion of direct sales. A good deal of the beer is also sold through the expanded tap room - which now offers a splendidly informal 'Aussie' style dining experience. For summer you can reach Stonehouse on the Cambrian Heritage Railway out of Oswestry - the platform is right alongside - and there's the beer garden too. The railway inspired many early beers, including flagship Station Bitter (3.8%).
The very traditional Station remains a huge staple for Stonehouse, which in itself is quite a success in a market that looks constantly for exciting new brews. And the imminent return of Sunlander (3.6%abv) will certainly be welcomed we feel. We loved it when first created by Shane to highlight hops from his home country - beautifully balanced blonde ale with light fruits and a moreish bitterness - absolutely perfect for a spring or summer session.
But Stonehouse is far from resting on its very sturdy laurels - which include many top SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers & Associates) awards. With brewing now under the auspices of Kev Harris, ex Salopian, while Shane is busy out there as ambassador, there's been several innovative new brews.
The early years saw distribution confined to outlets in a 30-mile radius, but now it reaches into the vibrant beer scenes of Liverpool and Manchester. Also, Stonehouse has moved into distilling with a German stillage kit to produce some very fine gins and whiskies - on a visit Shane will take you though the process.
Marking two decades
There are plans under wraps for the future - not least to mark the two decades next year - but Kev has been busy bringing in new beers and has certainly not finished yet. Flipside (4.6%) pale ale with Mosaic, Centennials and British First Gold hops, has become the most popular blonde beer and personally we particularly enjoyed new release Shadows & Dust (4.4%), golden IPA that delivers fruity sweetness with the sort of dry bitter finish that, we think, makes another obligatory.
'We’re currently growing thanks to the brewery team we have in place'. Shane says. 'Some big things are coming in 2026 including - Kiwi hops & Mountains Range, experimental hop project, British Heritage Barley & Development Hop Range.'
Exciting times ahead for a brewery born of love and passion - and a few roaming chickens.
Pub champions
Following our Stonehouse visit we moved on to two former national pub champions.
The Bailey Head in Oswestry was a Campaign For Real Ale National Pub of the Year in 2024 and has taken a raft of awards from both CAMRA and SIBA since 2016, under the stewardship of husband and wife team Duncan Borrowman and Alison Goodland who have built the pub into a popular venue for the historic border town.
Located in the heart of the town by the Market Hall, some 28 draught lines include six cask ales and six ciders and perries. Also some 100 gins and interesting range of snacks including Shropshire Salumi! With no TV screens, on our early Saturday evening visit there was a comfortable mix of local folk and clearly some ardent beer aficionados.
Duncan was on hand to help with all the beers on offer.
As we pass though a bit of Wales on our return to Cheshire we couldn't not call into the very splendid Bridge End Inn, just over the border at Ruabon.
The cottage like Bridge End is just around the corner from the railway station on the line from Chester to Shrewsbury and its seven-strong-ale-range and warm, friendly atmosphere attracts visitors from far afield alongside the many regulars. This is a brew-pub we have enjoyed for several years on our tours and it never fails to give. We enjoyed a range of ales , including the splendid Wye Valley Stout. The McGivern family - Gill and Peter with son Matthew took on the failed pub in 2009 and were voted Camra National Pub of the Year in 2011 - the first Welsh pub to win the accolade. With a microbrewery at the back, keen brewer Matthew sometimes produces his own ales, especially for beer festivals.
'Born again' pub
From Ruabon it was back to 'base' - the 18thC coaching inn Carden Arms in Tilston, south Cheshire - where we often start and end tours. We were welcomed by a fine array of ales and cheerful staff. Another 'born again' pub, revived in 2016 - following years of the blight of a national pub company - by local lady farmer Didy Morgan. Didy has created a quality dining house - supplied with rare breed meats from her own 'Pasture for Life' accredited farm - while also keeping the multi-room hostelry as a true village local, a trick that not all contemporary food venues achieve.
Excellent cask ale is, of course, at the heart of the story; this year the Carden clocked up its eighth consecutive listing in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, offering five fine cask ales. Peerless Triple Blond, from Wirral, and Shropshire's Ludlow Gold are both house ales, while there are regular appearances from local brewers Weetwood, Big Hand and Spitting Feathers and East Cheshire's Merlin amongst others and frequent guest brews from Yorkshire's celebrated Acorn Brewery of Barnsley - including the iconic Barnsley Bitter, last week hailed as the best cask bitter in its class at the International Beer Awards. Personally, we finished the day with Lakeland's Coniston Bluebird Bitter (3.6%), a rare appearance of this very splendid pale bitter - a former CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain. Cheers.
Footnote:
This is just one example of our many bespoke tour routes around the North West and North Wales. We also run city day tours in Chester, Manchester and Liverpool. To discuss and find out more contact steve@beertoursuk.com
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