Brewing History

Wychwood Brewery

1841

The first sizeable brewery in Witney was founded by John Williams Clinch, the son of a banking family, who established the brewery, close to the present site of Wychwood Brewery

1920/30s

The Clinch's Brewery won numerous awards.

1961

The board decided to sell out to Courage. The Clinch's Brewery was closed shortly afterwards, marking the end of an era.

1983

The original Clinch's Brewery site was purchased by Paddy Glenny, an English brewer who had trained in Germany. Paddy christened it The Eagle Brewery - later changing this to Glenny Brewery. The Eagle Brewery was started in the cellar of the existing "Eagle Maltings" building which now houses the Wychwood Brewery offices

1985

Chris Moss joined Paddy, thus doubling the workforce.

1988

The brewery was asked to brew a special celebratory wedding beer for a local landlord for his daughter's wedding. Chris Moss created the ale of his life. The deliciously dark, rich brew became The Legendary Hobgoblin

1990

The Eagle was re-named the Wychwood Brewery after the Ancient medieval Wychwood Forest which borders Witney

1996

The first Hobgoblin beer in bottles were produced.

1997

By now, Wychwood Brewery was producing nearly 30,000 barrels a year, including a full calendar of limited edition seasonal cask ales, under imaginative names and pump clip artworks

2002

The Hobgoblinns pubs were sold off , although some continue to use the Hobgoblin branding under their new owners.

Following the closure of the Brakspear Brewery in Henley on Thames, in October 2002, Wychwood was committed to bringing the brewing of Brakspear back to Oxfordshire.

Following a £1 Million redevelopment of the Wychwod Brewery site, the Brewery now incorporates a separate Brakspear brewhouse and Brakpear fermenting room, using much of the original Brakspear equipment from Henley, including the famous ‘Double Drop fermenting system, used to brew Brakspear beers since 1774

Now home to Wychwood & Brakspear beers, Wychwood brews 50,000 barrels of traditionally hand-crafted ale every year, and exports Wychwood bottled beers around the world including to the USA, Australia, Japan, Canada and Europe

" Wychwood Brewery is named after The Royal Forest of Wychwood which was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, and covered much of what is now West Oxfordshire. Much of the artwork for Wychwood beer labels depicts characters from myths and legends associated with the ancient medieval forest.

The term 'forest' referred historically to areas where hunting rights were reserved for the Sovereign and included in this area would have been meadows, cultivated open fields, heaths and downs as well as woodlands.

You can just imagine the Hobgoblin trundling past and jeering at The Circle Master as he scamps around the fields looking for trouble. "