RAIG - WICKWAR BREWERY

The brewery was launched in 1990 by two Courage tenants, Brian Rides and Ray Penny, with the aim of providing guset ales for their three tenancies. The business proved so successful that they dropped the pubs to concentrate on supplying their regular outlets (now totalling around 150). The brewery operates from the cooper's shop of the old Arnold, Perret & Co brewery and is currently brewing to capacity. Brian Rides has now retired, but Ray Penny continues to run the company with an ambitious and adventurous team. They plan to move to bigger premises during 2002 so production can increase to 25 barrels per brew. They also plan to buy pubs to create a small tied estate, for example, The White Lion, in Bristol.
The brewery is a member of SIBA.

Wickwar Beers

• Coopers WPA (ABV 3.5%)
  Golden-coloured, this well-balanced beer is light, refreshing, with hops, citrus fruit, apple/pear flavour and notable pale malt character. Bitter, dry finish. A crisp and quenching ale.
• Brand Oak Bitter (BOB) (ABV 4%)
  Amber-coloured, this beer has a distinctive blend of hop, malt and apple/pear citrus fruits. The slightly sweet taste turns into a fine, dry bitterness, with a malty-lasting finish.
• Cotswold Way (ABV 4.2%)
  Amber-coloured, this beer has a pleasant aroma of pale malt, hop and fruit. Good dry bitterness in the taste with some sweetness. Similar though less sweet in the finish, with good hop content.
• IKB (ABV 4.5%)
  A ruby-red ale with a complex hop aroma and flavour derived from the use of three hop varieties, flowery but well balanced.
• Old Arnold (ABV 4.6%)
  Named after the founder of the original brewery (around 1800), this beer is a ruby-red ale, sweetish with malt and bitter overtones and Challenger hops providing rich fruitiness. It is brewed to a similar recipe used by Arnold in his Strong Old Beer.
• Olde Merryford Ale (OG 1047, ABV 4.8%)
  Full-flavoured and well-balanced ale, with malt, hops and cherry fruit throughout. Amber/pale brown, it is slightly sweet, with a long-lasting, malty, dry, fruity and increasing bitter finish.
• Mr Perretts Traditional Stout (ABV 5.9%)
  Aroma and taste of smoky chocolate malts and peppery hops. Dark fruits of black cherry and blackcurrant give hints of sweetness to the dry, quite bitter, slightly spicy, well-balanced taste.
• Station Porter (ABV 6.1%)
  Seasonal Beer - October-February, this is a rich, smooth, dark ruby-brown ale. Starts with roast malt; coffee, chocolate and dark fruit then develop a complex, spicy, bitter-sweet taste and a long roast finish.
• Sunny Daze (ABV 4.2%)
  Seasonal Beer - June-August
• Spring Ale (ABV 3.8%)
  Seasonal Beer - March-May