XT brewery is only about 4 miles from me, they do a great range in bottles, growlers and firkins
Intrigued to know what your favourite pub in Oxford is !
In town or not ?
Not been out for what seems like ever but in town I used to like checking out the Turf Tavern, Bear, Chequers, and Wheatsheaf, in Cowley the Bullingdon Arms, the Temple bar or a walk to the Isis.
This morning it was Teardrop in the covered market they are a tiny wee pub between the fish stall and the bakery, little expensive but really nice beer and a nice atmosphere but only open market hours. They do a four thirds option which I had, as well as, filling growlers, so tried four beers then had my growlers filled for tonight. Pub itself is owned by Church Hanbrewery.
Also a big fan of the Chequers, Royal Blenheim in St Aldgate’s is good, if you like cask ale (has both Titanic and White Horse beer), St Aldates Tavern is a nice pub although I find the beer a tad generic, Grapes on George street is also nice, good range of keg beers, sadly Pint shop also on George street closed a while back (overpriced but was really good beer).
The Crown on Corn Market I find is a bit of a tourist hot spot, (owned by Nicholson same as Chequers) again fairly expensive but is still rather pleasant. The Lamb and Flag is one I keep meaning to go to but every time it has being closed for some reason or another. White Horse does a really good pizza and beer isn’t bad either, Also the Old Tom pub, quite low ceilings and rather cramped so probably not great in these Covid times, remember having a rather good meat loaf their with a pint of Chadlington Oxford Blue. Also used to go to the Angel and Greyhound on Cowley road before work relocated to the city centre. Also as much as it is a tourist trap if it is quiet (which sadly is a rare occasion) The Eagle and Child is a pub I actually quite like but honestly normally avoid it.
I commute into Oxford by train so in pre Covid times quiet often popped into a pub after work, so mostly know the city centre pubs rather than the ones further out, I would also sometimes pop in on a week end the joys of a season ticket (Oxford is 15 minutes away by train for me) while a lot of them are expensive, and targeting the tourist market, Oxford does have some really nice pubs. With work pushing that we need to start considering returning to the office I decided that since I was on annual leave today I would see what the trains where like today and since I was traveling in anyway might as well have a beer. I really hope that the pubs in Oxford will survive as today reminded my just why I actually like Oxford, and it would be a real tragedy if any of these pubs ended up having to close.
