Quiz Night at Loose Cannon Taproom

About Loose Cannon Brewery

In 2004 – the brewery founder, Will Laithwaite, left University with a pretty useless degree in Ancient History or some such. It wasn’t even a top-notch result. He did his best though and that at the very least meant his Mum is proud of him. To be honest though, unless you are planning a lucrative career as an historian on TV staring at rain-soaked battlements like that Dan Snow fellow – a degree in Medieval Lute design or whatever it was he struggled with, has frankly little going for it. Basically, young Mr Laithwaite had a wonderful time at University trying to think of things he should really be doing with his time.

It is purely by chance – and nothing at all to do with his expensive but ultimately futile education in history that Will founded Loose Cannon Brewery in Abingdon on Thames – a town historically linked with brewing since like – you know – really long ago when there was Knights and stuff.

Abingdon on Thames lays claim to being the oldest (continuously) occupied town in Britain. With a large Abbey and associated brewery for the Monks until 1538 when Bluff King Hal had a bit of a strop and knocked it down. From then on commercial breweries sprang up until its previous zenith as a brewing hub in the late 20th century with the famous Morland Brewery. It’s fair to say the populace have not struggled to get their hands on a drop or two when needed. By the end of 2000 Morland Brewery had closed its doors for the final time with its brewing transferring to Bury St Edmunds. The population panicked (possibly) until early 2010 when into town rode young Will Laithwaite with his shiny car and faithful friend Caleb. Together they set about building a modest brewery in a modest industrial unit built on the site of a modest old farm, which was built on some fields which possibly some Monks walked about on for a bit, and that is how you write a history essay. A+ for me. Now where is my degree.

Our first beer was a collaborative effort before that phrase became common place. We though turned our gaze on the Towns folk and asked them to vote on some trial brews to see which would suit the local taste buds. Because, after all is said and done, the audience is key to any success. This led to the production of the beer you will drink today – Abingdon Bridge – a beautifully balanced classic English Bitter with a subtle modern twist.

Since then, we have produced over sixty-eight different and tasty beers and for any single given year there will be twenty-one beers produced across the Permanent, Seasonal, Monthly and specialist ranges to satisfy even the most discerning customer.

With regular investment in modern equipment from day one we have steadily grown in production capacity and capability to a point where we are now bursting at the seams in our current location, plans are now afoot to help us move on to a new and exciting new stage which will give our fans an even greater opportunity to enjoy Loose Cannon in the best way possible.