Pete Hughes visits Loose Cannon brewery in Abingdon

Milkshake, tea, and fish bladders are some of the surprising words that come up when taking a tour of the Loose Cannon brewery.

From malt, hops and the brewery’s unique yeast, each batch of golden ale has to go through some strange transformations before it can be pumped out of the tap at your local.

Each day, the team of three brewers decide which beer to make that day – perennial favourites Abingdon Bridge and Gunners Gold, a seasonal special or a limited edition like their Robust British Porter, which won a silver medal from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) in February.

Founder and director Will Laithwaite, 33, from Henley, said: “We’ve made some beers we’re happy with but we haven’t won that elusive gold yet.

“But it’s going to happen; we’re working our way up.”

What the brewery, based in Suffolk Way, Abingdon, decides to make is largely determined by what is selling well at the pumps.

And at the moment, most things are selling very well which is why the brewery is expanding.

It has just sold the two 40-firkin (50 litre) fermenters in which it brewed its first beers back in 2010, and replaced them with a 60-firkin fermenter.

Mr Laithwaite, who also has a degree in ancient history, was working at Marlow’s Rebellion brewery for several years before he decided to found Loose Cannon.

It was from Rebellion that he got a starter culture of yeast which has been giving Loose Cannon beers their punch for years. He said: “Phase two, which will be a few years away, will correct a lot of mistakes from phase one, we’re re-jigging a lot of stuff now.”

The team usually brews 4,300 pints on four days of the week, then spend one day doing a deep clean.

Sales manager Chris Harrison said: “That could be trebled if we did shift working; it takes eight hours to do a brew, but there are 24 hours in a day. Even if we did that five days a week, we still wouldn’t be near to being a regional brewer.”

Another big issue to consider in expanding is the fact that beer duty increases as your brewery gets bigger.

As a small brewery, Loose Cannon takes advantage of the Government’s Progressive Beer Duty (PBD) rates, meaning they pay about half of what a big brewery does.

The company could also look at bottling its beer in-house, but that could cost millions of pounds.

Mr Harrison, 47, from Abingdon, said: “I’d certainly like to see us take on a national distribution of one brand.

“We look to produce a beer which has got a shelf life, something which people will drink in the long-term.

“We want to be part of people’s lives.”

One man for whom that is already the case is retired music teacher at the European School in Culham, John Marsh, from Longworth.

Herald Series:

  • Loose Cannon founder Will Laithwaite at the Abingdon-based brewery, which has been producing beer since 2010

He buys gas-pressurised mini-barrels of his favourite beer direct from the brewery’s shop so that he can have pub-quality beer at home.

The 65-year-old said: “There is a crucial difference to understand between something that goes in a bottle and something that’s live.

“With a mini barrel you end up with something remarkably similar to what you get from a pub.”

The difference is that when a beer is bottled is hits the air and starts to oxidise, impairing the flavour.

In a barrel, whether at a pub or a mini barrel at home, carbon dioxide naturally produced in the fermentation process keeps the beer brewery-fresh.

He pays £50 a year to be a Loose Cannon member, meaning he gets deals on buying beer, so when he pulls a pint at home, it costs him something like £1.65 a pint.