Metro area

Best breweries in Oxford, England

Within 16 miles of Oxford we track 25 breweries. None currently rate Great or better. Tap Social Movement in Oxford leads the list at 3.71 (Fine).

The scale

Exceptional
A short list of extraordinary breweries worth planning a trip around.
Great
Consistently produce world-class beer.
Fine
Make genuinely good beer, if not the pint you will still be talking about next year.
Poor
Not bad beer so much as unremarkable beer.
Limited
Most craft beer drinkers pass these by.

1
Tap Social Movement
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Based in Oxford, Tap Social Movement is an independent brewery, bakery, social enterprise, and hospitality organisation that provides training and employment for people in prison and prison leavers. To date we have created more than 112,000 hours of paid, meaningful employment for leavers. We brew a range of modern, accessible beer highlighted by our multi award-winning core range. Visit us in Oxfordshire at our flagship Botley taproom, The Market Tap (at The Covered Market Oxford), Proof Social Bakehouse, and Lock29 (Banbury).
Rating
3.71Fine
Popularity
Modestly rated
2
Little Ox Brewery
Freeland, Oxfordshire, England
Little Ox Brew is a modern craft microbrewery based in Freeland, near Oxford. Since 2016 we have been shaking up the traditional to produce exciting beers that lift the spirits. From pale ale to stout and everything in between, we produce regular and experimental beers for purchase at the brewery or delivery around the county to pubs, bars, restaurants and homes. All our beer is gluten-free and vegan. We run a small core range, a larger number of recurring beers, and have a ridiculous list of one-off with a new beer coming out at least once a month.
Rating
3.69Fine
Popularity
Lightly rated
3
BMAN Brewery
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
BMAN Brewery is an independent Brewery in Oxford, and was founded by Alex Berryman in 2021 Alex is a trained Food Scientist and uses this when formulating the range of BMAN Brewery Beers The BMAN Brewery attitude is to keep it simple, keep it interesting, and make it taste nice
Rating
3.69Fine
Popularity
Barely rated
4
Boobytrap Brewery
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England
Boobytrap Brewery is an artisanal brewery in Westcott, Buckinghamshire, creating and capturing beers that plumb depths of flavour and compliment delicious food. Our beers focus on a wide variety of styles, are hand crafted and packaged, and served fresh from our taproom alongside food from our own kitchens.
Rating
3.53Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
5
Twisted Tree Brewery
Bicester, Oxfordshire, England
"Welcome to Twisted Tree Brewery, a quaint independent microbrewery nestled in Oxfordshire, proudly operated by our family. Established in 2024, our mission is to craft small-batch, artisanal beer of exceptional quality. With an unwavering passion and creative flair, we infuse every brew with the essence of camaraderie, believing that beer is more than a beverage—it's a catalyst for social connection."
Rating
3.49Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
6
Thame Brewery
Thame, Oxfordshire, England
Thame Brewery produce's unproven beer and is ranked #8 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Hoppiness", which is an English Pale Ale and "Thame Best", which is a Bitter - Session / Ordinary. Their primary focus is brewing Pale Ales and Amber Ales.
Rating
3.47Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
7
Heavy Water Brewing Company
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Small batch craft beer from Oxford. Inspired by the scientific optimism of the 1950s Atomic Age, we combine science with artistry to brew a diverse range of flavourful, artisan beers - hop-forward IPAs, fruity Belgian beers, malty traditional ales, chocolatey stouts and porters, and much more. All our beers are unfiltered, un-fined, vegetarian and unpasteurised - this keeps more flavour in the glass, and sometimes makes them hazy. Heavy water, deuterium oxide, was at the heart of the Atomic Age, driving scientific and technological innovation. Beer is also “Heavy Water”. The sugars in beer make it denser than water – measured by its specific gravity. But this isn’t rocket science, this is just beer. Really tasty beer.
Rating
3.45Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
8
Craftsman Brewery
Wantage, Oxfordshire, England
Craftsman Brewery produce's unproven beer and is ranked #6 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Chocolate Orange", which is an Other Stout and "Scooby Dooby Doo", which is a Fruited IPA. Their primary focus is brewing Dark Beers and IPAs.
Rating
3.41Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
9
Tear Drop
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Rating
3.35Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
10
The Barn Owl Brewery
Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England
The Barn Owl Brewery is situated in an old stone barn on a farm in the Oxfordshire countryside. The barn is thought to have been built from stone robbed from the ruins of Abingdon Abbey. The brewery has a 4 barrel plant producing craft ales using the finest malted barleys and whole flower hops. Opening for business in February 2016, we aim to produce beers with traditional flavours, using predominantly English ingredients.
Rating
3.32Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
11
Woodstock Brewery
Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England
Woodstock Brewery produce's unproven beer and is ranked #16 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Harry the Hare", which is an English Pale Ale and "Pete the Partridge", which is an American Red Ale. Their primary focus is brewing Pale Ales and Amber Ales.
Rating
3.29Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
12
Bicester Brewery
Bicester, Oxfordshire, England
Bicester Brewery produce's unproven beer and is ranked #15 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Angelic Upstart", which is an English Pale Ale and "Halls Oxford Brewery IPA", which is an English IPA. Their primary focus is brewing Pale Ales and IPAs.
Rating
3.28Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
13
Rose & Crown
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England
Rating
3.02Poor
Popularity
Barely rated
14
XT Brewing Company
Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England
Welcome to XT Brewing Co! XT Brewing Co. is an innovative, independent brewery crafting a wide range of beers. Our XT beers form the core range of characterful, full-flavoured brews, whilst our wild side - Animal Brewing Co - pushes the boundaries with new and exciting, challenging, one-off experimental beers. The brewery is on the beautiful Notley Farm in the village of Long Crendon, on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire border, near the city of Oxford. Created by Russ Taylor and Gareth Xifaras in 2011, we brew all our own real ales for cask, craft keg, cans and bottles.
Rating
3.06Limited
Popularity
Modestly rated
15
Church HanBrewery
Witney, Oxfordshire, England
Created in a barn in a small village in the Cotswolds with fresh ingredients that are supplied locally and following traditional methods, our handcrafted beers are deliciously unique and 100% pure with no added artificial clarifying agents or preservatives.
Rating
3.05Limited
Popularity
Barely rated
16
Amwell Springs
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England
The brewery is based in the heart of the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside, a stone's throw from the famous River Thames. The brew house is situated next to the springs of Amwell which supplies the crystal clear waters used to make all of our Craft Ales and Lagers. The unique combination of our treasured spring water and the sourcing of the finest malts and hops enable us to create and refine... 'the most drinkable beer on the palate' The brewery and tap room are housed in a beautiful 18th Century timber framed “Carthovel” barn, where the family has farmed the land for over 6 decades. Wheat and barley played an integral part of the farm business, and this knowledge and heritage has helped the natural evolution into the world of brewing.
Rating
3.04Limited
Popularity
Barely rated
17
Loose Cannon Brewery
Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England
Loose Cannon Brewery produce's unproven beer and is ranked #13 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Abingdon Bridge", which is an English Bitter and "Gunners Gold", which is a Golden Ale. Their primary focus is brewing Amber Ales and Pale Ales.
Rating
3.02Limited
Popularity
Modestly rated
18
Vale Brewery
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England
Since 1995, we've been brewing top-notch beers from our home in the Aylesbury Vale in Buckinghamshire. Our beers are the glue underpinning good conversation and good times; accessible but always packed full of flavour.
Rating
3.01Limited
Popularity
Modestly rated
19
Oxford Brewery
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Oxford Brewery is inspired by our home city of Oxford and its rich culture and heritage. The story of Scholar, one of the beers that started it all over a decade ago, was about the legend of a rampaging wild boar that was killed by an Oxford scholar using his book of Aristotle’s ‘Philosophy’. Our own story continues, with the bringing together of our two great brewing brands, The Shotover Brewing Co and Oxford Craft Beer Co. From this auspicious past we have formed Oxford Brewery, the merging of tradition and innovation. The result, unique beers each with a new legend to be discovered.
Rating
3.00Limited
Popularity
Lightly rated
20
LoveBeer Brewery
Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England
LoveBeer was established in 2014 after an initial foray into supplying firkins to a few local beer festivals. Two of our early brews featured in the CAMRA Oxford beer festival.
Rating
2.98Limited
Popularity
Barely rated
21
SOX Brewery
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England
SOX Brewery produce's unproven beer and is ranked #25 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Mr Toad's", which is a Bitter - Session / Ordinary and "Re-Session Ale", which is an English Pale Ale. Their primary focus is brewing Pale Ales and Amber Ales.
Rating
2.96Limited
Popularity
Barely rated
22
Parlour Brew Company
Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England
Parlour Brew Company produce's unproven beer and is ranked #9 in Oxfordshire. They are most well known for "Garford Gold", which is a Blonde / Golden Ale and "We Three Kings", which is a Spiced / Herbed Beer. Their primary focus is brewing Pale Ales and Spiced Beers.
Rating
2.89Limited
Popularity
Barely rated
23
Shandy Shack
Bampton, Oxfordshire, England
Back in 2018, we were a fun-loving trio on the wrong side of our twenties, who loved boozing but could no longer hack the hangover. We started searching for other drinks that could help us cut down on units: shandy seemed to be on the tip of the tongue, but we weren't convinced this parent-pleasing tradition would suit us. We decided to give it a second chance anyway… The shandies that we started mixing weren't any old shandies. We mixed some cracking craft beers with different top notch sodas. Some of them tasted unreal! Against the advice of our parents and mates, we quit our jobs, built a rickety pop-up bar, and went on tour with the best shandies we'd created to see if people liked them as much as us. And so Shandy Shack was born!
Rating
2.77Limited
Popularity
Barely rated
24
Brakspear Brewing Company
Witney, Oxfordshire, England
Following the closure of the Brakspear Brewery in Henley on Thames, Wychwood Brewery in Witney set up the Brakspear Brewing Company and took on the brewing of Brakspear Beers from its site in Witney, Oxfordshire.
Rating
2.67Limited
Popularity
Well rated
25
Chadlington
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England
Known as ‘The Oxford Beer’, Chadlington Brewery is passionate about the art of brewing beer. We take our inspiration from the glorious Oxfordshire countryside to create great tasting beers that everyone can enjoy. Brewed using only natural ingredients including Oxfordshire spring water and the finest English hops and malt, we take our time to ensure each and every brew is the best it can be. We believe it’s important to be respectful of the environment, both locally and on a global scale. We work hard to leave the smallest carbon footprint possible. The hot water in our brewery is provided by renewable heat sources and our spent grains are used as animal feed on farms in Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties.
Rating
2.66Limited
Popularity
Barely rated