was “considered unacceptable to brewers in 1960 and it was concluded that ‘these brewing trials indicate that a number of brewers would not be willing to use this hop even at 25% replacement of their normal grist’ because ‘it has strong American flavour.’”

The blog post mentioned Sean Ayling at Pig and Porter, this triggered further investigation. Pig and Porter at the time were an event catering and beer setup. With Hog Roasts being done by Robin and beer being brewed by Sean as a cuckoo brewer. There is a blog post about their early days here, which looks like it was written in 2016/17. We started buying their beers, 3 casks in 2013, including Red Spider Rye one of Duncan’s all time favourite beers, 9 in 2014, including a test brew of an American Pale which became Whispering Bob and 16 in 2015.

2016 saw us move to Oswestry and The Bailey Head. Our relationship with Pig and Porter continued, with beers coming to us several ways, by the pallet, via RAD in Hadnall and brought to us by Sean and his wife Jacqui, who stayed with us on occasions, often while visiting Jacqui’s sister in Nantwich.

Spool forward to 24 January 2018. Michelle Shipman of Offbeat Brewery in Crewe posted in the morning that she was thinking of selling the brewery. She then jumped in her van and brought us casks of beer. After a chat she headed back to Crewe, and put the brewery up for sale that day.

The next day was the trade session of CAMRA Manchester Beer and Cider Festival, Duncan and Michelle had arranged to meet on the platform of Crewe Station and go together. The first bar as they walked in was the Pig & Porter bar, and Sean passed over a couple of glasses of Red Spider Rye.

That March Sean and Jacqui were visiting Jacqui’s sister, and while in Cheshire visited Crewe before coming to see us. In that trip the deal to buy Offbeat Brewery was agreed, and without going into the details, Tom’s Tap and Brewhouse was born on 13 June 2018.

Happy 2nd Birthday Tom’s Tap and Brewhouse for today!

In March 2019 the then bar staff had their late Christmas outing to the brewery, helping to brew a Coffee Stout, with beers in the taproom afterwards.

We are delighted to have regular cask and keg from Tom’s Tap and Brewhouse on the bar and to see the fruits of the massive amount of hard work Sean and Jacqui have put into the brewery and taproom.

• OZ97a is now the hop called Ernest

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Name – Emma “The token Craft Beer Lesbian” Clarke

Job Title – 
By day: Fuel Goddess.
Behind the bar: Professional bra undoer and dog treat provider. Sometime I pour beer 🤷‍♀️

How long have you worked at the BH? – 1 year! Scouted by Duncan Easter weekend 2019.

Favourite song or piece of music? – That depends…Spice Girls ‘Stop’ is my ultimate favourite however if Grace is around it has to be Missy Elliot ‘Work It’…and boy does she!!

What do you do for fun when not working? – My friends and my family are my everything, so I spend as much time as I can with them.

Rich Tea or Digestive? – (Dark chocolate) Digestive

Best or Funniest Bailey Head Memory or Story – I don’t know that I can pick just one…always a tonne of smiles. Perhaps when Grace rocked up Bailey Street with a towel around her head and sunglasses on…at 10.30pm.

Pineapple on Pizza (yes or no) – Yes please 👏

How do you take your coffee?  – Depends on my state of mind…sometimes milk and sugar, sometimes black and no sugar, sometimes espresso…mainly in an espresso martini if I’m honest…

Hardest or most difficult shift at BH? – Probably shouldn’t admit it but here goes…
I worked an extra day at my full time job on a Saturday…alarm went off at 4am. I worked the full day, got home and then went straight on a night out (at the BH and then to a friends house) I stayed up allllll night. The following day I started work at the BH at 11am, working a 7 hour shift. I fell over in the kitchen and almost fell asleep on Steve’s shoulder. 🤦‍♀️ It was not my proudest moment. Although actually, at the age of 31 I was VERY proud that I still had it in me 😂

Things you are most likely to be heard saying? – 
I wish I didn’t have to fucking drive! I want a beer.
Duncan, when is this sour going on?!
Duncan, when is this stout going on?!

Favourite Beer or beer style? – I love trying all sorts however I’m a sucker for an imperial stout. A particular favourite of mine was Neon Raptor’s Centaur Army. Incredible beer.

Favourite Cocktail? – Espresso martini 🤤

If you could make one law what would it be? –  That anyone who approaches the bar must know what they’re ordering. And must stay at the bar during the pouring of their drinks…🤦‍♀️

Who’s best, Grace or Duncan? – Neither. Both arseholes.

What are you looking forward to most after lockdown ends? – The BH has been a really integral part of my time in Oswestry. Every friend I have made I have made through here. I cannot wait to be able to walk in after a long, hard day and have a couple of beers with my BH family. Genuinely. Missing each and every one of them.

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Back in September 2016 Dave Roll, then our local rep for Shrewsbury & West Shropshire CAMRA, messaged us from the first day of the Shrewsbury CAMRA Beer Festival. There was a cask Milk Stout on the bar, and it was flying out, better still it came from a new brewery in Mold. Black Brook Brewery.

This we thought was too good to miss out on. It fitted in with so many things we wanted to always have: A dark cask beer on the bar, a local beer on the bar and supporting small breweries. So we messaged the brewery, saying that we had heard it was going well.

Sean the brewery owner, was a bit delayed in replying, after all he was pretty much a one man band then and was emailing from his phone, as he said:

…sorry about the delayed response, have been having problems with my phone e-mail client today.
That is very nice to hear indeed. Not going to lie it was our firstdelivery as well!

So we got our first order for three casks in; Golden State 4.6% IPA , Breakfast 4.5% Milk Stout and Purple Moon 4.3% English Bitter. We did say we would take have taken a Providence 5.6% Unfined American Pale Ale if it had been in keykeg ( a pointer to things to come!)

Very quickly all of Black Brook’s casks would be unfined and hazy. We loved them, but Sean would bring them himself and told us that he was struggling to sell unfined cask beer to other pubs nearby. After about a year the brewery stopped brewing…

Spool forward a few months to January 2018 and Black Brook were reborn as Loka Polly. Now brewing for keg, initially normal kegs but then changing to keykeg, we started putting Loka Polly branded beers on from March 2018.

They started going down a storm, with new beer sales Goth Arron fielding the calls and emails as sales grew. We then hit a hiccup… 6 months without any Polly’s, 6 months without hearing anything. What had happened to them?

The answer was nothing, but we had failed to open the email headed “LOKA POLLY & GDPR”, lots of their newer customers had signed up through a GDPR compliant website, but as we were such early customers we slipped through the net.

In May 2019 Loka Polly had their own little hiccup, as the brewery team was growing from three to six, with expanding exports the name Loka was already been used by a Swedish drinks company, so they changed their name again to Polly’s Brew Co.

In July 2019 Arron came along for a Meet the Brewer at the Bailey Head as part of the food and drink festival.

Polly’s are a permanent feature in the Bailey Head, on tap, in can or preferably both.

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