Hop, Clip, & Pump

Tucked away in the quiet market town of Oakham, Rutland, Oakham Ales has built a reputation that stretches far beyond its modest geography. Since its founding in 1993, the brewery has become synonymous with consistency, clarity of flavour, and a quietly confident approach to innovation. This is not a brewery driven by gimmickry. It is one built on precision, on doing simple things exceptionally well, and occasionally pushing those boundaries just far enough to stand out. A Legacy of Quality and Recognition Over the years, Oakham Ales has accumulated an impressive list of awards, including the prestigious Champion Beer of Britain,  won in both 1998 and 2001. At the centre of that success sits Citra , a beer that has become not just a flagship, but a benchmark. In many ways, it helped define what modern British golden ale could be: bright, hop-forward, and unapologetically aromatic. But Oakham’s story does not begin and end there. Citra: The Modern Classic Citra is, quite s...

There are few better places for brewers to plunder names than mythology,   and when they do, the results are often as evocative as they are memorable. Oakham Ales is one such name. In Greek mythology, Lethe was one of the five rivers of the Underworld, the Ameles Potamos ,  the river of unmindfulness. Flowing through Hades and winding past the cave of Hypnos, its waters offered a singular, unsettling gift,  complete forgetfulness . Those who drank would lose all memory, stepping into oblivion unburdened by the past. Lethe was not just a river, but a spirit, an embodiment of forgetting itself. It is, then, a rather inspired concept for a beer. Though perhaps, for the sake of public service, it’s worth recommending that drinkers aim not for total oblivion, but something closer to mild amnesia and a pleasant evening . Oakham’s Oakademy at Work This particular interpretation comes from Oakham Ales’ Oakademy of Excellence , a name that suggests both craft and a sligh...

There is something quietly fitting about a beer called White Dwarf emerging from one of England’s smallest counties. Compact, bright, and full of character, it reflects not only the brewing philosophy of Oakham Ales , but also the place where that philosophy began: Oakham . Rutland’s motto,  Multum in Parvo , 'much in little,' could just as easily describe this beer. Oakham: A Small Town with a Deep Character Oakham sits at the centre of Rutland , England’s smallest historic county. Just twenty miles across, yet home to more than fifty villages, Rutland feels both contained and expansive, intimate in scale, but rich in detail. The town itself is steeped in history. Oakham Castle , with its famous collection of ceremonial horseshoes, speaks to centuries of local tradition. Market streets, stone buildings, and a steady pace of life define the area, far removed from the industrial centres that dominate much of England’s brewing history. It is precisely this setting, rural, s...