The fickled finger of fate brings us back to Home Counties territory this week with the commuter county of Buckinghamshire. To the north of Greater London, it is a landlocked county bordered by many counties. Allegedly named after an Anglo Saxon Landowner Bucca who’s land was around the now county town of Buckingham. As a county it was formed as a sub division of Mercia but has history stretching to Brythonic and Roman periods. Buckinghamshire has always played an important part in English politics particularly during the English Civil War. Buckingham itself is a relatively small town, the largest in the area are Milton Keynes, High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Amersham and Chesham.
The county is split into 2 geographical areas, to the south is the Chiltern Hills along with the Thames Valley and to the North and East is the Vale of Aylesbury which is the catchment area for the River Great Ouse.
On Ratebeer we have a total of 26 Breweries with 17 currently active and 9 sadly closed. Of these just 3 are Commissioner / Client Brewers.
The oldest Brewery we have on Ratebeer are Chiltern Brewery of Aylesbury (Est 1980), a relative newcomer. The oldest established brewery I could find was a Brewery called Amersham Wellers Brewery Established in 1771 at Mop End in Amersham based on 2 pubs The Saracens Head and The Old Griffin. A Malthouse was built in Broadway in 1783 and further pubs added as the brewery became established. The brewery grew and became an important part of Amersham, establishing the local Fire Service in the process. The last of the Weller family line died in 1929 and the brewery was bought and immediately closed by Benskins of Watford. The buildings were finally demolished in 1976 for redevelopment.
The Brewery with the largest range of beers in Buckinghamshire is XT Brewing of Long Crendon (Est 2011) with 278 beers currently including their Animal Range with seemingly new offerings on a weekly basis.
The only Ratebeer award for 2020 was made for Best Brewer which was to XT Brewing.
The Top 10 beers for Buckinghamshire are –
- XT XPA
- XT 9 Black Velvet
- XT 99 Roast Cacao
- Animal / Elephant School Saison Dark
- Animal / Moogbrew Bastard Bunny Brew Ha Ha R
- XT 5 American Amber
- XT 14 Saison
- Animal Hop Kitty
- Chiltern Bodgers Barley Wine
- Aylesbury The Third Switch R
The Top Pubs / Bars in Buckinghamshire are –
- Brewery Shop Emporium High Wycombe (Mad Squirrel) – 87
- Heidrun, High Wycombe – 84
- Royal Standard of England, Forty Green – 81
- White Horse, Hedgerley – 81
- Royal Standard, Wooburn Common – 77
- Brewdog, Milton Keynes – 77
The Top 5 Raters of Beers from Buckinghamshire are –
You will require 26 ratings of beers from Buckinghamshire to get into the top 50.
The Top Rater who resides in Buckinghamshire is –
@Theydon_Bois who, happily is still an active user.