Our bar is classically 16th century with exposed beams and a roaring log fire. The building has a wonderfully intimate feel and is also friendly and welcoming. In the winter months it offers a fabulous refuge from the cold conditions.

 

The Old Swan has been awarded Cask Marque accreditation for serving the perfect pint of cask conditioned ales.

 

Mike says: "This award is a great endorsement for us. A lot of our customers visit the pub especially for the cask ales and it is really gratifying to know that we are getting the formula just right."

 

Backed by 34 of the country's leading brewers and pub companies, Cask Marque accreditation is only awarded to licensees whose ales pass a series of rigorous independent beer quality audits.

 

Since it's foundation in 1997, Cask Marque has inspected over 100,000 pints of beer and accredited over 5,000 of the country's 36,500 pubs estimated to serve one or more cask ales.

 

Cask Marque director, Paul Nunny, said "Mike should feel justifiably proud of this excellent achievement, which not only reconises the effort put into serving the perfect pint but also acts as an independent guarantee of quality for customers. All too often publicans don't appreciate the care and attention cask beers require and then run the risk of losing custom by serving pints that are below par."

 

For further information about the Cask Marque scheme, please visit the website at www.cask-marque.co.uk or telephone 01206 752212.

 

Cask Ales

 

Our three permanent ales are the Brakspear Brewery's (Whitney, Oxfordshire) Brakspear Bitter (3.4 percent ABV), Sharp's Brewery (Rock, Cornwall) Doom Bar (4.0 percent ABV) and the Chiltern Brewery's (Terrick, Bucks) Chiltern Ale (3.7 percent ABV).

 

We believe that ales brewed with care should be kept and served with care. We therefore take a great pride in the quality of the ales we sell. We have the three ales mentioned above on permanently but from time to time we have a guest ale which varies according to season and availability. We have a preference for stocking and selling locally brewed brewed guest ales.

 

Lagers

 

We have a choice of two lagers. Our lower strength lager is Becks Vier (4.0 percent ABV) and our "premium" lager is Warsteiner Pisner (4.8 percent ABV).

 

Wines

 

We sell a variety of wines by the glass. Our "house" white is a Spanish wine made from the Macabeo grape. The "house" red is again a Spanish wine made from the Tempranillo grape.

 

All wines that are available by the glass are served in either 175ml or 250ml measures. If you wish to see our full range of wines please click here for the current wine list.

 

Coffee and Tea

 

We are able to offer cappucinos, lattes and espressos along with standard coffee. All of which are available as either caffinated or decaffinated. We will of course also make you a liqueur coffee of your choice.

 

All our coffee is fair trade and we offer a variety of tea blends from classic to fruit.

 

We also serve hot chocolate made with hot milk and why not try a shot of alcohol in your hot chocolate for that ultimate indulgent warmer.