The pubs
The Vine Inn & the rest
I manage three village pubs in Oxfordshire. The one I spend most of my time in is The Vine Inn in Cumnor — a proper old place with a beer garden, hand pumps, and the daily arithmetic of keeping real ale in good condition when trade is unpredictable.
I was born above a pub my family has owned since 1721. Twenty-odd years of multi-site publican life later, the problems are familiar: rising costs, thin margins, and the quiet, grinding difficulty of keeping cask ale fresh when the garden is half-empty on a Tuesday.
Campaign
The First Pint
Getting 18–30 year olds — and anyone who has never tried it — drinking real ale. A third of a pint. No lecture.
The Vine Trial
Still pouring after 35 days
The full Freshkask report from June–July 2026. Two Jennings beers, a heatwave, a dead cellar.
The Vine · hire
Weddings & private hire
Intimate weddings and exclusive use of The Vine Inn. Now taking 2026 and 2027 enquiries. Visit the site →
Campaign site
First Pint on GitHub Pages
Standalone site for publicans, CAMRA branches and first-timers.
Summer 2026
Still pouring after 35 days
A real-world trial of Freshkask at The Vine Inn — and why it matters for the future of cask ale. Read the full piece →
In early June I wrote in The Spectator that the World Cup would not save England’s pubs. Nowhere is that difficulty sharper than with cask. Once a traditional cask is tapped, most quieter pubs have a window of two to five days at best.
On 24 June 2026 we put two Jennings beers on in Freshkask vessels: Back Yam and Cocker Hoop. A heatwave arrived and the cellar cooling failed. We improvised with ice packs, wet towels and fans. At fourteen days both beers were still clear, bright and true to style. One vessel was still pouring in superb condition on 29 July — thirty-five days after it first went on.
The Vine Trial · flipbook
Open full screenThe Vine Inn, Cumnor
11 Abingdon Road, Cumnor, Oxfordshire OX2 9QN. Village pub with beer garden, hand pumps, and the ordinary business of looking after regulars and strangers alike.
I also manage two other village pubs in the same area. Between them they are the places where the work of writing, campaigning and keeping cask on the bar actually happens.
Rory Hanrahan is the manager of The Vine Inn, Cumnor, has been a multi-site publican for over twenty years, was born above the pub his family has owned since 1721, and writes regularly for The Spectator, Spiked and The Telegraph.