Meet the Publican - The Ale Wagon, Leicester

Returning to Leicester City centre, this edition features Steve Hoskins, licensee of the Ale Wagon on Charles Street.

Born in 1959 into a brewing family with a long tradition of ale production, Steve has two older brothers, Paul & Phil, and a sister Daphne.  Steve followed his Grandmother’s and Father’s footsteps by beginning his education at Belgrave School (known to its pupils as “Nashy Bugs and Fleas”), and then he went on to Ellis School.  Following Secondary School, Steve completed his education at Gateway College and finally Leicester Polytechnic.  Whilst still at school, he helped out in the brewery, which his Grandfather, Tom, had acquired, firstly by marrying into the Penn family and then buying out the other half of the company in 1908.  Steve however didn’t join the family firm when he’d completed his studies, because brother Phil had already started learning the art of brewing upon the untimely death of their Father, George.

A career in the Civil Service was cut short after two years, when Steve and brother Phil set up Hoskins & Oldfield Brewery in 1984, following the sale of the Hoskins family brewing business to the Hoar brothers.  In common with many small breweries, Hoskins & Oldfield found difficulty in establishing regular outlets for their beers, but eventually a number of accounts were secured, and the situation improved following a couple of awards for their brews – firstly, Christmas Noggin won Beer of the Festival at the Portsmouth Winter Ales Festival in 1992 and the Hoskins & Oldfield Mild was voted Champion Mild of Britain in 1994.

As the Government’s Beer Orders began to create more problems for small brewers, Steve decided the only way to secure a regular showcase for his and Phil’s beers was to open a pub of his own.  The former Queen’s Hotel was the answer and, after much hard work on a building neglected for some years, Steve and Phil opened the Ale Wagon for business in September 1999.  Steve continued brewing for another year, using the plant at Lichfield/JohnThompson to produce the Hoskins & Oldfield brews, but the demands of the pub left little time for brewing.  As the Ale Wagon’s business became established, Daphne returned to Leicester from Cornwall, joining her two brothers at the pub, and although Steve is the Licensee, the Ale Wagon is run as a family business.

Hoskins & Oldfield Brewery ceased production in 2000 and all beers are now outsourced from Tower Brewery at Burton-Upon-Trent, but plans are in hand to commence brewing with plant being installed at the Ale Wagon, when alteration and refurbishment work on the pub are completed.

When he’s not working in the pub, Steve spends his spare time renovating British motorbikes, in which he has a great interest.  If not playing with motorbikes, he is likely to be found searching for old magazines, books and any other material relating to steam trains.  Regular visits to preserved steam railways up and down the country are carefully planned, when delivering beers to wholesalers or other free trade licensees, and the collection of ales for the pub’s annual beer festival allows plenty of opportunity for the same.  Steve admits that beer and pubs are his first interest, but it’s clear from his conversation that steam trains and motorbikes are also very important in his life.

The Ale Wagon was Leicester CAMRA’s Pub of the Year in 2004 and Steve is rightly pleased to have been awarded that accolade, along with others that he and his family have won for their beers over a number of years.

Regular beers at the Ale Wagon include Brigadier Bitter, Hob Bitter, White Dolphin and EXS from the Hoskins Brothers, plus frequently changing guest beers.

Mark Taylor

This page last updated: April 15, 2011

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