Oakham Ales came into existence in October 1993 when John Wood, having been made redundant by Pearl Insurance, decided to make use of his twenty years experience as a home brewer and try his hand in the commercial world of brewing. The plant was purpose built by Brewcare and installed in two units on a small industrial estate near Oakham station in Leicestershire.

John initially produced two beers, JHB and Old Tosspot and added Hunky Dory early in 1995. His beers rapidly proved popular with local pubs and beer festivals and the brewery won awards at Nottingham, Lincoln and Peterborough festivals as well as the CAMRA Dan Kane award.

In October 1995 John sold the business to Paul Hook, the owner of Charters Bar, Peterborough. The brewing was taken over by John Bryan, who had been working with John Wood for some time and who had recently attended a brewing course at Malton.

In January 1996 the brewery was extended into an additional unit on the estate and additional plant and air conditioned storage added. The company bought the old Labour Exchange in Peterborough and started conversion into a brewery and pub. The Brewery Tap opened in October 1998 and the final brewery move was completed by May 1999. The new plant is much bigger and changes in water caused some early difficulties, but the brewer insisted that all brews had to be the same as the old plant and his determination has paid off.

Over the years Oakham Ales has gone from strength to strength, added numerous new brews to its award winning portfolio and spread its distribution nationwide.