pubs | Wait until next year

August 26, 2026

Pub Thoughts #16 (The Non-Review)

A pint of beer on a wooden table in a pub

I visited a pub recently that, before I went in, I really wanted to review. I drank there, periodically at least, years ago. It had closed during Covid and my assumption was that it would never come back. And yet, here it was, recently re-opened. A pub back from the dead is a miracle in this day and age. And I wanted to support the pub, both through buying and pint and through sharing the good news to my tens of readers.

And yet. My excitement soon dissipated. The interior had been gutted. Sure, it had been a little old-fashioned rather than “traditional”. It probably needed a bit of a refresh. Maybe there had been a load of damage from it sitting empty for years. But it was still a shame to see the place stripped back to brickwork, the bar re-situated to lurk near the back rather than welcome near the front, the nooks and crannies that gave the place character gone from all the knocking-through that had gone on.

But I didn’t want to judge things on appearances alone. So I went to the bar and the welcome was…fine? An apparent regular and his dog on a retractable lead were managing between them to fence off the entire bar. And the regular was pretty insistent on maintaining his conversation with the barman rather than letting anyone else get near the bar. When I finally managed to get served it was all a bit tepid. No real hello, all a bit gruff.

I asked about the menu as I fancied a bite to eat. The menu was limited, which sometimes can be a good thing! But it was all a bit unfocused – one obvious lunch item, one clear dinner item, a salad, a ploughman’s. It just didn’t really work.

Then the beer. I went for the local cask. Now, I know in this ridiculous summer it isn’t easy to keep anything cool, but the pint was warm, chewy, a bit tired. It felt like there wasn’t necessarily anyone with good cellarship involved.

I could hear the regular and the barman now having a chat at one of the tables. The barman couldn’t understand why they weren’t getting more business. The regular had a number of loud and impractical ideas, as regulars often do.

It all felt a great shame. I could list all manner of things that might help – try welcoming new faces properly, look after your beer, think through your menu a bit more, try to make the place feel lived in rather than a building site – but stating all that seems a bit…mean? And really, what do I know anyway.

A pub that’s just opened will make mistakes. There might be really good reasons for the problems I encountered. Hatchet jobs won’t help new pubs survive. But also writing glowing reviews of underwhelming places won’t help either. So, I decided to keep the whole review anonymous, a non-review.

And maybe that is pointless. But it does make me think about how beer writing can sometimes feel like little more than a form of industry cheerleading. And that some of the best and most bracing writing is from writers willing to be critical. But I do think there is something about picking your battles. A big pubco or a genuinely horrible boozer both probably deserve to be called out. A little pub giving it a go in a relentlessly difficult market probably doesn’t. Punching up and punching down and all that.

I will give this place another go, see if they are ironing out the issues, and find out if it is becoming more of a real place, creating its own identity. There is definitely potential, it could have a certain charm, it could work. It is early days.

It is easier said than done, but maybe the best pub reviews require multiple visits. You learn about a place over time, pubs can be wildly inconsistent depending on the time of day, who is working there, who is drinking there. No bad thing sometimes. I like knowing some pubs work better on certain days. But it means I shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. Next time I visit a pub I should consider if I just caught somewhere on a good day. Or a bad one.

June 26, 2026

Pub Thoughts #14 (Sport at the Spoons)

A corner of a Wetherspoons pub. A TV showing football is mounted high up on the wall. There is bright white light fitting hanging from the ceiling. Pump clips are on the wall.

Several years ago I came to the realisation that I really don’t enjoy watching football in pubs. There might be a good atmosphere, but there is every chance there won’t be…especially if the game isn’t going the right way. I’m not a huge fan of football commentary but I would still prefer to hear the analysis of professionals rather the addled and misinformed musings of a pub bore behind me. I’d prefer not to crane my neck trying not to miss a key moment. I’d rather not miss swathes of the game entirely because I’m at the bar or trying to get in the loos. I’m just not sure that watching sport in a pub, as popular as it is, actually works.

And yet…the other day I found myself needing to get myself some tea, I fancied a drink after a day in a warm office followed by a hotter commute, and realised there was a World Cup game on I would quite like to watch. So, I headed to the local Spoons as it ticked all the relevant boxes.

I remember a time when Wetherspoons didn’t have TVs, prided themselves on not having them. But they are here now. This particular Spoons usually has CBeebies playing in the more family-oriented end – a really smart call, in my book. And across the rest of the pub usually has BBC News on, just to add a little more depression and desperation to your Wetherspoons Experience. But when there is a major sporting event on terrestrial television, like the World Cup, they stick it on.

And it worked! There is table service through the app so you don’t have to worry about a scrum at the bar – as much as there are mixed views about table service in pubs, it works brilliantly when the football is on. Much better having a few staff move about than the whole pub, and getting everyone on a table so they have somewhere to be served. No more tactical dives for a pint during a break in play or rushing to the bar at half-time.

The TV was silenced so it didn’t dominate. Pub bores (if there were any) didn’t need to shout over the telly, so we were spared hearing their insights. You could watch it if you wanted, but ignore it if you didn’t.

I think the inherent facelessness and impersonal nature of Wetherspoons is sometimes its downfall, but in situations like this is its greatest strength. A place where you can do what you want, not be disturbed and have food and drink brought to your table promptly and professionally. A place to watch football, a place to completely ignore it.

It wasn’t your usual football crowd either, and all the better for it. Couples having an early dinner. Families sat surrounded by shopping bags, resting their legs after a bit of a spree. Teens gathered furtively in a booth. Young lads in Adidas and gold chains sipping their Stella, politely. An old woman sat on her own without food and drink watching videos on her phone. I wish she had headphones, though.

Of course it helped that it wasn’t an England game, I think that might be a step too far, but it was a nice surprise to find the whole experience to be far better than I expected. I wasn’t just not overly annoyed or frustrated by it all but actually really enjoyed it.

2 Comments

June 5, 2026

Pub Thoughts #13 (Tamworth Tap)

Interior of the Tamworth Tap, there are hops and fairy lights hanging from the ceiling, lots of old Belgian beer ads on the walls and wooden pews as seating

The Tamworth Tap is a three-time CAMRA National Pub of the Year. I felt a degree of trepidation before entering. There’s always a worry with anything so acclaimed that it might not live up to its billing, might be a disappointment, might be something I just don’t get.

I get this feeling with books, films, TV, as well as pubs. I don’t think it is quite inverted snobbery, a sense that if something is popular it can’t be good. More, I think it is a feeling that perhaps my tastes might not be calibrated with those who have brought forth the praise. And this is even more keenly felt with anything CAMRA. It is a good organisation, doing good things, but sometimes the pubs its members value can be…odd choices. Other times they get it spot-on, but there is no guarantee. I have spent a few afternoons collared by a CAMRA Man telling me their pub philosophy and their views have rarely matched mine.

So, trepidation, hesitation, doubt.

The backbar of the Tamworth Tap. There are a wide variety of spirits on the shelves and retro illuminated sign saying "Off Licence - WINES & SPIRITS"

I need not have worried. The Tamworth Tap is wonderful, majestic even. It is a validation of whatever process CAMRA undertake when choosing their pub of the year. It’s as good as a pub could be. It’s one of those places where you just keep ticking off your list of what would be in your dream pub.

There are lots of nooks to tuck yourself into. Little booths created out of old pews. A bar as a beacon in the middle, with an old illuminated off licence sign guiding you to a thoughtful selection of cask, keg and spirits – a mix of modern, unusual and old classics. Old Belgian beer ads adorn a wall. Pub memorabilia is dotted about to pique your interest or trigger your nostalgia. Hops and fairy lights hang off the ceiling to soften the corners. Even the music is perfect, a great selection at a volume that’s the ultimate sweet spot – where it masks the chat of others but isn’t so loud that you can’t be heard yourself. Everything adds to a feeling of welcome, cosiness, a home from home.

Frickles (fried pickles) and a pint of beer on a wooden pub table

And then the food! Not just a textbook selection of weird and wonderful crisps (Grouse and Whinberry, anyone?), but also rolls at the bar and freshly cooked snacks from the kitchen out back, essentially pub tapas without any of the pretension that phrase might suggest, something to keep you going but nothing to fill you up, including “frickles” – fried pickles that might just be the perfect accompaniment to a pint.

And then there’s the people. The staff are friendly, helpful, well-informed but not overbearing. The patrons are mixed – not always a given in a place like this. Old boys, solo drinkers, families, a good balance of male and female It is not overrun by Beer Tourists (apart from, of course, myself) and all the better for it. This is somewhere that is lived in, frequented, nurtured, supported, a real living pub rather than an exhibit of pub-ness.

There’s even a display above the door showing the next train times from Tamworth, for if you decide that perhaps its a little too hasty to start a new life here and that you better get home at some point.

One of the greats.

4 Comments

May 29, 2026

Pub Thoughts #12 (The King Billy, Nottingham)

The exterior of the King Billy pub. A sign hangs off the wall with a picture of a goat.

The World’s Greatest Pub Blogger, RetiredMartin, will occasionally consider a pub one of his Top 100. This place, The King Billy, is one of them. And rightly so. It is unlikely I will ever visit as many pubs as Martin, and will certainly never reach his levels of Pub Expertise, but this pub is definitely in my top 100 too. And probably quite high in that list too. It’s a magical pub.

Sometimes you enter a pub and right away know that it just works. It is cosy, almost a little too cosy for comfort, but that gives it this immediate sense of hubbub and homeliness and place. There are different spaces, each with a slightly different feel, yet all part of a whole.

A row of empty chairs in a pub, lined up against a wall. There are old pictures of landscapes on the wall. In the distance is a strange doll with a little stuffed bear

There’s a bar in the middle that feels a little like a cockpit, serving each space and orchestrating the pub-ness, driving it even, a centrifugal force that influences the whole interior, that doesn’t just hand out the drinks but sets the tone, the feel, the fun.

All good pubs feel like someone’s living room. A public house, public home. The King Billy feels like the living room of someone’s particularly barmy aunt, and I mean that as the highest praise. The walls are covered in old paintings. Toby jugs line a wall. Knick knacks abound. A framed advert of a local visit from Su Pollard. A slightly creepy doll training a stuffed bear. A tartan carpet, a means of ensuring that even the floor isn’t plain. Detail, texture, stuff, everywhere.

A framed advert announcing Su Pollard is making an appearance at Sneinton Market. It looks quite old.

The Cup Final is on but there is enough entertainment in just scanning the walls. You can look around and piece together a whole history.

A man drinks from a pewter jug, another good sign. I love pubs where the regulars have their own receptacles. There’s scattered chat about the game, differences of opinion sportingly accepted. A man yells “Get that flag up!” Couples chat with half an eye on the telly. A man on his own spreads out a set of postcards on his table, takes a photo of them. Soon it’s half-time.

There’s a tremendous selection of cask and keg, and a just as good a selection of snacks. Life is good with a well-kept pint and a packet of honey mustard pretzel pieces. It’s a good place to stop after wandering around Nottingham’s trendy Sneinton Market. Catch your breath. Plan your next move.

Like all good pubs you can make it whatever you want it to be, but I think it is probably at its best with a quick pint on your own on a Saturday afternoon, with a bit of people-watching, a bit of football-watching and a bit of pub-watching.

Top 100, easily.

2 Comments

May 22, 2026

Pub Thoughts #11 (Bleary-eyed notes from a weekend in Nottingham)

Interior of Brew Tavern, Nottingham. White wooden-slatted walls adorned with a Bass mirror and various old metal beer adverts

A fantastic weekend in Nottingham with friends – visited lots of pubs and bars and got at least some kind of sense of the kind of Beer City that Nottingham might be. At least in terms of the city centre I would say it felt like one side was very craft-y while the other was Mega Booze Dome-esque. There were a few good traditional pubs, but it didn’t feel like there were loads of them – and even the ones that were there seemed to offer far more that the usual trad fare.

I carried around a notebook with the intention of taking some notes, making some observations and generally having something to remember the weekend by. I’m not sure how successful I was – in reality I wanted to spend more time chatting and taking everything in rather than scribbling away in a corner.

First stop was the Brew Tavern, right by the station. There was a time when station pubs were almost universally bleak, depressing places. The kind of pubs people went to out of necessity or desperation, not choice. Now, there are plenty of great places to drink either before or after a train journey. This place is a converted cabman’s hut, and I’d love to see more pubs in disused railway architecture. It really ties the whole experience together and adds some character and soul. I went for a pint of Bass, as is obligatory for any beer blogger visiting the Midlands. It was excellent. A lad came in and downed an £11 pint of very strong craft. A group of old boys gathered before the football. A bloke on his own commented on the music, “A bit repetitive!” The track was skipped, to something equally repetitive.

Kilpin Beer Café was lovely. Spacious without feeling cavernous. Clean without feeling sterile. Some good continental beer. A really relaxed atmosphere, just the sort of place you could go to with anyone, a good spot to pop into while shopping, or after work.

Interior of Six Barrels, Nottingham. Two men stood at the bar, there are two screens above highlighting beer choices

Six Barrel Drafthouse, while pretty craft-inclined, felt like a proper boozer, a bit rough around the edges in a good way – lived in, well-used and clearly well-loved. It had a really nice feel to the place – a genuine mix of people and a sense that everyone is welcome.

The Tap Room was one of those places where you pour your own beer and then settle up at the end. I love the idea in theory – you can give lots of things a try, you don’t need to commit to pints, you might try something new, there’s no need to wait to be served. In practice I found it all a little stressful. A lively pint isn’t great when the little screen is showing how much you’ve spent on a glass of froth. Even just seeing how much your beer costs as your bill goes up in real-time isn’t exactly…fun. But it was a classy space with friendly service before and after I struggled with the taps.

Interior of the Tap House, Nottingham. A wall of self-service beer taps along a wall, each with a small screen above

Angel Microbrewery had some good beer on and I think worked as a multi-room pub, although was a little unfathomable – one room was absolutely rammed, while another big space upstairs was entirely empty. The kind of place I couldn’t quite get a handle on.

Neon Raptor’s taproom was very much in keeping with a lot of modern taprooms, stripped back aesthetic, hipster-y vibes, but their beer is great, it all felt very relaxed and there was plenty of room to sit or stand outside. It looks like they are moving to a bigger venue soon and I hope they can keep the feel of the current venue.

Interior of Some Where, Beeston. There is a beer fridge, a comfy sofa and a window painted green with the window sill covers in plants.

Somewhere Beerhouse in the suburb of Beeston is a bit of a hidden gem (the town of Beeston is a bit of a hidden gem too, but that’s another story for another time). Somewhere is more a micro-craft-bar than micropub but manages to successfully juggle being funky and cosy at the same time. There was a really interesting and unusual selection of beer on draft, can and bottle and was the kind of place I would happily lose an afternoon in. Really friendly and patient service too.

Barrel Drop is a micropub tucked away on a backstreet back in the city centre and manages to feel like a proper city centre pub despite its size. I really liked the barrels behind the bar converted into draft tap holders, glass holders, somewhere to keep the bar snacks etc. A good range of craft too, including plenty of stuff I hadn’t seen elsewhere.

Interior of Barrel Drop, Nottingham. A view of the back bar, where old barrels have been converted to house various keg taps, to keep glasses and store snacks

A few doors down from Barrel Drop, 400 Rabbits is a cocktail bar and I thought the cocktails were of high quality, a good mix (excuse the pun) of classics and less familiar recipes and were incredible value for money. Any bar with lucha libre decorations works for me too. A cool bar to spend a little time.

Junkyard is next door to the Kilpin and they seem to…maybe be the same place? They certainly appeared to share a garden and staff. Junkyard is less airy and open that Kilpin, more the kind of sparsely decorated, dark and busy craft bar that seemed to be very popular with younger drinkers, but was a bit crammed and noisy for an old fart like me.

So, that’s as much sense as I can get from my notes and my memory. I think Nottingham is an underrated beer destination. There are loads of different bars, a really good selection of beer, a really good atmosphere and a notable mix of ages out and about. Oh, and there’s also the magnificence of the King Billy, but I think that warrants a whole post of its own…

Tag: pubs