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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
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The Hope, Heaton Norris, Stockport
Stockport
SK4 2LL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 9 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about The Hope
Paid a visit to the Hope on Saturday evening. A few people in but not packed. The owners have either sold up, or are in the process of selling up, but the pub is still currently open. The Fool Hardy Ales brewery previously based here is now defunct and from what I can gather the brewer has moved to Howard Town.
11 hand pulls at the bar, of which 5 were on, so still a fair amount of choice even with the Fool Hardy beers no longer on the pumps.
Quiet and traditional with a room either side of the bar. Payment accepted via cash or card. No background music, just conversation. A bit of a trek from the centre but worth the detour, in my opinion.
On 18th October 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Hope
Enjoyed our visit to this Fool Hardy brewery pub with its massive ale selection with 11 to choose from. Around half from their own brewery plus guests. The downside for us was coming here after a big pub crawl of many good ale houses, but we still enjoyed Fool Hardy Rhidonkolous and Crafty Monkey Sunset Now. There are keg tap choices too plus foreign beers.
On 20th January 2019
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about The Hope
Doesn't look much from the outside but the inside is a different story if you are a real ale lover. As others have said, the room to the right is where the cask ale is and I think there were 10 or 11 pumps, which may have included a cider. A fair few of these are from their own Fool Hardy brewery and their Renowned Ginger was very pleasant with a prominent ginger kick. Overwhelmed by choice we stayed for a second drink, this time I went for the Duck Dastardly by Green Duck Beer Co, which was a dandelion and burdock stout - pleasant and unusual in equal measure, and in great condition. My drinking accomplice had the Russian Roulette (by Fool Hardy) and I had a little sip and this was also a decent ale. This pub obviously has no problem in keeping its real ale in good nick despite the quantity it has on offer. This is a large pub with a traditional feel inside, and a great selection of real ale. Pricing was middle of the road - not outrageously expensive and not suspiciously cheap. I would be more than happy to come back again!
On 3rd April 2018
- rating: 9
[User has posted 750 recommendations about 598 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Hope
Still bearing the external signage from its days as a Hardy Crown Ales house, this pub is now home to the onsite Fool Hardy Ales brewery and has, by all accounts, been transformed from an unloved pub into one of the town’s top ale destinations. The pub is split into two roughly equal sections either side of the central servery area and each with their own entrance from the front porch. To the left is a Vault with some decent looking seating options and a nice set of display cabinets full of old bottles. A games room area can be found to the rear and here you can enjoy a few of the rarer pub entertainment staples, such as table football, pinball and retro arcade machines. It’s a pleasant enough area, but this side of the bar doesn’t have the full cask ale selection, which instead you will have to enter the right hand lounge bar to find. This is a large split-level room with decent carpeting and a smart dark wood servery with a tile banded counter and pump clip lined bar back to the left. Fixed bench seating runs around the perimeter of the room and some high quality breweriana fills a lot of the wall space along with some nice paintings and a few information boards. A bookcase in the far corner was full of old paperbacks and I noticed a stack of old Good Beer Guides near the bar as well.
The friendly barmaid explained how she had helped brew a couple of the Fool Hardy beers that were on the bar, so I sampled one of them called Rhidonkulous, which was a decent enough sessionable brew. Other Fool Hardy beers included Oozy Rat in a Sanitary Zoo (it’s a palindrome apparently), Riddle, Rash Dash, Rhum and Risky Blonde, whilst guest options included Bude Neet Light Ale, Salopian Oracle, Outstanding 3.9, Thirst Class Green Bullet Pale Ale and Dark Star Equinox. A decent keg selection can be viewed from the vault and beer menus detail what must be the most comprehensive Belgian beer menu this side of Antwerp.
There was a lot going on here and I didn’t really feel I was able to do this pub any kind of justice as part of a crawl – it’s the sort of place that demands repeat visits and I can easily imagine losing whole days in here. An excellent brewpub and the pick of a very good bunch of pubs around the Heaton Norris area.
On 5th January 2018
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Hope
A brewpub (Fool Hardy, a reference presumably to the Hardy Crown Ales exterior signage and rooftop lettering) and our first stop in a pub ‘up the hill’. The lounge (with cask on) is right from the porch; left to the vaults which houses keg, pool, darts, pinball, music and semi-circular button back seating. There’s also a teeny room behind this with table football. The comfy lounge is a little opened-out inside but definitely feels like it’s in the early part of the 1980s, feel-wise. The less said about the confusing pink gents, the better. Six of the homebrew beers on plus guests including Dark Star and Salopian. My Rhidonkulous was rather good actually and in great shape. Also a large range of Belgian bottles too. This was one I hadn’t previously heard of before our crawl, and to that end it was the most impressive new find of the day. Well done.
On 1st December 2017
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Hope
Solidly attractive detached pub and micro-brewery, originally built as a Hardys' Crown Ales house (as evidenced by the imposing lettering at the roofline). Once inside, you find it retains a twin-bar layout - a vault to the left of the entrance (with a games room further back) and a larger, busier, slightly split-level lounge to the right. Unfussy, semi-traditional furniture and decor. As the Fool Hardy tap, we found six 'house' beers - from which I went for the Raum coffee stout (£1.65, half) - and a decent selection of guest ales on a total of 11 handpumps. Overall, well worth the walk out from Stockport town centre.
On 27th November 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Hope
Pub number 9 for me on last week’s PuG crawl of Stockport and a very strong contender for Pub Of The Day, not least because I was so relieved to find such a good pub after climbing up the Wellington Road from St Petersgate.
Well described by previous reviewers for our crawl I noted Riddle, Risky Blond, Rash Dash, Rhidonku, Raum and Oozy Rat Fool Hardy beers on alongside Neet Light Ales, Salopian Oracle, Dark Star Equinox, Thirst Class Ale Green Bullet Pale and Outstanding Brewery 3.9. Apologies to the in-house brewery but as Salopian is one of my favourites I went for the Oracle and very good it was too..
I can only concur with the previous reviewer, if you find yourself in Stockport invest in the shoe leather and make sure you don’t miss this one.
On 22nd November 2017
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Hope Inn
A very traditional exterior and home to the Fool Hardy brewery,this is a proper boozer.There are two room,so head right for the real ale pumps.This room has a raised section to one side,fitted bench seating with stools and a lived in feel.At the bar there will be 6 Fool Hardy ales along with 5 guests which on my trip were Salopian Rhapsody,Kingdom's Bitter,Isaac Poad 84 IPA,Abbeydale Absolution and Outstanding Brewery 3.9. The home ales will rotate depending on the brewing cycle ,my Risky Blonde was in good shape and all ales sampled by the crew were well kept.
The left hand vault contains 9 kegs and real ciders and the beer menu describes a very large bottle selection .It is clear that everyone here is motivated by the persuit of beer excellence ,and although this was the first stop on a crawl of Stockport,it remained one of the best visited.Don't miss out on this gem.
On 26th July 2017
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Hope Inn
A red brick pub with two decent sized rooms. The left hand room is more of a taproom with a pinball machine and table football. The right hand room is more of a lounge, fairly basic, but comfortable. This is the home of Fool Hardy ales and there were 6 of their beers on the bar plus 4 guests. There's a small beer yard to the rear, but it wasn't the weather for it on my visit. I really liked this one, it's a very good pub. I'll definitely be back.
On 10th January 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Hope Inn
Home of the Fool Hardy Brewery Jan 2013. They won local Camra Pub of the Year this year, and after visiting you can see why. The pub consists of two rooms, a traditional lounge side on the left, with bar, and the busier bar side on the right, with the main bar. We went into the main bar, where we found 11 handpumps, displaying 5 of their Fool Hardy ales, plus guests.
We tried the Fool Hardy Rou Shou, Risky Blond and Reckless, all were excellent and full of taste. We also went for the Red Willow Mirthless, Kite Brewery Billywynt and Ma Pardoe's Old Swan Ale. I also managed a half of cider named Malvern Magic, which was also in great shape. Staff and fellow drinkers were friendly and chatty.
On 28th April 2014
- rating: 10
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]