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Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Monday, 2nd January 2023
With picture contributions to 5000 other pubs
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Detail Pages
Windsor Castle, Lye, Stourbridge
Lye
Stourbridge
DY9 7DG
Served areas
Windsor Castle Inn
This sunshine makes us thirsty! How about you? Cider anyone?
6:28 PM May 10th 2018 from Instagram
Reviews of Windsor Castle (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Windsor Castle
And here I am again! This is now run by Printworks brewery though the Sadlers signs are still everywhere for reasons unknown and it did seem a bit amateurish. Interior layout pretty similar to what I remember though there seems to be a bit of a feminine touch about it now. No signs to indicate where the toilets are, which is weird – that’s kind of important in a pub. Our first thought as we approached the bar was that there were too many cask on and my Red was grot (NBSS 1). I did take it back and after much hooing and hawing I got a replacement after a chap (who reminded me of Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters II) appeared from the back and agreed it was vile. Otherwise, we tried the Apple Strudel (3) and the Caleb (3.5). Very quiet (everywhere else either side of this was busy on Saturday evening) and expensive for the area. No cobs either! Doesn’t feel like it’s going to last long on this showing.
November 2012
Half-timbered brewery tap for Sadlers ales. The interior is quite a modernised take on the traditional interior, clean and bright with sofas and fairly plain walls. Ten ales on the go at any one time, seven ‘regular’ Sadlers beers with their monthly specials in addition. As this is the tap for the brewery next door, the price of the ale is satisfyingly cheap. They also have a food slant here, with a couple of dining areas where one can sample such delights as real ale sausages and beer bread. There's a TV for the sports, along with unobtrusive background music. Last visit there was an odd smell about the place which made my nose curl a bit. Semi-posh pub grub is offered. The half-barrel wall rests were an interesting bit of décor. Maybe not as characterful as other ‘must-visits’ in the Black Country but nonetheless is well-worth a stop for a few pints. Rated 7
On 17th January 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Windsor Castle
Quite a traditional-looking pub in an imposing location a short distance up the hill from Lye railway station. However, entering via a small patio garden, it is slightly more modern inside than you might expect in some parts, with a couple of side rooms laid out for dining. The single bar has an impressive line of ten handpumps covering the Printworks Brewery range, with seven different beers available on this late October visit, including the Baskerville blood orange ale (£3.90) with a rather creepy (but presumably Halloween seasonal) clip.
On 1st December 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Windsor Castle
Between 2004 and 2015, this large pub on the main road through Lye was the brewery tap for the Sadler's Brewery, which operated from an adjacent outbuilding until moving to a new premises close to the train station. Despite this demotion of sorts, the pub still showcases the brewery's wares and there was an extensive range of Sadler's beers available on my Saturday night visit, all detailed on a helpful blackboard to the side of the bar. The options on this occasion were Mud City Stout, Hop Bomb, Mellow Yellow, IPA, Worcester Sorcerer, Helihopper, Peaky Blinder and Gladstone, from which I decided to try the Mellow Yellow, which came in at £3.40 a pint and was in very good shape, but not really one of my favourite Sadler's beers.
The pub is very different to the traditional brewery taps that you can find across the Black Country, having been thoroughly refurbished to create a feel that is closer to gastro pub than proper boozer. You enter into a tile floored corridor with a number of seating areas off to either side. Each of these areas has plenty of pew and chair seating and I was surprised to find pretty much everyone in them was eating. The walls have been painted in neutral colours and are hop lined in places with various black and white photos, decorative mirrors and other such staple items of decor on show. The corridor emerges into the rear bar area with the servery along the back wall. This is a spacious flagstone floor space with high tables and chairs dotted around plus a drinking ledge under the front window. A TV screen was showing muted coverage of The Voice, which must be the most pointless use of a TV imaginable. The bar has a nice counter and pleasant hop-lined bar back with the aforementioned drinks boards to the left and an upright piano to the right under a few CAMRA awards. From here you can move through again to another room on the right hand side of the pub, set on a slightly lower level in a bare boarded space. This room had a lot of standard seating and very plain decor, with an almost echoey feel to it, which meant it was the least popular spot in the pub.
I was a little surprised with this place, which turned out to be very different to what I'd had in mind. For a pub where arguably the beer is the main draw, the place didn't feel particularly well set up for drinkers, although the multiple room layout means it's probably possible to find somewhere to escape the diners at most times. With the new dedicated brewery bar just a short walk away and the fine beer range in the Shovel just up the road, this is no longer the essential stop off it once was, but it remains a great showcase for a good brewery and an integral part of the area's pub scene.
On 9th April 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
View more reviews of Windsor Castle (13)
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- Official site of Windsor Castle - www.windsorcastleinn.co.uk
- Facebook - Windsor Castle Inn
- Twitter - Windsor Castle Inn
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Windsor Castle - whatpub.com
Stourbridge Junction, 1.24 miles, 23 min walk (show)
Stourbridge Junction, 1.24 miles, 23 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 27 October 2014 by Aqualung .
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Car Park : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 09 April 2017 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 27 October 2013 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 17 January 2023 by Quinno _
