The Brewery Tap, North End, Portsmouth

A good old-fashioned Victorian high street free house consisting of a single square bar with a small yard at the back and a rather odd arrangement of toilets upstairs. The toilets' décor is reminiscent of an Edwardian brothel, but the similarity ends there. There is a good local feel to the place, with some good-natured banter from the locals and a perfunctory welcome from the staff. The bar has wooden floorboards which look like they should have sawdust on them, but of course they don't. The only eyesore is an extremely ugly fireplace surround that should be consigned to the tip without delay. There is a gaming machine, a dartboard, a large tv screen and a jukebox to provide entertainment. Three ales on, Director's, London Pride and Landlord. There was also a pump marked 'Guest', which was dry. I had a pint of Landlord which is usually a safe bet, and was in very good condition. I'd be happy to drop in again for a few pints when passing, and it's worthy of inclusion in a crawl.

they've lost the atmosphere and good feeling this place had. not sure of modern look to it. looks like they've tried to hard.

Now up & running, as I passed by on the bus I noticed they have 2 real ale & cider festivals over the forthcoming Easter & Wedding bank holidays, I did not have time to note dates or details to add to PuG, but their web site has phone number should you be interested