The Old Barge, Hertford

This was originally an Ind Coope house that is set just over a narrow bridge off the town centre by the canal where there were lots of geese and ducks that could have made ideal Xmas dinners. Inside it's open plan with wooden floorboards and a smallish area to the left as you enter with some sort of couch in front of a fireplace. As you go right the bar stretches down a long narrow room with an area at the end that looks like it is set up for dining. There were three ciders available and six beers which were Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Cross Bay Nightfall, Elgood's Cambridge Bitter, Theakston's Xmas Ale, Doom Bore and St Austell Tribute. To me this was a fairly mainstream beer selection for a pub that proclaims to be an Ale House on the sign outside. The price of the Cross Bay Nightfall (£3.75) which is a 3.8% ABV beer was a bit steep for my liking. Having said that it was in very good nick and it seemed a pleasant enough place. It's GBG 2015 listed and probably deserves it based on my brief visit.

Also pleased to report that on my recent visit, the Old Barge was back to ‘rude health’ on the beer front with all ten pumps in operation. Granted, there were 8 ales and ciders available with the St Austell’s Tribute and Sharps Doombar being doubled up on the two sets of pumps, but these were complemented by a good offering of other regional brewery beers meaning the Old Barge remains one of the best places for beer choice in Hertford. These included Dark Star Hop Head, Hook Norton First Light and Oxfordshire Triple B and all the ones we tried were in good condition. A decent food menu is also available, which we tried for the first time and cannot fault the two mains we had for quality and quantity. As previously mentioned The Old barge is a little walk from the Town centre, but is well worth searching out and is especially useful as a base for walking the Lee navigation.

Slightly hidden away from the town centre, but in a good location adjacent to the Lee Navigation and some outside seating which offers a pleasant place to sit if the weather allows. Ten handpumps, with two duplicates, giving a decent choice of eight real ales from near and afar. My pint of their 'OB Session' beer (£3.19) was fine and I would happily have stayed to try some of the others had I more time. Rather good.

This is one of the few pubs in Hertford that ale other than McMullens can be found and all of the seven available were from different breweries. There was also an interesting range of premium lagers available alongside Old Rosie cider and a standard draught selection. This is a nice pub by the river although the outside seating all seemed to be on the opposite side to the water and most was located by the car park which is unfortunate. I thought that the barmaid was very friendly and the locals seemed like a decent bunch meaning that I would return if in the area again.