The Albert Inn, Hitchin

Official site of The Albert Inn - www.thealbertpub.com

Official site of The Albert Inn - www.thealbertpub.com

Facebook page of The Albert Inn - m.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Albert Inn - m.facebook.com

I think the pub may have changed hands since the previous review, though a lot of the details remain as described. There are two hand pumps, the regular beer being GK IPA in pretty good condition (NBSS 3.5), with a constantly changing beer on the second. I was here after watching Luton Town blow their chances of staying up, so I needed a beer, and made good time off the rail replacement bus that dropped us off. Time for a pint and then back to the station for a train to St Pancras. The Albert is certainly handily placed in that regard, but if I were a resident of Hitchin I'm not sure I would call in more than once a year, just to see if the regular beer had reverted to something more to my taste.

This is a fairly basic local’s pub that seemingly picks up a decent amount of passing trade by virtue of being the closest pub to Hitchin station. The pub has a decent sized seating space to the front and a couple of narrower seating areas either side of the servery, which is located off-centre to the rear of the room. The bar has a plain panelled counter front with a dark wood canopy and mirrored bar back. The room is carpeted and broken up by a large pillar right in the very middle of the pub, which implies that the room was once divided into two by a wall running from the front to back down the centre. The walls are painted in an off-white shade for the most part, with a notable coloured feature wall to the rear. Seating is kept to basic tables and chair arrangements in the front section, although these give way to a couple of low benches in front of a fireplace to the rear left, which were next to what I assumed were two low tables but could just as easily be a couple more benches. A couple more tables have been squeezed into the very narrow space to the right of the servery, although it looked like things might open out a little to the very rear here, but I didn’t get around to properly exploring. Modern etched glass windows bear the pub’s name and other decorative features are limited to various lino cut prints dotted around the room and not a whole lot else. A door behind the bar leads down to a small basement room of little interest and a decent enough beer garden, with additional outdoor seating also available in a small walled-off area to the front of the pub. Music played quietly in the background and there were only a handful of other customers in on a late Thursday evening, resulting in a bit of a lifeless atmosphere compared to several other pubs around town. I think there were just two handpulls on the bar, one of which was unclipped, leaving the sole option of Butcombe Bitter, which was in reasonable shape. I had to wait quite a while to get served, as the bar was unmanned on arrival, but the landlady eventually emerged, offering apologies as she’d been out the back trying to fix some bit of malfunctioning kit. I found this place a little to basic and characterless to properly warm to, although the friendly service and lack of pretentions were definite plus points. As far as station pubs go, you could do a lot worse than while away the time here until your next train, but to properly appreciate what Hitchin’s pub scene has to offer, I’d suggest exploring elsewhere first.

A rough-and-ready corner-plot boozer between the station and town. A few choice characters were parked on the benches out front and the interior came across a little dingy with most of the benches surrounding the staple-shaped bar occupied, and meant a stare or two in my general direction. Despite the misgivings, five pumps were spotted, although only two were in action, offering Woodforde's Wherry and Adnam's Broadside (Tring's Colley Dog was reversed). Plumping for the Wherry, the bespectacled, grey pony-tailed barman poured me a pint than asked me to taste - it looked and tasted OK, but he wasn't happy with the colour (he thought it had poured cloudy) and insisted I take a pint from a fresh barrel already racked. After clearing the lines and pulling through, he still wasn't happy so offered me the Broadside at no additional cost: great customer service and something I wasn't expecting from outwards appearances. Always good to be surprised, but it's no destination venue.

The Albert Inn is a corner pub that is fairly close to Hitchin train station. Once inside the bar faces in a single roughly U shaped room,the floor is carpeted and there is comfy bench seating and small stools and normal tables and chairs for seating. There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Tring Side Pocket,which was a nice drink,i also noted Adnams Broadside. The background music was Rock type which i like. I thought this was a very pleasant and comfortable pub to have a drink in. Pub visited 17/6/2017