The Mermaid, St Albans Central, St. Albans

Just a short walk from the centre of St Albans, the Mermaid is a smart, traditional roadside pub. Inside, we find an L-shaped interior with dark exposed floorboards and a lovely curved bar counter to the right with a matching canopy and mirrored bar back. Seating comprises various pews and benches around the perimeter plus a particularly comfy settle under the front window bay, ably supported by some decent chairs and low stools. The room has half panelled walls with white uppers adorned with a lot of old brewery mirrors, a few black and white photos of various 70's musicians and a collection of beer bottles displayed along a high shelf. There was a nice old Whitbread pub sign on the ceiling for a pub called the Royal Standard, which I've not been able to find any reference to, so I'm not sure where it has come from. A TV in the front corner was showing muted live football with some gentle folk music providing a nice hum of background noise. To the right of the bar there is a small carpeted snug-like area with tub chairs, a dartboard and some high shelves full of books. The pub doesn't have a typical menu, but Pieminister pies were being promoted along with some tasty sounding bar snacks. Live music was also heavily promoted, perhaps explaining the various musician photos around the room and there was a well maintained front patio area with decent bench seating outside the front of the pub. Blackboards behind the bar and on the canopy list the various ales and one of them explained that if you were to apply the new 72% business rates increase in St Albans to your drinks, a pint of beer would rise from £3.60 to £6.20! A very friendly barmaid greeted me on arrival and gave me time to peruse the beer range which comprised North Yorkshire Rocket Fuel, Muirhouse Chocolate Mild, Oakham Citra, Batemans Hooker, Nethergate Azzanewt and Grainstore Rutland Beast. My pint of the Citra was absolutely sublime and had almost vanished from the glass before I'd even managed to sit down. I really liked this place, which happened to be my introduction to the St Albans pub scene. I thought there was a nice relaxed atmosphere within, a good friendly welcome and an interesting and well kept range of ales. It has a traditional feel to it but is set up in such a way that I can see it appealing to a wide range of customers and rewarding repeat visits.

Mauldons Mole Trap, Hanby Rainbow Chaser, Salopian Matrix, Grainstore TenFifty, Adnams Best. Old wood floor, nice studded leather settles, wood tables with cast iron base, wooden stools. Dartboard to rt of bar, opposite wall decorated with old pub & cooperage photos, old pumpclips suggest good rotation policy. Small patio to the rear with 2/3 picnic sets, car park beyond. Two bay windows with upholstered banquettes at the front. Large plasma to left of bar (dk whether they still have sky – was switched off so didn't catch the cricket score). Sarnies £3/4, burgers £4/5, jumbo mixed grill (incl rump steak & lamb chop!) £8.95. Friendly & polite welcome & service, beers in good condition.Very good traditional pub & great start to the day's crawl.

Yep ditto, my remembrances of this final stop on the PuG crawl are a bit hazy as well, so thanks to Blackthorns review below for reminding me what a comfortable traditional old fashioned pub this one is. Remember it being well patronised on this Friday evening with a lively crowd in. Will have to take Blackthorn’s word for the available beers for our visit though as I too only had eyes for the Oakham Citra, which was on splendid form and an excellent way to finish an enjoyable day. Do not get a great call to utilise St Albans train station, but if I did I would certainly make use of the Mermaid..

Being the last pub of our crawl so my recollections are more than a little hazy. I do remember though a nice straightforward traditional pub and I also remember a very nice pint of Oakham Citra,one of my favourite beers.A good stop off.

A good traditional pub, with a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. This was our last pub to visit on our PG summer meet up, before heading off to the train station. The pub had a good range of ales and handsomely noted by Blackthorn a varied range of ciders also. My couple of pints of North Cotswold's Best, were very quaffable and rounded the day off nicely, on a very satisfying days crawl.