Merchants 1688, Lancaster

A highly unusual space ,a long bar with three curved roofed vaults,the first generally available for drinkers ,the other two for diners.Many drinkers however gather outside in a paved beer garden area. There were a lot of handpumps offering on my trip Saltaire Montezumas Triple Choc,Crooked River Bitter (NBSS Good),GAN Pop,Merchants W.I.P.A, and Bank Top Draymans Draught.Decent selection across a mix of styles mark this out as somwhere I should think of returning next time I'm in town.

I visited in June, just to see if beer quality was up to standard for a pub crawl a month later. I found four cask beers on, but as the friendly and helpful staff were keen to point out they usually aim to have up to eight available on Fridays, with beers gradually not being replaced so that there are only three or four in the early part of the week. It was the last pub for most of the intrepid crawlers one month later on a Friday, and there were in fact six beers on, of which I tried two. Both Bank Top Drayman's Draught and Crooked River Bitter were in very good condition, and I even called back the next day and had another Crooked River, which was still very good. Both those beers were £5.10/pint. This pub is a handy distance from the station, which turned out to be just as well when my train was switched from platform 3 to platform 5 at the last minute.

Just down the road from Lancaster station, this is a smart restaurant and bar, set in what appears to be an old wine cellar. You enter via an outdoor seating area with plenty of benches overlooking the road from the station, into a quarry stone floored, narrow room with impressive sandstone walls and the servery down the rear half of the right-hand wall. The bar has a nice dark wood counter and exposed stone bar back, making it a good fit with the pub's general aesthetic. Limited high stool seating can be found in this space, either serving small tables to the front or a drinking ledge along the rear wall. A board on the wall details the cellar's history dating as far back as 1688, including the fact that the ceiling timbers partly derive from the shipwreck of the Pusey Hall. Elsewhere there are old maps and photos of local interest on display. To the left, two doorways lead into good sized side rooms, the first of which is a lounge of sorts, with some decent comfy seating in rows to the front and rear, whilst the second is more of a formal dining room with pre-laid tables ready for diners. A nice indie pop soundtrack was playing on a quiet Monday morning and a few punters slowly started to trickle in as we approached midday. A wide ale range was evident at the bar, including a house beer called Merchants WIPA, Lancaster IPA, Rudgate Ruby Mild and Snow Wonder, Boland Pheasant Plucker and Settle Old Smooth Porter. Unfortunately, it seems this is too wide a range for the pub to support, as my half of the Porter was in fairly poor condition. I think this place has a few good points, such as the use of an interesting space with a long history, a pleasant pavement side patio area and the prospect of some interesting beer, but overall, I felt that the pub was focused more on the food side of the operation, with limited indoor seating for those just wanting a drink and some questionable beer quality. With plenty of great pubs around town, I would have no hesitation cutting this place from future crawls. Date of visit - 15th January 2024