Merchants 1688, Lancaster

I have to admit that when I first arrived here I never even noticed the tunnel construction of this pub but spotted it when looking at a room to the right on the way out! It's been well described below and was fairly quiet on my Wednesday night visit. There were eight hand pumps with two unused and I noticed beers from Slater, Hawkshead, Kirby Lonsdale, Tirril and Robinson's Trooper. I went for the Hawkshead Brodie's Prime which was in excellent condition. I thought this pub was a bit trendy but would return for the diverse beer choice.

Dug out of the hill on which the castle stands as described below it is made from four barrel vault tunnels one at right angles to the others. The main tunnel has the counter, now with eight pulls of generally local beers, a house beer from Old School and a traditional bitter from Tirril among them. The other three tunnels are used for dining and in the last one is seating at tables for drinking. Good quality beers and an unusual setting along with its proximity to the station make it well worth the visit. GBG2016 listed as well which tells us it was a wine vault built in 1688.

A very unusual pub housed in an old wine vaults which means that the seating area is effectively 3 tunnels. The bar is up a couple of steps and on the right as you enter, the tunnels are on the left. There's a large beer patio at the front. Some of the lighting in the tunnels is a bit chintzy. It's quite food led until 9, but after that it's full of drinkers. 6 handpumps on the bar serving changing guests with 4 available on our visit. My pint was in good condition and Ms CAMRA thought the red wine was very good. This, along with the friendly, chatty barstaff made us stay for two. There's a 10p per pint discount for CAMRA members.

Always call in had friends what were the managers there back in my Scottish and Newcastle days as not got the atmosphere it had in those days. Trying to go up market but the outside drinking area as improved a lot.Always our first and last port of call when in Lancaster for the day

Only had time for a very flying visit, and this because my train was delayed a bit, but the Merchants 1688 is a very interesting place (despite its odd name). It has an attractive stone patio beer garden at the front; but, even through it doesn't give the impression of being underground, you get something of a surprise as you enter because it is housed in some old wine cellars. Five of the six handpumps were operational, with a decent selection including Kirkby Lonsdale Singletrack Black (£1.75 for a quick half). The layout is rather cramped, and the place is obviously food led, but definitely a place to return to.

Our very last pub before the Station and was well worth a visit. The staff were friendly and took a keen interest in their ales. There were six ales on the go, so we tried the Naylors Brewery Aramis and Oxfordshire Ales Hibernation, which were both well kept and full of flavour.