The Fat Cat, Norwich

First time to visit this institution and it did not disappoint. Excellent traditional multi roomed internal layout with every surface festooned with pub and brewing memorabilia. I especially liked the historical pub signs being used as space dividers. Real ales available were as described by Steve below and the Fat Cat Milk Stout was a nice drop. But as well as the ales there were 16 keg beers on offer, but the majority of these were fairly standard and the only interesting craft options came from Beavertown and Magic Rock. One wall is dedicated to the numerous awards CAMRA has granted this pub over the years and the superior beer line up does attract the stereotype CAMRA member which, despite the organisation’s best efforts over recent years, does mean it attracts a predominantly hirsute portly male crowd, but largely being one of these I fitted in nicely. It’s hard to find fault with this one, especially with regards to the pub ambiance and the beer range, and the only gripe I could find was also the same as Steve below, that the pork pies on offer were fairly mediocre mass produced ones. If they provided home made pies akin to those we enjoyed in the Duke of Wellington later on the crawl, there really would be no reason to leave this pub.

The Fat Cat is a bit of an institution in Norwich, so I wasn’t surprised to find it reasonably busy during a recent early Friday afternoon visit. This is a thin L-shaped pub with traditional décor and a central L-shaped bar counter that faces two adjacent seating areas to the right of the entrance and beer shelves that run under the windows up the left-hand wall. There is a more seating in the wooden floored rear where partitions with leaded stain glass windows break up this long and thin strip of seating. A conservatory with more seating is found to the right. Breweriana is found throughout, mainly old advertising posters and lots of beer jugs that hang down from the ceiling. I counted ten hand pumps on the bar, so there must be a hell of a lot on stillage because the chalk boards above the bar listed the cask options as Fat Cat’s Norwich Bitter, Brew Cat, Tom Cat, Incredible Pale Ale, Marmalade and Wild Cat alongside Crouch Vale’s Yakima Gold, TT Landlord, Oakham’s Citra, Green Devil IPA and Bishops Farewell, Lacons Norfolk Gem, Adnams Mosaic, Brentwood Brewing’s IPA, GK Abbot Ale, Salopian Hop Twister, Green Jack Brewery’s Mahseer, Settle Brewery’s Jericho Blonde and Bath Ales’ Gem. There were also three porters, Fat Cat’s Milk Stout, Brentwood Brewing’s Marvellous Maple Mild and Titanic Plum Porter. The Fat Cat products are also available in two pint jugs , I’m not sure if this is to take-away or for those too lazy to keep walking to the bar counter for only a pint top up at a time. I thought the service was very friendly, as were the locals. My only gripe was that the pork pie I had wasn’t the best, in fact the pastry was rock hard and there was no jelly. However, I didn’t visit here to eat pies, so I will gladly return when next in Norwich for some more marvellous cask ale.

Renamed in 1991, this was originally the New Inn, the exterior bedecked with old, enamelled signs advertising household wares, including ‘Churchman’s Counter Shag’. Much has been written of this pub and it’s all true, except that I wasn’t approached by the churchman. There are 18 cask and three porter/stout options advertised, me going for the Fat Cat Milk Stout at £2.10 a half, which went down very well indeed. An absolute must-visit pub.

A definite institution which, if anything, seems to get even better. There seemed to be a good dozen or more ales available and I would happily have drunk any of them.

Really not what you'd expect to encounter - an absolute destination real ale pub in the quiet suburban backstreets, unless you're explicitly searching it out. And you are; of course you are. Too many handpumps to count and a fair few rooms as well, so seats can be hard to track down. Having said that, seat turnover was surprisingly rapid on my recent visit, so you may get lucky. With the walls covered in breweriana, and the huge range of beers on offer, there is a certain "theme park" feel to the place and I do wonder if it's all got a bit out of hand. Nonetheless, if you're in Norwich for the ale, you're obviously going to drop in, and I'll surely do the same again some day.