Three Tuns Inn, Bishops Castle

On previous visits to this iconic pub I am sure I have entered from a street door at the side of the building, but this was closed when I was here last autumn - is this for safety reasons, I wonder. I saw a small family group try the door and move on to a more obviously open pub, but I remembered there's a door towards the rear where the brewery's van is usually parked (not sure if this constitutes a car park - possibly not), so went around that way and up the stairs to the bar. This is a rambling building of many rooms, with a large bar counter sporting four hand pumps. These were offering three Three Tuns beers brewed on the premises: Best, Cleric's Cure and XXX Pale, with one more pump clip turned around (this was a Wednesday afternoon). My half of the Best bitter was very good (NBSS 3.5). I noticed quite a few other Three Tuns beers on display in bottles (£2.90 to take out but £3.80 to consume in the pub). I was only passing through on this occasion, but I've been meaning to come here for a longer visit. Maybe this year. Date of visit: 21st September 2022

The Three Tuns is home to the brewery by the same name. You enter through a courtyard/car park and up some steps into a modern part of the building which adjoins the brewery. I continued through to the front bar, which is much more traditional. I think there were other rooms which I missed. Bar staff were busy kitting out the rooms with Halloween items. I was hoping to try the brewery's stout. But it had not been brewed for a while. 3 handpulls in the front bar had XXX, Cleric's Cure & Solstice. Their Best Bitter was also listed (but then again, so was the Stout). I was offered this instead of the stout, as the darkest beer they had. So, I assume it was being poured from a handpull in another bar. A nice pub with plenty of character and a brewery with plenty of history. I would have preferred a dark beer or a cider to have been on though.

Got to be a must visit place for any beer lover. Brewery to the side and obvious home of their products, although curiously, most of the marketing was buy 6 pints of fosters and get one free. Why would you do that? Excellent food. Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2ySHZxX