Old No 7, Barnsley

This is by no means my first visit to the Old No.7, though I've never really warmed to it, but wasn't sure why when discussing it on the train from Sheffield. Once through the door, I started to get that feeling that some town centre pubs give me, that it's just not going to be my cup of tea. As we approached the bar, me trying to see what beers were on while my two companions were blocking my view, I could hear the lass behind the bar saying something like, "come on then, give us a smile then". I thought, this is not the way customer service works - you're supposed to give us a smile. She apologised for the missing pump clip on the Ossett White Rat, but I was quite happy with its stable companion, Silver King. Others were from Abbeydale (Deception), Thornbridge (Jaipur) and just two from Acorn - their version of Barnsley Bitter plus Old Moor Porter. That's a pretty good line-up, actually, so maybe I should suppress my prejudice and come back for a few more on another occasion. The Silver King was NBSS 3, but trending towards 2.5, which doesn't encourage me. But if I practice smiling for a couple of hours beforehand, maybe it'll be ok.

Acorn's brewery tap, centrally located near one of the Wetherspoons and the Town Hall. A long term GBG entry and multiple CAMRA pub of the year. 8 pulls mostly from Acorn as expected, one each from Nailmaker and Ashover as guests. The floor is on two levels with the larger area being higher and home to the counter. Traditional furnishings, high in the low bit and low in the high bit, all in dark wood.