Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

More of a traditional pub than the new craft beer bars on York Road (the adjacent street), the Hare & Hounds has a fabulous Grade II listed interior and has an upstairs venue where live music is regularly hosted. Despite being a Wednesday night, there was an act warming up. In fact, one particular claim to fame is that UB40 first played here. A couple of real ales from Purity are available. These were Mad Goose & Pure Gold. Craft beers are Beavertown Neck Oil & Attic Intuition. I opted for the Intuition, which was a decent way to round off my trip out to Kings Heath, an area that certainly has plenty going for out as regards to pubs and bars.

Substantial, brick-built High Street pub which looks like it's worth a stop. Inside, you find the 'L'-shaped main bar with quite a few interesting features retained including a gantried servery, tiled walls, moulded ceiling and dark-wood partitioning. Furniture and decor is fairly basic and traditional too, except for one lounge area. Further back, and somewhat hidden away near the stairs, there is another smaller, lighter bar. Three real ales on handpump: Pure UBU and Mad Goose from Purity plus a 'house' IPA (OK, but badly overpriced at £4.05). On the plus side, this is still a thriving music and comedy venue, with plenty on by the look of the posters.

A large looking corner pub. A very impressive exterior to this place and the interior is also nice. Its not as big inside as I was expecting though. An L-shaped open plan room with 3 handpumps on the bar serving 2 Purity beers - Ubu and Mad Goose, and their own Greene King brewed beer. The beer was on the expensive side at £4 a pint. Still its a nice enough pub and though I'll never return to this part of the world I was happy enough to have been in.