Little Chop House, Halesowen

Nice looking Black Country boozer. The entrance is round the back. I hadn't visited for years but it felt very familiar. Good to see a local ale on - Woodcote Brewery Cascade - which was decent. Glad to have called in.

I often stick to pubs that are or have been in the Good Beer Guide. So, this locals' pub in the Colley Gate area was a bit of a wild card choice for us. We stepped off the bus and arrived to some loud shouting from outside the pub. Quite a few of the customers were a rowdy after-work lot, primarily made up of some road workers. We soon got to chatting to an old regular as a karaoke was being set up in the corner. I'm not really into karaoke, so we were eager to leave before it started. Two unusual beers from Woodcote Brewing in Worcestershire were on - IPA & Cascade. I wasn't expecting much from my IPA, but it was very drinkable and the old guy was on it too. Tiles in the gents toilets featured pictures of other local pubs, which led me to think that this is/was part of some kind of chain. I believe some of the pubs featured are now closed. Despite the boisterous nature of the regulars, they were all a friendly bunch. I quite liked this place. It was well worth the detour.

Convivial establishment with a village pub atmosphere. Partly opened-out and the resulting L-shaped layout has been refurbished in a semi-modern style. That said, it's quite tricky to find the entrance, which is now through a seemingly unmarked side door. Just one of the three handpumps was in use, offering an Ambridge APA (£3.55), with a reversed clip for another of that brewery's beers also visible.