The Waggon & Horses, Stourbridge

The Waggon & Horses isn’t the biggest pub so well done to whoever built it for managing to shoehorn in three separate bars. The main bar found in the front left has seating under the front windows and an L-shaped bar counter that support premium and craft keg alongside seven hand pumps. These were drawing Enville Brewery’s Enville Ale, TT Landlord, Purple Moose Brewery’s Off the Waggon, Hobson’s Town Crier, Brew York’s Green Hazy IPA, Bristol Beer Factory’s Cloud Break and Atom’s Negative Charge. A smaller bar with more seating is found to the right where another couple of hand pumps were drawing real ciders. The third bar is found at the rear where seating runs along the rear wall and a dartboard resides. There is also access to a good sized patio garden out the back. This is a decent backstreet boozer with more than enough choice for the devoted ale drinker, well worth a look.

I hadn't been in here for over 10 years for some reason. Wrong side of the ring road maybe! I'm sure it was David Murphy's the last time I called. Glad I paid a visit to this popular local pub. 7 beers on when I called including Kinver Noble, Enville Ginger, Landlord, Brew York Milk Stout, Kashmir and a Purple Moose. We went for the Noble which was excellent. Plenty of room and a decent beer garden. Friendly service. I won't leave it so long this time!

Although I wasn't as impressed with this pub as previous reviewers - perhaps because of coming to the end of a long day which had started at the Camra winter festival in Birmingham - but one incident stands out. I'd taken my beer and sat down to write up a few notes, when the landlord called out to me that my beer wasn't right and he wanted to replace it. He'd realised that it was at the end of the barrel, and he quickly pulled the fresh one through and gave me a replacement. To be honest, the beer was so not to my taste that I had just put it down to experience, but the fresh drink was noticeably better (though still not to my taste).