The Chichester Inn, Chichester

Official site of The Chichester Inn - www.chichesterinn.co.uk

Official site of The Chichester Inn - www.chichesterinn.co.uk

A nice two bar pub as described below,Beers on were from Harveys, Bedlam,Long Man and Red Cat. One of the better beer pubs in Chichester.

The 3rd of the 4 pubs in the city that appear in the 2017 GBG so after a quick pint in the 'spoons it was a short stroll down to this large music lead pub that was empty bar 1 punter when we arrived. The front bar was very welcoming with an open fire to one side and comfy leather sofas, plenty of reading material was laying around to encourage people to have a pint and a chill out. The back bar area is open plan with an area for the previously mentioned live music. This space was freezing so the landlord put the large heaters on for us. On the bar were 4 ales & a cider on cask along with Tiny Rebel Cwtch on keg, what a great beer that is and is one of my fave. However as it was cold outside I opted for a pint of Vibrant Forest Breweries Kick Start @ 5.7%, an oatmeal stout, very rich and slipped down a treat. The barman was extremely chatty and keen to tell me today was he's first day working here, he was doing fine until the phone rang and he answered saying the wrong pub name as the landlord corrected him and rolled he's eyes, I wonder if he's still there after a month! Only here for 1 pint to warm up before moving on. Worth a visit and probably busy in the evening.

This two bar Free house at the end of West Street originally dates from 1785. Today it functions as a good town centre (sorry, I still struggle to refer to Chichester as a City) pub with a focus on real ale and live music. The high ceilinged front lounge bar is spacious and comfortable with comfy chars around the edge and wooden chairs and tables in the middle. And a log fire gives a distinct smell of wood smoke in winter months. The larger back bar to the rear has additional seating, but doubles as the live music venue on weekends when bands play on the stage area at the back. And then beyond this is a very pleasant outside courtyard garden area which stretches away from the pub some distance, providing several individual seating areas including some heated covered areas with large comfortable settees. There are 5 Ale pumps on each of the bars and the landlord said that he usually has a minimum of three regional Sussex ales on at any time and increases this to five for the busy periods and at the weekend. We chose to visit at the first weekend of the month long Cheltenham festival when the pub was holding its own mini beer festival over the weekend to tie in with the main event. For this the left hand section of the front lounge bar was taken up with an additional ten beers available on silage, mainly from smaller regional brewers from around the country. These included brews from Salopian , Blue Monkey, Redemption and Castle Rock amongst others. A very enjoyable couple of visits were made to the Chi (as it is referred to by locals) , and I would classify this as a should visit pub when looking for a decent pint of Ale when in the City (sic) of Chichester.