Hopinn, Newcastle Under Lyme Central, Newcastle under Lyme

Three roomed local which was quite busy on our early Friday evening visit. The front room is biggest of the three. A corridor to the left-hand side leads to a small room rear left and a slightly larger one to the rear right. All were quite comfortable. Things were starting to get a little hazy at this point of our Potteries crawl. But I did note down an excellent cask ale range. Regular beers are Black Sheep Best Bitter, Bass & Oakham Citra. Guests were Blue Monkey Guerrilla, Two By Two Session IPA, Fyne Ales Jarl, Castle Rock Tilt & Rat King Rat. I didn't notice any real cider and didn't make any enquiries, but they also had a few interesting craft beers - SALT Jute, Neon Raptor Glad That's All Over, Two By Two Session Pale, Sureshot Aldreaded & Polly's Mambo Fire. My Guerrilla was a nice stout and one that had eluded me until this point. I think this one merits another visit when I am a little more sober.

The Hoppin is a decent old school boozer with a front area with curved serving counter that faces seating under the front windows and up the left. Another bar is found at the rear where the majority of people were sitting. Cask options during a recent midweek evening visit were Bass, Black Sheep’s Best, Oakham’s Citra, Fyne Ales’ Jarl, Two by Two Brewing’s Leapfrog, Ossett Callista, Ashover Brewery’s Butts Pale and Riverhead Brewery’s Liquorice Stout. I’ll be sure to revisit next time I’m in town.

A cracking backstreet pub that despite being well out of the town centre seems to be thriving. Pretty busy on our visit and adding a dozen or so PuG crawlers added to an already buzzy atmosphere. I too only visited the front bar as we got into a conversation with the locals and our fellow pub crawlers. My pint of Mallinsons Citra was in very good nick and Ms CAMRA liked her red wine. Well worth the walk out of town.

An absolute lesson in how to turn a failing Punch Taverns back street pub into a destination venue. This three roomed pub with its two bars and snug was justifiably busy on the early Friday evening we rocked up and not a lot I can add to earlier reviews except to say that Vocation Chop and Change was the ale missing from Mr Fastard’s list below, all between £3 and £3.30 a pint and a great choice of differing styles and strengths as mentioned. For the record the five craft offerings were Beavertown Gamma Ray, Brew by Numbers Session IPA, Red Willow Faithless 84, Verdant Brewing Co Unlike Stars and Cloudwater DIPA V3. A justifiable winner of several CAMRA regional awards since becoming a Freehouse in 2014. And any pub that has a Fine Young Cannibals concert poster as memorabilia, albeit hidden away in the back corridor, scores an extra point from me.

Side-street pub (formerly the New Albert) given a new lease of life as a modern-style alehouse. However, it retains two bars and a snug, with relatively simple furniture and plain decor in each part. I counted nine handpumps in total, five in the front part and four in the lounge, which offered the regular Bass and a splendid range of other real ales in a variety of styles. Could have tried almost anything, but went for the Tapstone Sea Monster (£1.60, half) which looked very murky (but not altogether a surprise since it was described as "unfined & hazy" on the clip) but tasted fine. Well worth the walk out from the town centre.

I liked this pub. Up and out from the town centre, this one actually is worth the walk. The numerous handpulls dispensed a good variety of beer styles.

A fantastic back street local with a tremendous range of beers spread over two bars. I went in the front room, where four hand pumps are double-clipped; there are also a handful of keg beers. I resolved the query about the opening times here - their Facebook page says it opens at 12 on Fridays, but the landlady says this has not been the case for several years, so that's another reason for not trusting Facebook. (See photos for beer range and opening times.) I went for the Black Sheep Bitter, which was in excellent condition. The landlady and customers were all friendly and welcoming, and I am already looking forward to my next visit.