The Ale Wagon, Leicester

Hoskins is a name I remember from early CAMRA days but sadly their beers are now all brewed by Belvoir. This is very much an old school well worn boozer. I don't know if it's been done up since some of the reviews below but currently it has yellow walls and an only slightly restrained lime green ceiling. There were no TV screens turned on. It was quiet on my Thursday early afternoon visit. The landlord was reading his paper when I entered and that's fine by me, I'd prefer that or even someone like Jack Dee serve me rather than a Michael McIntyre clone. The main bar has nine hand pumps and I didn't look further. There were two unused, Hoskins Green And Gold, Hob, IPA & Old, Portobello Star, a cider and Maldon Farmer's Steel Cow. I went for the Green And Gold (£3.25) which was a decent enough pint in good condition. I quite liked this pub especially as most of the others on the day had the Eurobore 2016 blasting out.

Don't know about other comments about ‘atmosphere'? I found the welcome friendly & down to earth from the locals and the knowlegeable, beer enthusiastic guv. The pub has a simple interior with L-shaped bar serving two rooms, nothing wrong with that, or the local feel of the place. Hoskins beers, EXS (5%), Brigadier, Hob Bitter, Mild, Navigation Ale (7%), Tollgate TGB, Ale Wagon Traditional Cyder (8%). I nearly missed this place due to its artificially low rating on these pages, but I'm glad we caught a few well-conditioned beers here before heading off to the train.

Slightly run down drinking den. L-shaped room with high ceilings, wood parque floor, bench seating around the outer walls & space filled with rectangular tables with wood chairs. An aged male dominated pub, there was not a female in sight, the pub has a large selection of real ales, including 3 from Hoskins (Belvoir?). The ceiling is bright green. The landlord not very welcoming. Beer quality is good, luckily.

A long itme favourite stop off when in town, this pub has been redecorated since our earlier visits. Its generally fairly quiet each time we have visited but still enough locals in to create a bit of atmosphere, mainly of the older age but some younger people in there aswell. very chatty bar staff with the locals so didn't really get chance to engage in a any conversation. Not all the hand pumps were in use but still 5 or 6 ales from local breweries available and those that we tried were in good condition.

This pub dates back to the early 1930’s in its present incarnation, and although the interior has been altered since then, there are still a number of notable features, including some fine oak woodwork throughout. The layout is fairly open, with two distinctly different areas either side of the main entrance and it is still possible to spot evidence of previous partitioning. The main bar is to the right and has pew and standard chair seating in front of a small tiled fireplace, with a staircase at the rear leading up to a function room. The smaller left hand side has banquette and low stool seating and a bar that was apparently rescued from the Princess Charlotte – a live music venue across town that has now sadly been demolished. Despite visiting on a Friday night, the pub was practically empty which is disappointing for a GBG listed venue. The pub is run by the Hoskins family, who also operate a small brewery which supplies the pub with much of its beer. As such, the selection on our visit comprised Hoskins EXS, Hob Bitter and IPA, Down the Pan Last Plantagenet on the Throne, Cottage Duchess and Tollgate Stand and Deliver, with more Hoskins beers available on tap. I tried the IPA which was okay as low abv IPA’s go. We visited this place at the end of a fairly long crawl of Leicester’s finest pubs, so I’m not sure I saw it in quite the right frame of mind. It seemed to lack the charm of many of the other pubs we visited and although I wouldn’t rule out a return visit, I struggle to muster much enthusiasm at such a prospect.

In an unpromising part of the city centre,this pub feels a bit cut off from the lively bar scene elsewhere.It's a large corner pub with a very high ceiling in the main seating area with an impressive wooden staircase to one side.However this part of the pub can lack atmosphere and the decoration is minimal apart from a few Hoskins mirrors.The handpumps are mainly in the side section but I failed to note the number and plumped for the Hoskins Hobs Bitter which was passable but a rather dull brew.Towards the end of the crawl so my observations were limited,but I didn't feel that I had to return .