Post Office Vaults, Birmingham

I was looking forward to visiting the Post Office Vaults a little earlier in the day than on my previous visits, which had been after football matches and hence when the pub was pretty crowded. When I popped in I was immediately struck by a dank, fusty smell made worse by being slightly warmer than the outside air. I haven't commented much in reviews about Covid precautions, partly because I felt it was unfair to criticise pub licensees when they are dealing with unprecedented circumstances, with confusing instructions and advice from the government. One of my concerns since pubs reopened and train usage has started to recover is to avoid being in overcrowded and underventilated spaces. Maybe I'm being overcautious, but this place struck me as one that would be potentially unsafe from a Covid point of view, so I did not stay for a drink.

I've not visited the Post Office Vaults for a few years until my recent Saturday afternoon trip. It's still my favourite Birmingham pub. There are two doors either side of the pub. The bar and seating itself is downstairs. So the pub does suffer from a lack of natural light. You'll also struggle to get a mobile phone signal in the bar, which could be considered to be a positive. The main attractions of this pub are its friendly drinking environment, its helpful and knowledgeable staff and its superb range of real ales and ciders. Hobson's Champion Mild & Kinver 1st Class Stamp are regular beers. On this occasion, guests were Ossett Excelcius, XT Animal Hummingbird & Fixed Wheel Blackheath Stout. Ciders were Hogan's Lonely Partridge, Harvest Press, Hazy Rays, Panking Pole & Wild Elder, Palmer's Upland Chartist, Gwatkin Stoke Red & Dan-y-Graig Medium. Still a great boozer.

Inevitably well reviewed and it was busy on our early Saturday evening visit with seating at a premium and a queue at the bar. With good reason. Beers on were: Thornbridge Wild Raven, Oakham Heights of Oblivion, Dr Mortons Clown Poison, Pershore Man in a Hat, Kinver First Class Stamp, Rudgate Jorvik and Hobsons Dark Nutty Mild. Quite a range and all in good shape that we went for. A city centre staple, close to New Street and to be included on any Birmingham crawl.

As previous reviewers have noted, this place can be a bit tricky to find. It seems to have two entrances and at the time of my visit earlier this week the more obvious entrance was near a load of roadworks. Round to the other side, the less obvious entrance is on the pedestrianised street next to Greggs. At the bar were eight pumps, seven of which were on when I visited. I had New Ground by Saltaire, a 4.6% coffee porter which I really enjoyed and did well to stand up against the 7.3% stout I had just had at the Wellington. I didn't make a note of the other ales on offer but did notice they seem to do a load of draught ciders too. No music, a nice atmosphere with a few people in before 3pm midweek. Tankards and pint pots are hung up behind the bar. The floor is bare wood and there are basic tables and chairs. The bar billiards table deserves a mention as this is the first time I have ever seen one, and my initial thought was that it looked like a pool table with random holes in making it look like a whack-a-mole. Well you certainly learn something new every day! It's a decent friendly place with good beer, and I would be happy to return.

A below ground pub with a tiny entrance , conspicuous only by its bright red door. once down the stairs you are into a single long room with plenty of seating along the walls. As mentioned below there is a bar billiards table tucked into a corner, unplayed during my visit. Also of note was the vast range of bottled beer available listed in the "beer bible's left scattered around on the drinking tables.A good selection of cask ale is also available on handpump, the most interesting range on my Birmingham Visit, I had Rat White Rat and it was a decent drop. I would say a must visit whilst in Brum.

Handily located for the station, this made for a decent last drink before my train home. Down a few stairs to a kind of semi-basement room with a boarded floor, hops running along the ceiling beams and a picture rail height shelf has literally scores of beer bottles on display. A free to play bar billiards table is located in a rear corner while decor includes mainly Belgian and German beer paraphernalia. A blocked up fireplace has a drinking ledge in front of it. Beer "bibles" on the tables list the extensive range of bottles on offer while on the bar there were a range of eight completely eclectic beers, several of which I had never heard of. I went for Kelham Island Riders of the Storm. There are also twelve proper ciders, all listed on a board. There was a bit of a damp musty smell that you can get in these subterranean places but that did not distract from what is a cracking little pub.

This takes some finding. I thought I knew BRM pretty well, but I've never noticed this pub. A good look on Google Street View revealed its hiding place. More ciders than ales but a serious drinking den. Worth seeking out. Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2id5KV