The Justice Mill (Lloyds No 1 Bar), Aberdeen

The Justice Mill is a long thin Wetherspoons. The six hand pumps on the long bar were drawing Inveralmond Lia Fail, Oakham Ales JHB, Brains SA, GK Abbot Ale, Snails bank Rhubarb and Deuchars during my recent Monday evening visit. A standard and premium keg range was also available. The usual cheap food menu with meal deals was present, as were the muted TV’s showing rolling news.

Incredibly long and narrow Wetherspoon with blaring sports, neon lighting and cackling locals. The interior is split into three sections, both the end parts are a bit quieter with the Lloyds No1 nightclubby bit in the middle. Two banks of three pumps with half an acre between them and after all that there was only Caledonian Edinburgh Castle as a genuine guest (it was at least in good nick). Not worth the trudge down Union Street, the Archibald is much better for your Spoons fix. This one is a bit of a rotter.

This is a large modern feeling Wetherspoons at the opposite end of Union Street from the Archibald Simpson. The pub has a long but relatively narrow interior that is unfortunately devoid of any particularly interesting features. Entering from Union Street, you find yourself in the front seating area with lots of standard tables and chairs, plus a few banquette booths to choose from. The servery appears mid-way through the pub, just past the tell-tale sign of a DJ booth. The bar is very long and the handpulls have been split into three separate banks, all quite some distance apart, so you need to pretty much walk the full length of the bar to figure out exactly what beers are on. Opposite the bar, high tables and stools fill the space whilst a long banquette runs along the right-hand wall with a lot of the locals perched along its length. The rear part of the room has space for quite a few more tables and chairs in an area decorated with plain mirrors and local photographs. At the very back of the room, there is a high metal ceiling with huge floor to ceiling windows looking out over the houses behind. There is also a staircase which leads down to a rear entrance at the back of the pub. There are plenty of TV screens throughout the pub, including one large screen, all tuned to the usual muted rolling news channel. The ale range here is a bit more modest than in their other Union Street branch, with just three guest ales and three ‘Spoons regulars to choose from. I ended up with a pint of Oakham JHB which was okay, although I’ve definitely had this beer served to me in much better condition this year. I didn’t particularly warm to this place, which I found a little stale, characterless and formulaic for my liking. It does offer the chance to find some interesting ales, but there are other pubs not too far from here that also cater for that need and in more interesting, comfortable surrounds than this.

Official site of The Justice Mill (Lloyds No 1 Bar) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Justice Mill (Lloyds No 1 Bar) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

This Spoons is a full blown Lloyds as there was music playing when I arrived on a Tuesday evening. Like many of these outlets it no longer has the Lloyds branding outside. It's been well described below and I didn't even venture into the Justice Mill Street part of it. I saw what looked like a large idiot booth next to the bar. It wasn't that busy. It may no longer have the external Lloyds branding but it has the common problem with many of these outlets of a rubbish beer choice. The two sets of three hand pumps had the Scottish JDW Trio Of Doom, one unused, Stewart Cross Fire and Windswept Blonde. I went for the Cross Fire which was completely rank and I returned it. The only credible replacement was the Windswept Blonde (£2.19) which wasn't rank. When I returned to the bar for a bottle of Green Devil the Cross Fire didn't even have the clip turned. The most incredible thing about this dump is that it's GBG 2018 listed. I certainly wouldn't return as the Archibald Simpson is the better of the two Aberdeen JDWs by miles.