The Head of Steam, Hull

This is a very small branch of the Head of Steam chain just across the square from Hull Minster. It was also fairly quiet compared with most Hull city centre pubs on our Saturday evening visit. Just the 4 real ales were on - Atom Catalyst & Ellipsis, Green Duck American Pale & Ossett Butterley. The cider was Snail's Bank Banoffee Pie. The pub has a cafe-like feel, with bench seating around tables. I'd imagine it gets more custom during the daytime when tourists are around. The female bouncer seemed a little bored and cold! The Head of Steam chain is still fairly reliable and despite the lack of beers compared with other branches, I quite enjoyed the atmosphere in here and both the beers and cider we chose were enjoyable.

Official site of The Head of Steam - www.theheadofsteam.co.uk

Official site of The Head of Steam - www.theheadofsteam.co.uk

7 cask ales on the bar plus some keg too. On cask was Darkness Cometh by Wilde Child, one or two by Atom, Theakston Best Bitter, Camerons Ahopalypse Now, Camerons Strongarm and possibly something else. Belgian and American bottles were also advertised. I went for the Darkness Cometh which was a chocolate orange stout, at £2.00 for a half. Decent enough place and I would be happy to pay a return visit (indeed, this is my second visit, and I don't get to Hull often).

The Head of Steam chain have, over the last year or so, emerged as one of my favourite pub chains and this new venue in the heart of Hull's Old Town is another winner. The pub has a nice, clean and simple single room interior with scuffed floorboards and an angular servery along the rear wall. The bar has a part-tiled counter front and a mirrored bar back with high tables and stools opposite and banquette seating down the right hand side. Elsewhere, the mixed seating options continue, with some mid-height tub chairs in the front left corner and a single button backed bench further into the room. The decor has been kept simple and fresh looking, with bare brick and wood plank walls accounting for most of the room, decorated with nice black and white photographs, some modern brewery signs, a couple of cages full of beer bottles and unusual light shades made from empty bottles. A mural on the right hand wall depicts an industrial scene although my local knowledge was not such that I could tell if it was specific to Hull or just a generic scene. The bar canopy holds a collection of whiskey bottles and some rare looking beers and this complimented the various bits of breweriana dotted around the room. I was a little surprised to find that there was no music playing through the pub and I didn't spot TV screens either, which helped to create an atmosphere conducive to conversation, and as if on command, one of the locals got chatting to me almost as soon as I arrived, discussing the local pub scene and the whole City of Culture thing for the length of my visit. The beer range appears to have diversified slightly since ROB's visit, with the cask options comprising Camerons Ahopalypse Now, Leeds Best, Half Moon F'Hops Sake and Rudgate Chocolate. A strong keg line up focused on micro brewery output complimented the handpulls nicely and there was a wide range of craft bottles and cans in the fridges as well. I tried the Rudgate Chocolate, which certainly delivered what the name promised and was in excellent shape to boot. The barman was very friendly and popped over to chat about some of the beers during a quiet moment. I really liked this place and thought it was the sort of pub you could happily lose an afternoon enjoying the various beers on offer whilst relaxing in a comfortable environment. It perhaps needs a little longer to properly bed in, but I got the impression that it was already building up a good local following and a reputation for well kept beer. A good addition to Hull's already strong pub scene.