The Tavern, Warrington

Sports bar, majoring on the local pursuits of arrow-chucking and egg chasing; indeed there were two TVs on the go showing darts whilst a couple of locals were on pub’s own the oche. Pretty decent feel inside which is broken-up by supporting pillars, with plenty of sporting decor, tin signs and breweriana. A faintly incredulous eight cask (guess why this is GBG listed!) with next to no turnover on an early Saturday afternoon. My perhaps unwise choice of an Abbeydale Xmas beer 5 days after the 25th yielded a half close to turning (NBSS 1.5). Not a bad place but there's too many on, so pick wisely if you do go…

The Tavern is a sports bar and 4T’s Brewery’s tap room, which makes for an interesting mix. To the left of the entrance is a large round high table with a television on the adjacent wall, in fact the live sport can be seen on a screen from any location in this bar. Along the left wall is the bar counter that supports eight handpumps and multiple premium and craft keg, as well as a few standard keg products. During my visit on Tuesday last week the cask ale selection was 4T’s Haywire Pink Grapefruit IPA, Geronimo, and English Stout alongside Beatnikz Republic Leather Soul, Empire Golden Warrior, Mallisons Trans Pacific Ale, Soltaire Amarillo and Salopian Lemon Dream. There were also three craft offering from 4T’s. With this being a sports bar there had to be a dartboard, which is located to the right of the entrance in the front window. There were multiple games in progress on the TVs, but the sound was set just right so the you could only hear the commentary from the nearest TV. Out the back is a comfortable enclosed beer garden with half the seating covered. I found the service to be very friendly, although it will be better when all the Perspex is removed from around the bar so than it doesn’t feel like I’m picking up my missed mail from the post office every time I need a top up. I liked it in here and could easily of stayed for the rest of the evening.

I immediately liked this pub when I got a fantastic pint of Reedley Hallows New Zealand Pale 4.5%. The pub had another 7 ales on handpump, Three from 4T'S which were Squirrel's Heaven, IPA and Busman's Bitter. The guests were Titanic Plum Porter, Fyne Cascade, Tiny Rebel Peloton Pale, Oakham Citra and Reedley Hallows New Zealand Pale. We took our beer into the side room and we had the footy on a left hand screen in front of us sound turned down and the Rugby League volume up on the right hand side TV screen. A pity we couldn't have stayed here longer, but we were on a days crawl.

beer and sport are clearly the main interests here. It’s a decent little bar, which seems to be family run with four of them chatting behind the bar whilst I was the first customer of the day. Seven ales on, just two from 4T as below. Busy decor, I quite liked the slogan on the wall, ‘We got locked down, but we got up again’. But I did find the tables and chairs a bit IKEAish and uncomfortable. loads of sports memorabilia, mainly football, darts and rugby league. Curiously no pics of Warrington Wolves winning the Super League though. :)

Situated right on the edge of Warrington town centre, this decent sized venue is perhaps the town’s best example of a beer exhibition-style pub. As you enter, you find a large seating area to the right and a separate, somewhat cramped bar area to the left, hidden partly behind a partitioning wall. The servery has a white wood panelled bar counter and rather plain tongue and groove bar back with some useful beer boards at one end. The floors are bare boarded throughout and the walls have been whitewashed, but the room manages to avoid feeling plain and drab by putting plenty of interesting breweriana on display, including some excellent old brewery mirrors. The large seating area was absolutely packed when I arrived, with everyone watching that evening’s big rugby league fixture on the big screen set up on the end wall, so it was difficult to get a proper look around, but there appeared to be plenty of good, comfy seating options around the perimeter and some standard tables and chairs through the centre, plus a nice fireplace at one end of the room. To the rear, beyond the end of the bar, there is a small space with drinking ledges down either side but no seating. This overspill area has a mix of tongue and groove wall panelling and some plain tiles with an embedded Tetley’s mirror. Above the ledges there are a dozen or so framed Warrington rugby league shirts from various different seasons, some of which have been signed. From here, there is access out to the beer garden which has a large sheltered section with patio heaters and another TV screen. There was a wide selection of cask ales on the bar, and I managed to note 4T’s Panzer Pilsner and Red IPA, XT 4, Beer Brothers Stouty McStout Face, Great Heck Chopper, Magpie Pow Pow, Quirky Simcoe and Anthology Dry Hopped. Three or four interesting craft keg options are also available alongside the usual mainstream brands. I tried the Simcoe, which was in good shape and served up by one of the cheery bar team who were handling the large crowds very well. I came back here later in the evening too and sampled the Stouty McStout Face (there’s no dignity in ordering this across a crowded bar), which was also in fine fettle. I really liked this place and thought it was the stand-out pub of the ten I visited in Warrington. The staff and locals were very friendly, the beer was plentiful and tasty and there’s a nice ambience to the place that all lends itself to an extended session here.