Scale & Feather, Hull

Facebook page of Scale & Feather - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Scale & Feather - www.facebook.com

Having not thoroughly researched my Hull pubs before setting off, I was thinking this was a new pub, or at least a new pub for me. Neither of those is true, as I had been here in March 2016 when it was the ninth pub of a crawl - no wonder I didn't remember it. Except that I did, as soon as I walked through the door. The bar is in the same place, and had six hand pumps rather than 10. Two had ciders on, with four cask beers (see photos). I went for Brew York Merchant XPA - I'm a little prejudiced against this brewery, as their beers seem to mostly have fruit or chocolate adjuncts, sometimes lactose, and very often unamusing puns on the names of celebrities. This one had none of those, but I discovered that XPA stands for extremely pale and bland, though it was in decent condition.

Looking more like a wine bar from the outside than a pub, the interior is much more pub-like. I arrived on a quite Tuesday lunchtime to find just the landlord, a barmaid and one other customer. There is a small seating area containing the bar at the front. That was all that was needed when the pub was quiet, but the room does extend someway back for busier periods. Cask ales on were Salt Suede, Riverhead March Haigh, Abbeydale Moonshine & Ilkley Blonde. Ciders were Thistly Cross Whisky Cask & Lilley's Rhubarb Cider, whilst craft beers were Verdant Neal Gets Things Done, Vault City Strawberry Banana Milkshake & Yonder Smore: Chocolate Covered Biscuit & Toasted Marshmallow Stout. I ordered the Riverhead beer and quickly realised that it wasn't anywhere near right. So, I returned it to the bar. The landlord was really apologetic and offered me another beer. I chose the Ilkley Blonde, not normally my kind of beer, but in absolutely perfect condition and ultimately my favourite beer of the day. It wasn't long before the landlord disappeared down the cellar and was pouring through a new cask from Otter. I was impressed by the professionalism shown here, something that is so often missing from many outlets serving cask ale. I was pleasantly surprised by this pub. It certainly warrants its place in the Good Beer Guide.

After visiting the nearby Lion & Key and WM Hawkes, this sister pub came as a bit of a surprise, pitching itself as a modern bar rather than the more traditional pub set up favoured by the other two. This was apparently a barber's shop previously, but the building looks rather too grand and big for that, so I'm not sure what else it has been. Today we find a fairly smartly presented bar with entry into a plain lobby area and the bar through a door to the right. The bar area has red vinyl flooring and the servery runs along the front part of the right hand wall with a simple counter and bar back, some odd lamps hanging over the counter that look a bit like hairdresser dryers (back to the barber theme perhaps?) and a large barrel at the end of the counter with a small tree planted in it. Some nice old Guinness, Coca-Cola and such like mirrors were hung on the wall opposite, under a high shelf full of bottles. The remainder of the room further back is done out in cream walls and red pillars with comfy padded banquettes down each side supplemented by a few tub chairs. Decor is very limited, with the only real items of note being some evenly spaced out framed LP covers in smartly regimented rows - a great contrast to the chaos and clutter of its sister pubs. There appeared to be a beer garden to the rear which I didn't get round to exploring, whilst the toilets are up a flight of stairs which you can see from the entrance lobby but need to enter the main bar in order to actually access. Madonna played through the speakers for the majority of my stay and the place was extremely quiet compared to their two other venues, which meant there wasn't enough chatter to properly drown her out. Beer options were unsurprisingly similar to those in the other two pubs, with the full range comprising Cat's Head, The Reaper, Strawberry Blonde and Dark, Neepsend Hazel and Hilltop Mild, Classic Bitter, Blonde and Golden Ale. Two Cat's Head ciders were also available, but I went with a pint of the Mild, which was unfortunately rather poor quality and I struggled my way through what in hindsight I should have probably returned. This place came as a big disappointment after the successful visits to its sister pubs. I found it all rather flat on a Saturday evening, with little visual stimulation, few customers and poor beer. The pub has won several accolades in recent years and I appreciate I may have just caught it at the wrong time, but based on this visit, this would be the first pub I'd drop on a return visit to Hull.

As noted below this is a modern bar. The tables here were adorned with beer mats advertising Wm Hawkes and the Lion and Key so one must assume that all three places are under the same ownership. They certainly all sold Cathead beers which are brewed at the Lion and Key. I found this one preferable to the Wm Hawkes as at least it isn't pretending to be a genuine old pub and more importantly they don't inflict those ridiculous dimple mugs on all comers. This one has eight hand pumps which included Great Newsome Koru & Ploughman's Pride, Neepsend Stout, Captain Cook Slipway, Cathead Summer Blonde, Saltaire Raspberry Blonde and Revolutions Pretender. I went for the Neepsend Stout (£3.50)which was outstanding and although this is expensive for the area the Cathead one was only £2.90. I'm not really one for modern bars but liked this one and the huge array of album covers makes for an interesting diversion.

A thoroughly modern lounge bar that you really wouldn't expect to have a fine range of real ales, but appearances do deceive here. We found eight of ten handpumps on, including Great Newsome 'Hops in the Spring' British Hopped IPA (£1.70, half) amongst a selection of local and regional beers. Well worth a stop if in the Old Town.

A modern long single upmarket bar (as opposed to pub) decorated in cream and mocha shades. Loads of framed classic album covers cover the left wall, with red leather banquettes to the rear. 10 pumps with seven on and well-sourced; my Great Newsome British Hopped was in very good shape. Also three proper ciders and a variety of continental bottled fayre. Deserted upon our arrival and I guess it’s more of an evening venue. Amusement value provided by barmaid’s cleavage. It’s not really my bag as a pub for a session but the beer range demands you drop by if you’re doing the city. I can certainly see how it appeals to others and good luck to them.