The Brewery Tap, Chester

Rammed on our Friday night visit and the acoustics made it very very loud , despite this service was quick and friendly and the beer choice still great , my Spitting Feathers Thirst Quencher was spot on . Still like it in here but prefer to visit at quieter times .

According to What Pub Charles I visited this place back in 1645. You would think he would have installed a lift and then maybe he would have been pardoned from his execution a few years later. The old stone staircase leading to it and to a lesser extent the echoing acoustics inside were the main drawbacks of this pub but overall inside it was OK and at least the toilets didn't involve stairs. The bar in this high ceilinged room had a cider, Salopian The Bends, Spitting Feathers Thirst Quencher, Coach House Blunderbus, Copper Dragon Bob On, Great Heck Navigator, Moorhouse Black Cat Mild and Hawkshead Brodies Prime. I went for the Salopian beer (£3.60) which was excellent. Despite the stairs I quite liked this place.

There were eight ales on in here. I didn’t bother listing them all, but I hadn’t seen any of them before. The pint of Gadd’s No5 that I had was in great shape. Food is available in the evenings, and is somewhere between gastro and pub grub. I had some shepherd’s pie (£9.95) - the sausage& mash (with “local award-winning pork & apple sausages”) was £9.50, and “gurnard fillets, cherry tomatoes and spring onions was £9.95. There were no burgers though. This place is a bit like having a drink in a chapel, with its massively high vaulted ceiling and cross shaped light fittings high up on the walls. In fact it's sited in Gamul House, a late 17th Century building. It's a bit of a museum piece. There are bits of what are clearly ancient bits of wood around the place, including a really old door by the toilets protected by clear plastic screening. There's also a massive old sandstone fireplace behind the servery, which is clearly a modern addition. It's also the brewery tap for the Spitting Feathers brewery (the clue's in the name), although brewing doesn't actually take place on the premises, and when I was in only one of their ales was available. There were two or three largish groups having a great time on the Thursday evening I visited, making the main room very noisy - aided by the hard furnishings and high ceiling - even though there were no TVs on or music playing. A smaller room on the right looked a bit more peaceful. Nonetheless, this is a "must include" on any Chester crawl.

This place is really quite something. I noticed it the day on our walk about but was not expecting the magnificence of the place on investigation on the night. Who would not want to drink in a former Medieval Dining Room, when only ordinary pubs are available ;-) Enter via some stone steps and get taken away by the high vaulted ceiling, exposed beams and the bar that is literary built in a monster fireplace. With the tapestries on the wall, its not hard to think you are in a former time. And the beers match the opulent surrounding. A choice of around 8 real ales and ciders - some from their own brewery. The staff are helpful and pointed to something they thought I would like, based on my preference. The clientele were a bit rowdy, including some staggeringly drunk parties. But then again, it was Saturday night three weeks before XMAS. A real gem of a place. Recommended and best we found in Chester.

Always good for a visit when on a crawl of Chester, and we enjoyed a couple of their guest beers this time, Copper Dragon Fire Dancer and Happy Valley Tie the Knot.