Revolution, Durham

Next stop on my tour of Durham bars and pubs was this riverside venue. Now part of the Revolution chain and no longer serving real ales. The ground floor level was closing at 11pm. So, bouncers directed me downstairs to a room more akin to a nightclub. I was certainly the odd one out, being a lone drinker. The vast majority were groups of drinkers on the pull. Tongue in cheek notices were warning against close physical contact, including touching and kissing. Sadly, there was none of that. The all keg selection was Aspalls, Magners, Camden Hells & Pale, Estrella Dam, Peroni, Red Stripe, Amstel and something else I didn't recognise. More of a nightspot than a pub these days.

A massive bar on two stories. The upper storey is effectively an outside terrace. There are steps down to the main bar which has several areas. I used to call in here fairly regularly when I was working in Durham a couple of years ago. They used to have a couple of real ales on the bar and a quiz machine that I used to be able to win on. Sadly things have changed and there was no real ale available on this vist. So I had a quick half of fizz and moved on.

Super location to the side of the bridge over the River Wear. Not obvious where the entrance is, go down the steps by the bridge and the door is to the right. Surprisingly large and open-plan interior, a modern take on traditional décor and done rather well I thought. V-shaped. A raised area to the right with inlaid shelves containing lots of old spirit ephemera and books. To left is an open plan area with windows overlooking the river. Access to enviable roof terrace is at the rear - stunning views though staff won't allow glass up there, you have to have plastic. Six pumps with a good selection; Bad Co Comfortably Numb, Hop Studio Raisin D'Etre, Doom Bar (yeah OK), Tyne Bank Summer Breeze, Sonnets Bourbon Milk Stout and Sonnets Blonde. My Tyne was clearly the first one out for a while. Reading after the event there is apparently a CAMRA discount but I saw no signs advertising it. Worth taking in as part of a crawl, though the warm beer and restrictions on rooftop glass put me off a bit. 6.5