Drop Forge, Birmingham

Rather nice light and airy refurbished building on two levels in industrial Hockley, well described below. The forge working can be seen behind a glass screen on the lower level, this area also having a few steps down at the end to a further relaxed space. Lots of low seating and scatter cushions (you get the idea) its a little arty farty, but I like the place, I found it a relaxing drinking hole rather than a pretentious bar that it could and I guess was close to being. Its also a two minute walk from Jewellery Quarter station and acts as a fine first stop on a pub crawl from here to the City via St Pauls and this area is increasing good for beer/pub fans. The Malvern Hills beer was excellent.

A terraced restaurant and bar, housed in an undressed brick former Victorian factory building. There is a nice rooftop patio area. The interior has two floors. The lower is an open-plan modern room, in undressed brick, dark grey (blackish) and white, with a wood floor. There is a mix of sofas and food tables, with the far end seemingly given over exclusively to the sofa and an array of cushions! The gallery is in light grey and white ceiling, with wood floor and is given over to tables for food really - though we just had a drink. The the art is interesting - normally i would go off on one about crappy abstract pictures, but here there are tasteful posters of classic book covers and slightly saucy pictures of 1940s women - the kind that would have got painted on the side of B52s in the war - different. The music was easy listening and at a decent level and i didn't see a TV. The clientele was mix, from families to a strange Gothy bloke/woman, but many were eating and drinking wine! The service was more than good, clearly a pride here. Beer; continental lagers with Brakspeare Gold, Purity UBU, Hobgoblin and a decent Malvern Hills Brewery MHB on handpull Just to correct my good friend Staaly (whom i bumped into on the day of my visit), this is styled a restaurant and bar - restaurant first and i think that shines through a little more than the bar. It does however deserve to be on this site, as it has four real ales and continental lagers - and you can sit at a sofa rather than table. Not fully my thing, but there is a sympathy with the refurbishment to the original building and i for one will pop back in.

The Drop Forge is described as a bar and restaurant. The pub is inside an old Victorian factory. The exterior is typically Victorian. The interior is modern and open plan with leather sofas and comfy chairs. There is a balcony level which appears to be used as the restaurant. The bar food looked and smelled very nice, but neither I nor Mrs Staal tried it. There were continental lagers available - no Carlsberg or beer of that type were on view - and Guinness. There were four real ales on - Hobgoblin, which was very nice, a beer by Malvern Hills Brewery, which again was a very nice, smooth bitter, Brakspear Oxford Gold, which was very nice and Purity UBU, which I did not try, simply because I personally do not like Purity. The staff were very friendly; the young chap behind the bar who seemed like the manager was very knowledgeable about his beer. The waiting staff were polite and personable. The clientele were young and trendy, but several of them were regulars, the bar staff knew them personally. It was quite quiet at 5:00 on a Saturday, but they were setting up for some big parties in the restaurant. And the atmosphere was relaxed. Definitely one to add on to a Hockley pub crawl. Good luck, Drop Forge! Keep up the good work.