The Duke, Erith

The regular ale on here is Courage Best (£2.70 a pint), plus a guest ale at circa £3.40 a pint. When I visited on Monday afternoon the guest ale was Hopfuzz (a Kent Brewery based in Hythe) Old American Pale Ale. Seeing a pumpclip I didn't recognise (not the Courage Best!) I asked the barman (who turned out to be the Guv'nor) about it and he was so enthusiastic about his policy of having a less usually seen guest beer that I was persuaded to have a pint of it. And a great pint it was too, and not as hoppy as I expected it to be from its name. I didn't see any sign of food on Monday afternoon. This is a pub of two halves. The room on the left is quite Spartan - bare-boarded, a couple of tall tables/tall stools as well as a couple of normal tables and chairs, and not much else worth mentioning other than an attractive brewery mirror. The windows are however an attractive feature, with their wooden pillar designed frames. The glazing's all modern stuff however. A second room is reached via an archway on the right. This room would presumably have been the saloon bar - it's carpeted, furnished with a couple of sofas and normal tables and chairs, and is another example of brewer's rustic with black painted beams on the walls and ceiling. A brick built fireplace is at the far end of the small room. This pub has only very recently re-opened, and I really hope that their policy of a having a regularly changing real ale works for them. I appreciated the enthusiasm shown by the manager. Although the pub itself doesn't look anything very special I reckon it's worth dropping in for a pint as it might offer the best chance of getting anything a bit different in the way of a pint in the immediate neighborhood. It certainly seem to be an improvement on the incarnation encountered by the previous reviewer.