Bench, Congleton

A shop conversion to a community orientated pub which doubles as a coffee shop during the day,a huge effort has been made to appeal to a wide audience.The interior is largely open plan with an eclectic mix of furniture including some sofas and Chesterfields ,the wall coverings are interesting with some Soviet style murals and distressed art work.The bare light flexes and hanging bulbs give the impression in the evening that you could be in deepest Hackney ,although the hipster beards dont seem to have percolated this far north yet.The large plate glass windows give an excellent view of the interior ,while the bar itself is housed towards the rear.There are six handpumps with on my visit a real cider,Mallinsons Scrummy,Summer Wine Brewing Oregon West Coast Pale Ale,5 Sisters Alchemy and a decent Saltaire Blonde (£3.20) with one pump unused.I would expect ales to rotate ,with no sign of permanent choices.There are 10 fonts for keg beers and lagers and 80 bottled options all listed on a chalk board.Food is mainly small dish options,tapas in style but there is a selection of sandwiches and pies. There is lots going on ,a film night with free pop corn,meet the brewer evenings,live music,Sunday quiz and you can book one side of the frontage for a private party or beer tasting. The pub was set up by the people from the Treacle Tap in Macc. and you can see the similarities,it's an excellent addition to the local real ale scene and has already won local CAMRA awards,is in the 2016 GBG and will always get my custom when in town.

Though it looks like it might be a hideous wine bar type thingy it is actually very good real ale wise. Local ales were to the fore.