Anchored in Worthing, Worthing

Very much a proper micropub in size and ethos. There were eight customers in when I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon and that didn't leave too much space.Four Cask beers from stillage out back, there is no physical bar, two Ciders and a Perry, beers tend to be fairly local and my Brew Studio Track One was nice enough but although nowhere near best beer of the day, it was a great drinking experience all round.

Opened in summer 2013, a full year before Worthing's next micropub came along, this place could to some degree be credited with sparking a bit of an ale revolution in a town which already had a decent stock of traditional pubs. The small single room pub, handily located close to the seafront, certainly has the feel of a place that has had plenty of time to bed in and develop some real character. In many ways it's a standard micropub set up, with a narrow bare boarded room offering high stool seating under the front windows and some high benches down each side of the room serving a limited number of tables. A few more high stools along a drinking ledge to the rear left round out the seating options unless you include the seats around a final rear table which was essentially operating as a de facto servery, in lieu of a proper bar counter. The place has a lot of features you might expect to see in a typical pub, such as hop lined front windows and a ceiling covered with pump clips which are starting to spread their way down across the walls. There is also plenty of breweriana, including a large King and Barnes sign, a couple of brewery maps and a few bits seemingly made bespoke for the pub. There are also a fair few quirky items on show including a couple of inflatable fighter jets hung from the ceiling to the rear, shelves displaying a collection of figurines and beer bottles, CAMRA certificates on the walls, various clocks and mugs and all sorts of nautical themed bits including some model lifeboats. The friendly landlord had laid out a cheese platter that a few of the locals were getting stuck into, whilst I opted to sample the rather excellent pork scratchings sat in jars temptingly in view on the back wall. There were three real ales on the go when I arrived, all served from a taproom which is hidden out the back somewhere. Options on this occasion were Hand Brew Co Session IPA, High Weald Chronicle and a marvellous drop of Dark Star Revelation at £3.80 a pint. Three real ciders were listed on a board and there were some well thought out wine and soft drink options available as well. This is a very pleasant little pub that was a welcome sight after a long stroll along the beach on a scorching summer's day. Whilst the place doesn't really deliver on the comfort front, it makes up for it with some great beer, friendly chat and a warm, lived-in interior. There are some fine micropubs in and around Worthing and this is up there with the best of them.

This isn't the smallest micropub I've visited but it is rather small and cramped. There is no bar counter as such, a deliberate choice the owner explained as he likes to come out and chat with the punters. It turned out he used to live near and was a regular in the Anchor & Hope in Clapton, the only East London Fuller's pub outside the financial districts. There were three beers available on my visit Goldmark Ebony Mild, Lister's Special and Hepworth Iron Horse. I went for the Lister's Special (£3.10) which was a darkish traditional mid ABV English ale in good condition. Beers are from local micros and the ciders and wines are from local producers. This is a nice friendly place but isn't very comfortable if you don't like sitting on tall furniture. Current opening times are 17:00-20:00 Mon: 12:00-14:30,17:00-20:00 Tue: 12:00-22:00 Wed-Sat: 12:00-18:00 Sun

A new (October 2013) micropub shop conversion and doesn’t look much like a pub from the outside, I walked straight past the gaudy sign without looking assuming it was a hippy shop or tattoo parlour. Inside it's narrow rectangular room which was dominated by the high tables which meant there was barely space to shuffle round in. Internal décor includes some foreign banknotes and old pump clips. Two ales (stillage) on alongside plenty of ciders and some British wines. My Goldmark was pretty lifeless which I found very surprising given the whole point of the micropub is about high quality in a small setting. Early days I suppose.