Foundry 34, Penrith

Official site of Foundry 34 - www.foundry-34.co.uk

Official site of Foundry 34 - www.foundry-34.co.uk

This is a recent pub conversion, having previously been a restaurant and still having a fish and chip shop in the left hand corner. In fact, it's still more of a restaurant than a pub, describing itself as "brasserie restaurant boutique bar & hotel" (provide your own punctuation). I probably wouldn't have bothered going in for a drink if it were not for the intermittent hail showers which made taking shelter a sensible option, added to the fortuitous sighting through the windows of a group of three hand pumps. On closer examination these were serving two beers from a local brewery called Eden - their Eden Gold and a beer called First Emperor IPA. I had a half of the latter which was in good condition. The area in front of the bar has a wooden floor and plain walls, with décor and furnishings typical of a modern bar. The toilets and the restaurant are up some fairly steep stairs, and there are also hotel rooms available. Some music which I didn't recognise was playing fairly loudly, but I found it acceptable for my short stay. Not really my idea of a pub, but the beer was in good condition and it's interesting to see a local brewery finding an outlet in a new venture like this.