Cask & Pottle, Burton on Trent

Idiosyncratic micro with rather unreliable opening hours. Pretty conventional; there are 6 high tables with wall benches behind and a stillage cool room behind the little counter. Three cask ales on for this visit - two from Green Duck and one from Froth Blowers.

We found this to be a rather odd micropub. We arrived to find who I assumed to be the owner (most likely the guy mentioned in the reviews below) and about 4 other customers (all blokes). Cask ales and ciders are listed on a board on the right-hand wall. For our visit, there was Burton Bridge Stairway To Heaven & Bridge Bitter, Front Row Day of the Jackler & Heritage HPA. Ciders were listed as Lilley's Rhubarb Cider, Mango Cider, Crazy Goat & Fire Dancer & Weston's Family Reserve. My wife ordered the Fire Dancer, only to be told that it wasn't actually on. Instead, she turned to the decent gin selection, ordering a blood orange one. The owner swiftly said that there was no ice and we said that was fine. He arrived back at the table with just my Jackler and no gin. Sensing that trying again to order the gin could be an even more difficult process, we decided to let it be. Even though I was brought up in Staffordshire myself, there is quite a difference in accents across the county and somewhere our drinks order was lost in translation. Seating is in typical micropub style with bench seating along the walls. Customers seemed to be much more friendly and not as strange as the owner. We soon got chatting to a guy who had moved to the area to work at the Bass brewery in Burton. Despite the strange service, I did quite like this place. I'd imagine the owner creates some entertainment for the locals who like to see the look on strangers' faces as they attempt to communicate their order. Perhaps pointing and hand gestures would have been more appropriate, but I don't ever recall anywhere else in the UK where I've had quite so much difficulty placing an order.