The White Hart, Liverpool

Liverpool is really a special place for the pub tourist. This is unheralded by camra (never seen it in the guide for the last few years) yet I found it on a pub crawl app. The title of the pub crawl was "Top 10 Real Ale Pubs in Liverpool". Camra may not know but the locals certainly do. It doesnt look too much from the outside - although the Georgian archiecture is fine. Inside, it has a well worn, timeless feel. Looking at the reviews here, it seems as though this a retro-fit - but they couldnt have done a better job. Multi roomed, with a lovely sun trap beer garden. Beer wise - half a dozen cask on and I was impressed with a first Baltic Best Bitter by the Black Lodge Brewery (Liverpoo). Another favourite and well worth popping in.

I walked into the White Hart via the skylight covered beer garden that joins this pub to the Engineer. I was surprised to find the barmaid that had just served me in the Engineer standing in the bar, the staff explained that the two pubs are owned by the same people and that the staff work in both of them. The draught options from the serving counter up the right were the same as the Engineer with Guinness alongside premium and mainstream craft keg and four of the eight hand pumps were drawing Salopian’s Golden Thread, Purity’s Gold, Colbier Brew Co’s Minor and Lilley’s Elderflower. I missed the other four hand pumps, I’ll be sure to note them next time I’m in here. The main between the two pubs is that this is a traditional pub with lots of wooden features, beer shelves and tables and chairs and the other is akin to a bunker. There’s also another bar upstairs with the same keg as downstairs plus a couple of double up hand pumps. Walking out of the pub via its front entrance I noted that there’s lots of steps up to it from the street below. I think I slightly preferred it in here to the Engineer, but they both get an 8/10 so there’s little to choose between even though they are vastly different pubs.