The Borehole, Stone

Converted from an office building for the defunct Bent’s Brewery, this is now a very pleasant tap for the Lymestone Brewery who are conveniently located a short distance away in part of the old Bent’s premises. The pub has a bit of a micro pub feel to it and is certainly far removed from the railway arch/industrial estate brewery bars found across London these days. A lot of effort has gone into creating a very cosy two room bar with the feel of a traditional pub. You enter past a couple of outdoor benches, into a whitewashed room with seating to the left and the servery to the right. The bar has a simple counter with blackboards to the left listing the draught options and shelves on the bar back displaying the bottled beer range. The lounge area to the left of the entrance is very well presented, offering some high quality pub furniture including pews around a lit stove, low stools, standard chairs and a low bench draped with a sheepskin rug. An eclectic mix of items can be found on sideboards and in the window sills, such as bottles, beer glasses, lamps, taps and some marvellous old Double Diamond and Trophy Bitter lights. The walls have been decorated sparingly with brewery signs, mirrors, posters and a yard of ale vessel. There is a piano in the front corner and the porch is lined with hops and has a few barrels stacked on top. In the far corner there is a door through to a second room which is served by the same stove and has a mix of regular chairs and some sofas. There is a nice map of the local area on the wall and a stack of board games on a table. The pub is dog friendly - in fact I was the only customer not to have brought a dog with me, and one particular canine was going nuts, barking at a wicker dog sculpture that was stood next to the bar! A good selection of Lymestone beers were available on handpull, with options on this visit consisting of Stone Cutter, Stone the Crows, Nose to the Grindstone, Stone Faced, Stone Brood, Ein Stein and Foundation Stone plus a guest of Great Newsome Out Foxed. The barman was very friendly and chatty and he helped me figure out what sort of beer I wanted from a selection of beers I’d never previously encountered. The full range of Lymestone bottled beers were available from the fridges and take outs and gift packs were being advertised. I thought this was a wonderful little pub and a great showcase for the Lymestone Brewery and their beer. I could very easily have spent me entire afternoon here working my way through the full range of ales and would suggest that this place sets the bar very high for breweries of a similar size who wish to open their own on site bar. A really enjoyable visit and a must do when in Stone.

This is a small pub that is the Brewery Tap for Lymestone. It is set in what looks like a gatehouse at the entrance of the old Bent's Brewery site part of which now houses the Lymestone Brewery. Bent's also had a brewery in Liverpool but the company was taken over by Bass Charrington in the 1960s. Considering it's not an original pub they have turned it into a cosy little place. It's larger inside than it looks from outside, the small bar is on the right as you enter and there are two areas one at the front by the bar and another further back. There is an assortment of tables chairs and sofas. There was a music soundtrack playing on my visit which wasn't loud but invalidates any credentials of being a micropub, although others may not agree. The bar has eight hand pumps with one unused, a guest of Shiny New Moon and six Lymestone beers. I went for the Stone Faced (£2.80) and the Cherry Stone (£3.10) both of which were first class. Although this place is North of the centre of Stone it's only a short distance from the railway station and is well worth a look. I really liked it.