Upminster TapRoom, Upminster

This is quite a quirky micropub in the middle of Upminster, with a tile floored, single room interior and no servery. The room has been painted in neutral shades, but much of the wall space has been covered with a massive pump clip collection and a load of enamel beer signs, as well as tap and spile displays and some helpful, if not helpfully positioned, beer boards. High benches skirt around the perimeter with beer barrels beneath them, and high stools in support, with the only other seating options being the benches out in the tiny front patio garden area. A rickety looking ladder has been hung from the ceiling with a load of beer bottles suspendd from it, whilst upturned beer crates across the rest of the ceiling act as light shades. The beers are all poured from a taproom to the rear, visible through a large window on the back wall, which has the available beers listed across the top of it. A large TV screen in one corner, was switched off and presumably isn't used for live sport, with a folk soundtrack playing quietly in the background. The beer boards listed six cask ale options - Goffs Tournament, Good Chemistry Yakima Sun, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold (£5.00 a pint), Brentwood Beer Outta Hell and Beertle Juice and one other that I couldnt read without having to lean across someone's table. Around 20 ciders, two keg beers and a load of bottles and cans were also available, so something for everyone. I tried the Brewers Gold and Beertle Juice, both of which were excellent and the barman was very friendly and explained how I could see what beers were on and how to order. Lots of staff were on shift on a busy Saturday night, but most kept popping outside to watch a nearby fireworks display. I really enjoyed my visit here, prolonging my stay to try some more of their great beer, and I would've quite happily spent even longer if time had permitted. I thought it was a great pub that didn't feel like your standard micropub, and I would say it's an excellent addition to Upminster's modest pub scene. Date of visit - 2nd November 2024

The pub was bustling when I got there just after 2pm on a Saturday, possibly more so than usual due to Six Nations Rugby featuring England being screened, a slight disappointment for me as for one I'm not a rugby fan plus in a small space you maybe can't get the real feel of a pub and it's regular clientele. However despite that the visit was reasonably enjoyable with I think seven Cask on priced at £4.90 across the board and a couple of key kegs along with a plethora of Ciders from Lillys, Seacider and several others. The beers were displayed individually on small boards with mounted pumpclips up on a wall behind one of the high tables, given the busy nature of the day it was hard to see them without blocking the view of the game, unless you were already familiar with the pumpclip. I went for a vocation Heart & Soul on key keg and it was a decent drop. My rating of 7 would probably be an 8 had I visited at a quieter time but it was worth the trip to the eastern outreaches of London.

A Tuesday night visit for the first time while here for football. 5 of us arrived just before 6pm and were quickly joined by another 2 of our party which helped to fill the place up nicely. 4 ales, 1 perry and a mead on when I first got in then it was increased to 6 ales. The several pints of Snow Drop’s Amber @ 4.2% that I had were excellent. This micro pub which has already in it’s short time of existence become a hub of the community with numbers growing almost weekly others table service as is the norm in micro pubs. It was pretty busy during our 90 minutes here, conversation is king but we a group of 7 of us nobody else got a look in ! A cracking little place that will be revisited in the not to distance future

This is East London's first micropub, albeit being situated on the extreme edge of the area. It is considerably larger than many of these places, in fact there is enough room to swing a cat in here if you're into that sort of thing. The building was once an office rather than the usual shop and has six tall tables with stools and benches along three walls. The cold room is fully visible through a large window. There is a growing collection of bric-a-brac adorning the walls including some framed unusual vinyl LPs from a former life of the owner who once had a record shop. This one doesn't break any of the micropub guidelines having no music, machines and just selling cask ale, cider, a few wines and soft drinks. Use of mobile phones is likely to result in a charity "fine". This one is large enough to support separate Ladies and Gents toilets. It only opened after a lengthy battle with the local council mainly due to the fact that a few jobsworth councillors apparently couldn't tell the difference between a night club and a micropub. Six beers were available on my visit, Dark Star Hophead, Maldon IPA, Kings & Captain Bob, Crouch Vale Yakima Gold and Earl Soham Sir Roger's Porter. The Dark Star is a permanent fixture. I went for the Hophead (£3.20) and the Porter (£3.40) both of which went down a treat. Upminster doesn't have many pubs let alone any worth visiting so this is a welcome addition to the area.