Upminster TapRoom, Upminster

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.

CAMRA WhatPub - whatpub.com

CAMRA WhatPub - whatpub.com

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