The Cellars Alehouse, Maidstone

The Cellars does not open until 5pm during the week. So, we'd left a visit here until last. This is not exactly a pub you would notice in passing, as it's hidden well away alongside the railway between Maidstone West and Maidstone Barracks stations. As the name suggests, it's a cellar bar that is surprisingly spacious. The bar is set in the one corner, with a cool room behind it from where the ales and ciders are dispensed. There is quite a range of ciders in particular. It is hard to imagine how they can turn over enough for them to stay in good condition, given the limited opening hours. However, everything we had was good quality and there were a fair number of regulars and visitors in the know whilst we were there. 6 real ales were Kent Cellars Session Pale, Battle EPA & Black Arrow, Drop Project Shifty, Musket Flintlock & Iron Pier Rosherville Red. Ciders were Turner's Pear Cider, Dry, Apple Pie, Medium Dry, Rhubarb Cider & Elderflower Cider, Double Vision One Vision & Fruits of the Forest, Ascension Wrath & Champing At The Pit, Snail's Bank Sloe Gin Cider, Banoffee Pie, Pineapple & Pink Grapefruit Cider & Black Forest, Sandford Orchards Devon Red, Broadoak Mango Cider, Pear & Chilli Cider & Pheasant Plucker & Thistly Cross Whisky Cask. Craft beers were Polly's Enigma Pale Ale The Hop Series & Mambo Sun, Verdant/Jon Hopkins Light Through The Veins, Wiper & True Phantasmagoria, Amundsen Helles, Yonder Trunk of Funk 2021 & Torrside Optimism As A Radical Life Choice. With a friendly barman and some chatty locals and the excellent ale and cider choice, this was my favourite pub of 10 in Maidstone. The interior all feels a bit gloomy, but otherwise I found little I could fault.

Stuck out on a light industrial estate, alongside the train tracks approaching Maidstone west station, this is a pleasant cellar bar that has a bit of a micropub feel to it, despite a fairly spacious interior. Steps lead you down into a typical cellar space with a quarry stone floor, bare brick walls and attractive vaulted ceiling. The servery is over in the far corner of the room and has a pretty basic counter, with all the beer set up and dispensed on gravity in a back room. Seating comes in good supply, mostly in the form of simple tables and chairs, old pews and a few sofa and armchair options in a recessed space to the rear. The ceiling has been liberally lined with hops and plenty of pump clips, whilst the walls have been decorated with breweriana, much of which relates to long lost breweries that I’ve never heard of - in fact, this pub is located in the former barley cellar for the Style & Winch Brewery, which I’d also never heard of prior to my visit. I was greeted by a very friendly barman upon arrival, who helped talk me through some of the beers available, which comprised Arbor My Little Sabrony, Long Man Old Man, Cellars Palehouse, Old Dairy Red Top, Dig Brew cask Bier and Vocation Salted Caramel Stout, plus eight keg beers from micro breweries and around twenty cider and perry options. I took a punt on the Cellars Palehouse - as the name suggests, a house beer brewed by the Kent Brewery based in nearby Birling - which I thought was a decent pint and kept in good condition. The place had only just opened when I arrived, so I was the only customer for the duration of my stay - hopefully custom picks up a bit in the evening. I quite liked this place, despite it feeling a little empty on a quiet Thursday early evening. It’s definitely a place to check out if you want a good selection of ale or craft beer to work through and I can imagine an extended session here would be quite rewarding.