Staggeringly Good Brewery Bar, Milton, Southsea

As well as the original bar described below, a new larger taproom has opened alongside fitted with large stained glass panels giving something of a church effect, while a small tabled outdoor area has been added. Furnishings remain of the industrial type with spartan decor. Beers are now all on keg however, plus bottles and tins of course. It seemed very popular, despite being tucked away in the back corner of industrial units. Ok for the novelty value but I don't think I would make it a regular haunt.

Set in an unpromising industrial estate behind Fratton Park, this small bar opened earlier this year, forming part of a nice little set-up comprising the brewery, shop and bar for the cumbersomely named Staggeringly Good Brewery. The arrangement is typical of this sort of industrial unit based brewery, with the majority of the space to the left and rear used for the brewing process, whilst a small designated area allows customers to try some of the output at source. You enter through a doorway into a very compact space with a serving counter opposite, presumably used for off sales. Various CAMRA magazines and beer books have been stacked here for customer's perusal, but to get to the beer, you need to pass the right side of the counter into a space which open out towards the actual brewery. Here you'll find tables made from old cable spools and seats formed of padded casks plus a Ping-Pong table to the front. The right wall has been covered with black tiles and ivy leaves twine around the ceiling beams so that, faced in the right direction, you can actually start to lose sight of the fact you're sat in an industrial estate. Blues music played throughout my visit and there was a guitar propped in one corner for customers to strum out a tune or two. The brewery has a dinosaur theme, so quirky little dinosaur-related touches pop up here and there, such as the 'Danger' sign preventing access to the brew plant, which shows a man being eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The unisex toilet was remarkably well appointed, very clean and spacious and had framed articles on the walls on subjects such as the London Beer Flood, Women & Beer and Reinheitsgebot amongst other things. The rear wall of the tap room has four keg taps and two handpulls for cask ales, each topped with a model dinosaur to represent which beer is on. Not being familiar with their range, a patient barman talked me through them all before I plumped for a pint of Staggersaurus - a session ale on keg that set me back £3.50. The beer was a little hazy but drank pretty well. A full bottled range could be viewed in a set of fridges to the front of the bar. I've been to a fair few bars like this in various industrial units and railway arches around the country, but this was a particularly good example of how such a venue can be presented. I found the set-up innovative and smart, the dinosaur theme quite good fun and the service extremely friendly. My only question mark would be around the beer - I feel I'd need to try a few more to make a sound judgement on that. An enjoyable visit and being within convenient staggering distance from Fratton Park, it makes a good pre-match option.

Official site of Staggeringly Good Brewery Bar - staggeringlygood.com

Official site of Staggeringly Good Brewery Bar - staggeringlygood.com