Black Isle Bar, Inverness

large tavern style, long benches and good beer.

Corner bar that was very busy on our Friday visit. Being one of 2 Black Isle Brewery bars (the other is in Fort William), this one stocked a good range of their beers. Most were on keg, but there were 3 cask - 21 Pale, Goldfinch & Red Kite. The keg options were Blonde, 21 Pale, Supply Chain Issues, Porter, Hibernator Oatmeal Stout, Scotch Ale, Spider Monkey, Goldfinch, Heaven Hill Barrel Aged Full Circle, Systems Theory - West Coast Edition, Colonel Custard's Imperial Barrel Aged Scotch Ale, Red Kite, Road Runner, Farmhouse Spelt Lager, Rolling Palace 3 & The Big Sleep Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout. The draft cider was their Natural Organic Cider and there were also a number of guest beers on keg - Brouwerij Boon Kriek Boon, Black Hole Equations #2, Tiny Rebel 505, Magic Rock Serendipitous, Huyghe Delirium Tremens & Beerbliotek Eternal Darkness. On the ground floor, there is a roughly square shaped room with the bar to the rear left. A screen to the side of the bar lists the full beer selection. Service was quick, but there were no tables available. We had been hoping to try one of their pizzas cooked in their wood-fired oven at the rear of the room. But the lack of tables seemed to reduce our chances. Instead, we chose to try out the secret garden on the rooftop. You pass some of the premises' bunk rooms on the way. The garden area was much larger than we had anticipated. There is a separate bar in one corner, stocking a more limited beer range, whilst some tables are located under heaters, with others more exposed to the elements, despite most of the area being undercover. We did eventually manage to grab a table and we did try the pizzas, which were very tasty indeed. I very much enjoyed my visit here and of all the pubs and bars we tried during our weekend in Scotland, this was the best.

Pizza and large open plan dining/drinking den that recreates the hipster style bars of bigger cities. The brews were on a TV Screen and no complaints on my Scotch Ale, even when only served in halves. I soon found a way around that. Walked past on the evening and it was heaving.