The Crow's Nest, Newcastle Under Lyme Central, Newcastle under Lyme

My visit to Wellers coincided with an Ossett Brewery take-over, so their were four offerings from them plus Castle Rock’s Suntrap and a real cider. I went for the Symposium, which I thought was a bit soapy. Craft keg and cider was also available. There were a few people on so there was a bit of atmosphere meaning I enjoyed sitting on a high table in the large front bay window. The service was polite, it was just a shame the beer wasn’t great.

Just across the road from Lymestone Vaults is Wellers which is the tap for Weal brewery and looks like it has been converted from a shop. No-one else in the pub apart from my fellow PuG crawlers. The beer range is listed below. I had a pint of Squeal which was in good nick. We'll call in here again next time we're in town.

Just over a week after the PuG crawl I ended up in here and I liked it. The single room echoed a lot but sod that, the beer was good. The 6 handpulls were dominated by Weal beers and I too enjoyed the milk stout. World Cupped up and thankfully, unlike certain pubs, the Saudi flag was displayed. A couple of beers from other breweries were also available. A good place.

After pondering the is it/isn't it a micropub question for several seconds, I realised that I didn't care and I was wasting valuable drinking time :-). The exterior is dominated by a large bow window and painted mural. The inside is a single, grey decor room with corner bar, pop art on the walls and a TV (not on). The service was very good and the clientele just our party. The beers are listed below: 6 ales, of which the Milk Stout was superb. Another must in my opinion.

Cannot really add anything to the reviews below except perhaps to confirm that the six casks were all between £3.00 and £3.20 and that the four keg taps were dispensing mainly microbrewery craft ales in the shape of Staropramen Pravha Lager, Fourpure Brewing Company Juicebox Citrus IPA, Shiny Brewing Blaze of Glory, and a cider on the last one. Definitely a micropub in my book and although empty and lacking in atmosphere when we entered, it doesn’t take many in to give it a bit of life, and I am guessing it’s a good place to drop in for a beer in the evening. I went for the 4.9% Centwealial Milk Stout at £1.60 a half and it was very good. For the beer range and the very friendly welcome behind the jump I’ll give it an 8 as well and also would suggest this is a should do double with the nearby Lymestone Vaults on any crawl of NuL.

This has been well described below. You have to assume that it was previously some sort of retail outlet but I can't find a reference. The friendly landlady turned out to be the better half of Team Weal who set the brewery up in 2014. The subject of micropubs did arise but I got the impression that they would rather be known as a brewery tap than one of the ever increasing number of micropubs. Having said that, it's more like a micropub than a fair number of the ones I've visited. Again as noted below, All Mod Cons are provided but they don't do food. I went for their best selling ale Weller Weal (£3.10) which was in good nick and being something of a hop bomb went down a treat. It's pretty inconceivable that anyone visiting NUL would not come here and the nearby Lymestone Vaults. The music connection with the name came as no surprise, if they open another outlet perhaps they should go even further back and call it Weals On Fire. I'll definitely be back and will up the stakes by giving it an 8.