Plau, Preston

A small micropub which isn't too bad. The place is on 2 levels plus a basement, with an upper area to the rear. 4 handpulls plus approximately 20 taps for keg.

A very pleasant bar on two levels, plus a basement. Friendly bar staff and customers and a good range of ales which are listed below. My pint of Tempest Golden Hour was in very good nick. I'll call in again next time I'm in Preston.

Three-tiered place with a downstairs vault bar. Aimed at the upmarket, with food, gin and wine vying (and, until our groups arrival, possibly trumping) the beer angle. Décor is of the salvaged fittings variety. Four cask pumps with three on, my Farm Yard Gulf thick didn't clear (but that seems to its default, looking at Untappd - so NBSS 3.5). I found the place to be a tad pretentious, especially after having come from the more earthy environs of the Vinyl Tap. So maybe timing is everything.

A really likable pub/bar, a good and friendly vibe throughout with some decent beer on offer, B F has already listed the available cask beer on offer during our visit and like many I had the Farm Yard Gulf. A pub worth a return visit.

The Plau has seating in the front window and a couple of tables with a bench run up the right wall. Steps lead up to the bar that supports four handpumps, all in operation and eight premium and craft keg fonts. At the rear some stairs lead down to a cellar bar where there is a large lump of glass in the floor that affords a view down an old well. The bar down here has another eight premium and craft keg fonts, I’m not sure if these are duplicated from upstairs. Out the back is a smoking yard with some seating. The thing that I remember most from my visit was how friendly the locals were. I got into a conversation in the top bar and the cellar bar within seconds. I would return.

The Plau Gin and Beer house, to give it its full monicker, is a very interesting place which I had trouble getting my head round. Housed in a historical building originally constructed in the 1600s and was once an 18th century distillery and then a former pub some 90 years ago it is now a very smart drinking establishment that I couldn’t work out was more a pub, a wine bar or a gin and cocktail joint or a restaurant and concluded it was all four to different people at any particular time. Four ale pumps on the elevated bar with the list of beers on given below and I also went for the Farm Yard Gulf IPA which was rather good. But this was of no concern to the young local couple I got talking to at the bar who were much more interested in the foreign lagers and the cocktail list. If I was ever to visit Preston with my good lady I know where to take her.

Closed for 95 years, this is one of the longest periods of closure and restoration, vying spookily for the title with the recently reopened (and after 95 years) Oxford's Plough. This place is also cited on CAMRA's list of pubs of Outstanding Conversions and Restorations, where photos can be seen. I opted for a half of the Farm Yard's Gulf, neither price nor tasting notes recorded, but I'll go with the review of it below.