Malt Disley, Stockport

Self-described as a micro-bar and bottle shop, the grindingly awful pun of the name was lost in the rather loud background music and the almost equally loud recital of the barmaid's various medical woes that greeted my arrival. There are five hand pumps on the bar facing the door, with keg options on the right hand side. Most of the pump clips had been amended by hand, but I was able to make out Thornbridge Lord Marples and Crackendale, Beartown Creme Bearlee, and one from Twisted Barrel brewery (though the video screen on the wall said that Lymm IPA was still on), plus a cider. My half of Lord Marples was in good condition.

Visited on Saturday evening around 7pm. For a micropub this is slightly larger than average and has the benefit of some additional seating downstairs. Upstairs was rammed so we went downstairs and got the last available table. The atmosphere was a bit lacking downstairs but it was better than being squashed like sardines upstairs. Bizarrely one of the tables downstairs is particularly large and would have seated 6-8 people. I feel this would have been better replaced with a couple of smaller tables for 4, as the stairs down aren't really geared up for large groups traipsing up and down anyway. At the bar are five hand pulls for cask ale, including the rather pleasant Tatami (pale ale) by Torrside, and the slightly unusual Zestspresso (coffee and lemon porter) by Hawkshead, priced at £3.50 and £3.80 a pint respectively. Keg beer was also available and ciders too, I believe. Bar snacks (crisps, nuts, chocolate etc) are available from the bar. It was good to have tried it, but it was on the busy side but then as most of the pubs in the immediate vicinity are Robinsons pubs it's perhaps easy to see why this place is so popular as it offers something different. It reminded me a bit of Heaton Hops over in Heaton Chapel - probably best experienced at a quieter time to fully appreciate the place.