Slater's, Stafford

As described below, this former shop isn’t the most appealing or conventional of pubs, but its quirkiness and decent beer make it very much worth visiting. On this occasion the main irritation was that it was full of young mothers and their toddlers/babies, all shrieking, but we managed to ignore that for the most part. All the ales were from Slater’s – Premium, OneHop, Smoked Porter, Haka and Magnum Mild, plus a real cider from Kingstone Press. The covered yard at the back was being used exclusively by smokers. There is a large TV screen and they host open mic nights. I’d be very happy to visit again for the beer quality.

This looks like a shop conversion consisting of a rather plain rectangular room with various furnishings and a small bar counter at the rear. I got here at 11:00 on a Thursday morning so was the only one in. The large TV was promoting Slaters products and the bar while a rather dull disco medley played on the sound system. One minus with this place is that the toilets are up some back stairs, There are five hand pumps which had four Slaters beers and Revolutions Swoon. I went for the Slaters Haka (£3.50) and the Swoon guest (£3.30) both of which were in good nick. One of the Slaters options was called 1 Hop and the friendly barmaid said that it was replacing Top Totty. It's not a bad place at all and adds to Stafford's growing list of pubs worth visiting.

Curious-looking building, with the Slater's outlet at street level. Slightly eclectic mix of furniture, but all carefully colour-coordinated. Limited amount of decor (if you ignore the Christmas baubles) so the general appearance is a bit bare. Also has a number of small tables out on the pavement. Five real ales on handpump, including a Sparta with a hand-written clip (£3.20) and another single-hop Goldings. Up to seven further craft keg beers can be found from the taps on the brass bar-back.