Cathays Beer House, Cardiff

Visited 19/02/26. Visited previously for ticking on 07/04/23. Two cask offerings of Evoke Pale Ale from Vibrant Forest and the Black Dry Stout from Shindigger. The single keg offering was the Twilight APA from Drop Project. There were seven or so real ciders available. Small but perfectly formed beer house in studenty Cathays area. There is a small, paved seating area at the front with a few benches to perch on. Inside it is stone tiled with the bar counter on the left-hand wall immediately inside the venue. There is some tall stool seating at the bar counter with seating otherwise via some trestle tables with benches and regular chairs plus a couple of sofas and a couple of tall tables with tall stools. The walls are adorned with photos of regulars and beer mats plus posters of upcoming gigs in Cardiff. There is also a fish tank just inside the door in the front right-hand corner. There is a regular quiz on Monday evenings. Had remembered a wider beer offering from previous visits, but single keg tap, and I guess tricky to run a small venue with lots of cask ale choices at a single point in time. The venue is still excellent as a venue to go and enjoy exceptionally kept cask ale and I will continue to return when in Cardiff.

Facebook page of Cathays Beer House - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Cathays Beer House - www.facebook.com

Well, a ‘beer house’ having a single cask available on a Sunday afternoon isn't doing itself many favours (for the record, the Welbeck Abbey Skylight was good for stillage, NBSS 3.5). Sounds like they were cleared-out at the early part of the weekend by students and given they're fully stillage I guess that's the perils of visiting on a Sunday. Of better stock were ciders, 9 in total from lesser-known types. Mish-mash of a room with a modern hipster bent (wire dangling filaments etc). Quiet pub which unfortunately meant that the high-pitched electronic whine (presumably from the fish tank) got right into my lugs. Despite comment elsewhere about the friendly chatty people within, nobody seemed interested in striking-up a conversation despite me clearly being an out-of-towner. I can see why Mr Scrumpy loved it as it's right up his street but I was less keen. Perhaps I got unlucky etc.

Having hoped to visit this pub on my last visit to Cardiff but being thwarted by it being closed on the day I visited, I finally managed to get inside this time. The micropub enjoys a prominent corner location at a busy set of traffic lights on the Crwys Road. Crwys apparently is Welsh for cross, but I did remark that it is also spelt very similar to the welsh word for beer (cwrw), not that that really has anything to do with matters. However, it is located in quite a studenty and multicultural area with plenty going on. On my Wednesday evening, the pub was fairly busy with several customers, their children and at least one dog. With limited seating, I ended up sitting on a sofa next to a fish tank but with a prime view of the multiple bag-in-the-box ciders and the cask ales which are all dispensed by gravity. The ale selection, so far as I could ascertain, was Hawkshead Dry Stone Stout, Twisted Barrel Saviour & Derby White Christmas. Ciders were Original Somerset Cider Company Hunky Punk, Heck's Glastonbury Gold & Perry, Bere Gold Rush Medium & Sweet ciders, Ross-on-Wye Bittersweet Goodbye and another from Hancocks Meadow Farm. One craft beer available was New Bristol Summacrush. With at least 3 ciders I'd not previously had here, I was spoiled for choice, eventually opting for the unnamed one from Hancocks Meadow Farm at a respectable 6.5%. After having rated the Gwaelod y Garth Inn a 10/10 earlier, I will also score this one highly. It was well worth wait to get here and I suspect I will be back someday.

Now this is what micropubs are all about. Friendly chatty owner and the same goes for the punters as well (all two of them on my visit!). There were just 2 ales, jacketed behind the bar, but both in great nick. Usually there's more beer on, apparently. Also available are cider (it's a local CAMRA award winner) and a couple of craft keg as well. An extensive range of bottles and cans complete the beer line-up. Snacks consist of a surprisingly wide range of jerky plus crisps and nuts. Highly recommended.