The Furnace, Brierley Hill

This bar is situated in the lively Waterfront area near Merry Hill shopping centre. The interior is a single room made to look like a railway arch. It has a laminate floor and fake brick walls and ceilings. The pub's cellar can be seen through a window to the rear right. On our Sunday afternoon visit, it was quite lively with a singer playing on the small stage to the rear of the room. It was quite noisy inside, but a little quieter on pavement tables out to the front. Drinks menus can be found on each table, but the bar does stock 3 cask ales. For our visit, these were Wye Valley HPA & Butty Bach & Salopian Day In A Life. Camden Pale was the pick of the keg beers. The cider was Inch's. My Day In A Life was quite a nice beer served by a cheery young barmaid. This place was a bit too noisy for my liking, but with decent beer, it's definitely worth trying if you find yourself at the Waterfront.

Due to open back up tomorrow with a new name - The Furnace. I'll try and call in soon!

Enjoyed our visit to this Good Beer Guide saloon bar There were beers brewed for the bar from Fixed Wheel and Salopian breweries, We chose Green Duck Duck Blonde and Tiny Rebel CWTCH, both of which were fine. Pleasant unobtrusive background music playing.

Tucked away in a retail unit at the far end of a failed retail development at The Waterfront,I suspected the worst on the approach but was pleasantly surprised by an attractive interior and lively atmosphere.It was bingo quiz night with rounds of Play your Card Right which happens every Wednesday while there is occasional live music.Despite the modern exterior there is much exposed brick internally and a vaulted brick roof.A long bench sits along the left wall,with brittania tables and table lights,while on the opposite side at the front there is a small sofa area before the upmarket bar,with a decent selections of bottles on the bar back.There are a few small tables out front ,mainly used by smokers. Describing itself as a Saloon Bar is very accurate and being a free house the ale options are interesting with on my trip 3D Beers Sheridan's Irish Coffee Milk Stout,Wensleydale Falconer and Tiny Rebel Cwtch (decent) with a further pump unclipped. If you want to escape the retail hell that is Merry Hill,this is a decent stop but it appears less handpumps were working than on previous reviewers visits.