Three Sheets to the Wind, Rochester

This is a popular High Street micropub in the centre of Rochester about a 10 minute walk from the station. You enter into a tiny, bare boarded bar area with the servery to the right and some very limited seating options comprising a hard bench at the front and three high stools to the rear, in front of an attractive brick fireplace. The room is timber framed, as is the bar counter, which had a beam acting as a pot shelf and has been decorated with a miniature ship's wheel and lots of Steigel glasses and other such Austrian tankards and breweriana. A large pub mirror dominates the bar back and the aforementioned fireplace has more tankards, some paintings of the pub, a huge demon head and a model ship on a ledge above it. Stairs to the rear lead down to a second room full of overspill seating, whilst out the back is a beer garden with plenty of bench furniture, although I only realised that any of this existed about two minutes before I left, when a huge group of customers appeared from up the stairs. There were just the two operational handpulls on the go when I arrived, giving a choice between Canterbury Ales The Friars and Pig & Porter Skylarking. I tried the former which appeared to be in good nick but was a fairly underwhelming brew. A couple of unusual keg regulars such as Steigel Austrian lager kept things interesting, but craft beer doesn't appear to be their strong suit. The lone barman provided some friendly service and was later joined by a jovial barmaid who seemed to have a good rapport with the locals. Kent micropubs are pretty commonplace these days and it's increasingly difficult for such ventures to stand out from the crowd, but I thought this place had a few interesting points of departure that made for an enjoyable visit. Rochester has a good mix of traditional ale houses and newer micropubs and I think this place would slot nicely onto any crawl around the town. Date of visit - 8th June 2024

On my list to do but the shutters were down mid afternoon with a notice on the door saying closed till 5pm due to private function, I returned at 5.10 but was still firmly closed, I didn't have time to hang around so it's one that got away for the time being.

Three Sheets to the Wind has a small bare board front street-level bar area with seating and a table under the front window and a high table with stools against a curved exposed brick fireplace on the rear wall. Above the fireplace is a thick wooden shelf on which a horned devil’s head sits, yes this place is a bit quirky, as the weird background music did attest. The short serving counter is found on the right-hand wall, two of the three hand pumps were in operation drawing The Canterbury Ales’ The Friar’s Ale and Pig & Porter Jumping Frog, the latter was very cloudy but tasted great. Guinness was available on Surger and the heavily advertised Stiegl Salzburger Bier was the only keg with a second font being covered with a tea towel. An unmarked door on the rear wall leads down to a rear seating area that was a bit more comfortable than upstairs. More bare board supports some tables and chairs and the focal point is the old exposed brick and stone wall with stained glass window. There’s also another fireplace that uses the same chimney as the one above and the ceiling is wood beamed. Out the back is a surprisingly large enclosed beer garden with picnic tables and a covered stage area in the right-rear corner. The toilets are also out here, as is a shed that was closed. I expect that this must be some sort of bar for busy times because there’s no way the street-level bar counter could service everyone if this place was full to capacity. This place is worth a look.

Essentially a micropub in an historic building previously used as a medieval theme shop. The front bar is cosy and welcoming, while the barman made a point of chatting to us and learning what he could from us about the beers, as he is relatively new to real ale. It’s tiny, with a few tables and chairs and limited standing space, so we went downstairs to the basement at the rear, another characterful room with stained glass. There is also apparently a secluded garden, but we didn’t venture there. It’s clear that the décor is a work in progress, and there are a few fault-lines visible, but that didn’t detract from enjoying the ambiance or, most importantly, the beer. A selection of German, Bavarian and Austrian beers was available but we stuck to the two reals ales on draught, Old Dairy Blue Top and Pig & Porter Skylarking. The ales were in perfect condition, most enjoyable. A fantastic addition to the Rochester ale scene and somewhere to which I shall certainly return.

Micro-pub located at the eastern end of Rochester High Street before the A20 Star Hill junction (although it continues much further towards what one might think of as Chatham). Anyway, the seating in this place comprises just a single (small) standard table, one tiny high table with a couple of seats and another without anywhere to sit. The beer choice is similarly (if surprisingly) restricted for what appears to be aiming for an alehouse feel, with just Blue Top from Old Dairy (over-priced at £4.50) available from a pair of handpumps.