ReviewStuck out on an unappealing retail park to the North of the town, this is a shiny new brewpub from Charles Wells’ craft beer offshoot - Brewpoint. It’s a large, modern pub, that’s equal part restaurant judging by my mid-week visit, but it does it’s best to make the beer the star of the show. The front door takes you into a large open plan area with the servery directly opposite the entrance and lots of seating and standing room through the rest of the space. A chequered tile floor leads you to the bar, which has a traditional-style light wood counter front with a steel top and basic shelving unit bar back topped with some Brewdog-esque cinema-style beer boards, with a couple of brewing vessels peeking out over the top. High tables and stools fill the space opposite and over to the right, where a load of brewery merchandise is on display alongside fridges with bottles and cans for off-sales. The usual exposed utilities can be seen running beneath the ceiling, although some effort has been made to soften their visual impact by hanging potted plants from them. A small lounge-like front room, with a curtain to separate it from the main bar area, can also be found to the right of the entrance, with dark painted walls, traditional pub decor and some nice comfy chair seating options, making quite a nice little alternative to the more utilitarian main room, although there was a load of brewing kit in here when I visited, so maybe it’s still not quite the pub-like room you’d hope for. The left side of the main room is essentially the restaurant - a good sized area under large windows that run down two sides of the room. Some mid-height tables and stools run in a row next to the bar, eventually giving way to a series of comfy banquettes, many of which have been formed into booths or else are backed with high metal framed shelving units, to create a lot of separation and screening. The lower ceiling is covered with a wooden lattice which has also been festooned with plenty of potted plants, as are some of the brightly colured walls and the aforementioned shelving units, which also hold a few mini kegs and a load of moronic slogan signs saying things like ‘Life is Brewtiful’ and ‘Beauty is in the Eye of the Beerholder’. A door to the far left leads out to a garden which looked like it had plenty of additional seating and some sheltered spots, although no-one was braving it on a cold, windy February afternoon. A staircase to the front right looked like it might lead up to a mezzanine, but apparently only has access to the brewery offices and is therefore out of bounds to the public. An indie soundtrack was playing quietly in the background during the course of my visit and I was surprised to find the place doing a brisk trade on an unremarkable Wednesday afternoon.
Three cask options all came from the traditional Charles Wells Brewery - DNA, Original and Legacy - so I gave these a swerve in favour of one of the thirteen Brewpoint beers on keg. I forgot to note the name of the beer I tried, but it was a session strength IPA that, whilst being a run-of-the-mill example of the style, was better than any Wells beer I can ever recall drinking in the past.
I was a bit worried about this place, given Wells’ status as one of my least favourite breweries, but I came away quite impressed at this well thought out bar which acts as a good showcase from their much more interesting side project. This isn’t a traditional pub and the 20 minute slog through the suburbs to walk here from the station isn’t an ideal location, but if you fancy trying something a bit different, from a brewer you may have given up on, this is worth a try.
