Topsham Brewery and Taproom, Exeter

Brewery and taproom housed in part of the Maclaines Warehouse beside the Haven Banks canal basin. Rustic interior with wooden benches, plus a small beer garden at the side. Brewing vessels partly visible through a doorway, a pizza van is parked outside. 16 taps on the bar-back for craft beer and a couple of ciders, plus two rather inconspicuous handpumps. In the end, I went for their Ask Your Dad best bitter (£5.20), purely on the basis of the ironic name.

Large converted quayside stone-built warehouse which takes a little finding off the main drag if you are staring at the Gmap on your phone rather than using your eyes and sense. Inside is a single room with exposed stone walls, plank flooring, wood vaulting support and bench table seating – very rustic. There's also waterside seating. Groaned when I saw unisex toilets but these are sensible fully-enclosed cubicles rather than some wonk-eyed woke free-for-all. It’s apparently a Topsham Brewery brewpub (though I didn’t see any evidence of brewing), so I was mildly surprised to see 2/2 non-Topsham cask amongst the keggery, Timothy Taylor Landlord and a superb drop of Vocation Bread & Butter (NBSS 4.5) which at £4.20 a pint was a steal for the locale – though it meant that I forgot to sample the local brew which I assume must have been keykeg only on this occasion. Card only, inevitably. Pizza van outside with prices between £8-£11 which again is pretty good. Surprisingly honest and enjoyable place, I was expecting a level of hipster twattery which thankfully didn’t materialise. GBG 23 listed and thoroughly deserving. I’d be quite happy to drop by again, though I did think this is a not-far-off a photocopy of the long-established Fire Station up the hill.