BrewDog Exeter, Exeter

Located in the north-eastern entrance of the Guildhall Shopping Centre, this branch suffers a bit from a lack of natural light, both within the usual semi-industrial interior and also on the benches out in the arcade. Up to 28 beers and ciders available from two rows of taps on separate parts of the bar-back. With the expected diverse range of styles and strengths, I went for the Made in Berlin helles (£4.10, schooner).

Exeter’s branch of this increasingly ubiquitous craft beer chain is located in an ideal central spot, next to a shopping centre, and must be one of the company’s largest bars outside London. You enter into a bare boarded room with the usual industrial chic styling, including bare concrete pillars dotted here and there and an undressed ceiling. Banquette booths along front windows offer some decent people watching opportunities, as shoppers pass through the arcade outside, whilst high tables and stools fill the spaces to the right and opposite the bar, and standard tables and chairs take care of any gaps elsewhere through the room. They also have one of those terrace seating things in the rear left corner with loads of board games piled up on it, along with a few comfy cushions. The bar is down the right-hand wall and has a wire mesh counter front, stone counter top and the usual cinema style beer board above the white tiled bar back. The decor is a mix of neon signs and lots of greenery - the latter of which isn’t something you’d necessarily associate with this chain, making for a pleasant surprise. An open kitchen to the rear was dishing out burgers and chicken wings to a jazzy soundtrack that was playing in the background. A couple of arcade game machines can be found towards the rear, next to an Iron Man pinball table, and some stairs here lead up to an unexplored first floor seating area. Quite a bit of additional seating can also be found out the front, conveniently sheltered by the arcade roof. A good, lively Saturday evening crowd made for a decent atmosphere that was far more preferable than in a lot of the city centre’s drinking barn venues nearby. The beer board listed no less than seventeen Brewdog beers, eight guests and two ciders. The home brewed range covered a good number of styles and strengths, and I ended up falling back on the classic Punk IPA, which is still a pale shadow of its long lost cask version, but slipped down easily enough. As you’d expect, the guest range draws on some of the bigger names in the world of craft beer, including on this visit, beer from the likes of Mikkeller, Salt, Wiper & True and Vault City. As always with this chain, the staff were excellent - very knowledgeable and super-friendly, they rarely disappoint and this was another branch where the service really shone through. This is a decent enough example of the Brewdog chain, complete with the usual extensive beer selection, industrial styling, great service and expensive prices. With so many branches across the UK and beyond, it’s easy to become a bit jaded about this chain, but I liked this branch and would suggest it’s worth checking out for any craft beer fans.

Official site of Brewdog - www.brewdog.com