Craft 101 @ The Hub, Southampton

It was empty and looked pretty dismal when I walked in on a late Saturday afternoon. One of three handpumps were in action with Steamtown Stoke the beer, which to be fair was decent at £4.80 a pint. Ten craft beers available on tap , which one would presume is the pubs mainstay. Two ladies were the only other customers who appeared during my twenty minutes or so stay, they were on the wine. I can't see how this place survives unless it has very busy evenings.

Was told about this one at the Witch's so thought I may as well go look as it was on the way back and was working on the assumption that the local CAMRAs will Guide it – if only for a single year. It’s a rattly and fairly featureless place with tedious hipster-esque stylings. A single cask present from the Eastleigh Steam Town brewpub plus 10 keg. A confident upsell from the barman when I didn't fancy the only dark craftykeg beer, without being warned of the severe price uplift thereof - £6.40 a half! – before he started pouring it. The beer itself was fine though I rather felt like I was taken for a mug which meant I didn’t enjoy being here for a number of reasons.

This place is probably a bit too large to classify as a micropub, but it is certainly located in a former shop. With a high ceiling and a fairly cold feel inside, it also doesn't follow the normal micropub format. Nevertheless, this place did have a rather large beer and cider selection, all listed on a board on the rear wall. The bar itself is off to the left-hand side and was tended by a couple of young and friendly chaps. Handpulls were on the rear wall of the bar with two beers from Steam Town on - Firebox & Barton. Ciders were served from a fridge at the other end of the bar. These were Iford's Wild Juice & JJ's Lighter Cider Life. Craft beers were Electric Bear Mocha The Weekend, Pentrich Frampton's Cooler, Verdant Don't Tell Gus, Vibrant Forest Pupa, Unbarred Joosy, Cloudwater Fuzzy & Steam Town West Coast IPA. A shuffleboard table was an unusual site in the rear left corner, with three unisex toilets to the rear right. There are a fair number of tables under a canopy outdoors to the front. This is certainly another good addition to the Shirley Road pub/bar scene.

New craft beer bar, housed in a former cycle shop.

Facebook page of Craft 101 - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Craft 101 - www.facebook.com