Branksome Craft House, Bournemouth

Facebook page of Branksome Craft House - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Branksome Craft House - www.facebook.com

Official site of Branksome Craft House - www.branksomebournemouth.com

Official site of Branksome Craft House - www.branksomebournemouth.com

Split level pub which is/was part of the Brewhouse & Kitchen chain, which appears to be closing branches all over. Now it is called the Branksome Craft House and still stocks some Brewhouse & Kitchen (under the name Brewhouse) beers from their Poole branch. Despite its noticeable external appearance, the pub is quite modern inside and is split level with seating overlooking Commercial Road at the front and a higher level to the rear, which contains the bar against the left-hand wall. I seem to recall TVs showing snooker. Beers are all keg these days. With a few beers off, the selection was Brewhouse Nitro Stout, Double-Barrelled Kitchen Disco, Azvex Generic Hardcore Shirts & Lowrise Hazy Pale. With craft beers on taps at the front of the bar, lagers and ciders appeared to be mainly from some further taps on the rear wall. A board to the side of the bar appeared to list some but not all of the available beers. There's a few other decent pubs to visit in this area but I wouldn't go out of my way for a re-visit to this one.

This part of town, previously a bit of an afterthought for anyone planning a night out in Bournemouth, has seen some significant improvements in recent years, as evidenced by the popular Brewhouse & Kitchen chain revamping this failed old pub. Formerly the Branksome Hotel, it’s great to see this place open again, as it has arguably the most impressive facade in the whole town, which is now gleaming and looking proud again. This includes a quite fantastic glazed tile Eldridge Pope sign near the entrance which doesn’t deserve to be next to boarded up windows. Inside, there is a real jumble of a room, set across a mix of different levels with lots of partitioning throughout, which creates a lot of cosy little nooks, breaks the sightlines effectively and requires a fair bit of exploring to take it all in. One downside is that seating through almost all of the room is in the form of high padded stools, so it’s not the comfiest place to settle down for a few pints. The servery is well hidden away in the rear left corner and has a modern counter and bar back, plus a big board listing all the beers available. Lots of displays relating to the brewing process can be found around the room, including various info boards and of course, the brew plant itself, which is over to the right of the room. Interestingly, the brewing schedule is displayed clearly on a board, so you can learn which beers are going to be made next and for £85 you can join the brewer for the day and make some yourself. Stairs lead up to a smartly appointed first floor dining room with some much comfier seating options, whilst a ramp to the rear right leads out to a sun trap beer garden. There were four of the homebrew beers on when we visited – Churchill Square Fall, Supermac, Lightning Bolt and Saviour Ed – and I was pleased to see that two of these referenced the mighty AFC Bournemouth. I obviously opted for a pint of the Saviour Ed which was in good nick and served to us by a chatty barman. I’m really pleased that a chain like Brewhouse & Kitchen have brought this place back to life and I think they’ve done something a bit different in creating a maze of an interior rather than the usual open-plan modern beer bar you might expect. With good beer and some other top pubs not too far away, it’s worth heading up to the Triangle to check this place out.