Tom Browns, Dorchester

Facebook page of Tom Browns - www.facebook.com

Official site of Tom Browns - www.tombrownspub.co.uk

Facebook page of Tom Browns - www.facebook.com

Official site of Tom Browns - www.tombrownspub.co.uk

Halfway House. Felt a longer schlep up the hill from the Village than expected. A plain locals bar offering Hidden Old Sarum & Quest, and Goldfinch Tom Brown's, not the best kept ales of the day.

This basic town centre GBG-listed boozer, previously a brewhouse, now buys in all its beer and is the tap for the Dorset Brewing Company. The spit-and-sawdust-minus-the-sawdust air still endures, providing for a traditional feel. Food was advertised, and their pies are celebrated – but there was no food on at all during this visit; the apathetic, non-English speaking bar-staff was unable to explain why. They also advertise live music and big-screen sports viewings. Five ales on draft, I had the guest, Summerset from Yeovil. It was in perfect condition, well kept and most enjoyable. Attitude aside, I do like this place and believe it is a valuable inclusion in a crawl, but I feel its days are numbered unless they can sort their act out.

Operated by the Dorset Brewing Company,this is the pub to sample their wares,which is also a popular live music venue.The side entrance can be confusing,straight ahead is the entrance to the music,you need to go through a modest door to the immediate right to enter the bar room.It has bare floor boards,in the ale house style,with some basic wooden furniture,mainly settles but with a sofa opposite the real fireplace but obscuring the darts throw,I suppose you could just shift it forward if you wanted to play.There is a rear door to the beer garden,while the original pub sign mentioning the now defunct Goldfinch brewery sits above the front windows.The bar is faced in wood with bar stools for the regulars.The open plan interior with hops hanging from the beams feels basic while food consists of Pie Minister pies ,mash and mushy peas for £6.95,while on Tuesdays there is a pie and DBC pint offering of £5.50 all day which seems real value.The are Sunday roast and food is served noon til 3pm apart from Tuesdays.Live rugby from BT Sports in shown on a drop down screen. At the bar there are nine handpumps with 7 working on my Monday lunchtime visit offering DBC Tom Brown's,Dorset Knob,Portland Porter (decent),Anniversary,Flashman's Clout and Fool Hardy with a sole guest Dark Star Original.Looking at the pump clips it appears the guest ale is often from XT,Dark Star or Titanic which shows a good guest ale selection operates here.Eclectic muzak at a back ground volume enhanced the experience and I would happily return to this town centre boozer in the search for some decent real ale,the GBG listing seems warranted.