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Submitted on Monday, 14^th October 2024
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The Fat Cat, Colchester

65 Butt Road
Colchester
CO3 3BZ

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Served areas

Colchester Town

Reviews of The Fat Cat (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Quinno _ left this review about The Fat Cat

Was looking forward to this one, but was disappointed. Oddly sterile inside, scrubbed wood and not much in the way of homeliness or character bar a few metal signs and a couple of framed prints. A plethora of undressed pumps at the bar, it transpired that via a jumbo blackboard that there were just three cask on via stillage in the cold room – there were more on at Spoons! My half of Colchester Jack Spitty was 100% stillage, a classic flat NBSS 2.5 and the barmaid tried to charge me for a pint. Unimpressed. I don’t understand how the three in Norwich can be so good and this one be so much like a lacklustre micropub. Of course it’s GBG listed.

On 1^st February 2024 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Bucking Fastard left this review about The Fat Cat

Opposite the Ale House but a more upbeat experience for which you will be charged accordingly !.It's a good looking street corner building,inside the floor boards have been severely scrubbed,the wooden furniture and tables likewise and at the front there is also a small drinking shelf.Down the corridor there are pew benches,a rear section is partially raised.There are some very good metal brewery signs on the walls,the flatscreen was off and to the side of the front room behind a glass screen was a bottle room but with stillages.
The handpumps were clipped with a Lilly's real cider,Bishop Nick's Jewel,Brentwood Blonde,Billericay Zeppelin and Elephant School My Milk Stout Brings All the Bulls to the Yard.(NBSS 4) .On ordering the barman didn't pull the pump but fetched the Milk Stout from the bottle room ,so the board listing the ales also showed Bishop Nick's Heresy which maybe also be on stillage.A decent ale range anyway.
There are community events such as Chinese meal nights,discounted pizza nights and a Locale beer festival in October indicating the team here have created lots of local interest.One not to miss on any real ale crawl around town.Beware that midweek opening may well be 3pm,it caught me out.

On 29^th September 2022 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Fat Cat

Nicely done alehouse, altered at some stage to leave a 'L'-shaped bar and two further seating areas (with the one leading to the toilets located up a couple of steps at the back). All as traditional as one might expect, although the six handpumps are a distraction (at least for most of the time) since beers are generally served on gravity from the cool-room stillages. Eight interesting cask ales were available when I visited, with the Bishop Nick Brewery's Heresy (£3.70) being in fine form.

On 2^nd January 2020 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]

View more reviews of The Fat Cat (10)

This pub features in the following crawls:
Colchester Crawl by Pub SignMan
Colchester 2022 GBG selection. by Bucking Fastard

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