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Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Twa Dugs
With the nearby Market Inn having closed up early for the evening, my last stop of the evening was this 2024 Good Beer Guide entry.
It looked quite promising as I walked in, with a lively atmosphere and a fair number of people inside ranging from those who were fairly sober to those who could hardly stand up. Most of the others were trying their level best to reach the drunken state with some large rounds of Guinness and for some reason Baby Guinness shots. Meanwhile, decent music was being requested on the jukebox and everybody seemed to be having a good time.
The pub is long and thin with seating all along. The bar is midway against the right-hand wall and as the previous review says, there is a stage for live music to the rear. A TV next to the stage was showing a music channel with no volume, due to the jukebox being on. I could see Boy George on there, but it all seemed rather pointless!
With just one barman trying to deal with some fairly hefty rounds, but doing the best he could, I had to wait a fair while to be served. The sight of a cask ale (Loch Lomond Scottish Warrior) kept me interested. However, on ordering the barman tried pouring my beer, only to tell me it had gone off.
With no real ale, my keg choice was Cruzcampo, Fosters, Guinness, John Smith's, McEwan's 70/-, Strongbow, Strongbow Dark Fruits, Tennent's Lager, Amstel or Beavertown Neck Oil. Being on the spot, I chose the 70/-, only to be hugely disappointed. It wasn't the way I'd hoped to end my evening of drinking in Ayr's pubs.
The barman didn't turn the pumpclip for the real ale around, leaving it for other unsuspecting visitors to order. For a Good Beer Guide pub, I was really disappointed that there was no cask ale. The number of pumpmclips above the bar suggests I may have been unlucky. Whilst I did enjoy the lively atmosphere, I don't think I'd be rushing back here.
On 3rd June 2024
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Twa Dugs
Like so many places in the vicinity, the name is taken from a Burns quote. Once inside, this is an elongated, narrow bar with the central servery along one wall. A small stage can be found at the back, with a variety of live music seemingly available most nights. The furniture and decor are in the alehouse idiom, although only one of the pair of handpumps was actually working. This dispensed a slightly disappointing pint of Theakston's ? Two Coopers ? (£3.65).
On 16th November 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Twa Dugs
Long narrow room with bar to right. Standard keg rubbish but worth a visit for the excellent selection of malt whiskies on sale.
On 29th July 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Colin Walker left this review about The Twa Dugs
First, down side a bus stop blocks the view from the front window. Up side. The "Twa Dugs" name - meaning "two dogs" - comes from a poem Burns wrote in 1789. It tells the story of a rich man's dog, a Newfoundlander called Caesar, having a conversation with a poor man's collie dog called Luath. The place has rare prints of Robert Burns and many other watercolours, etchings and prints with a "Twa Dugs" theme. A great range of whiskies is available, too many to mention. Some of the real ales available are from small independent Scottish brewers like Kelburne and The Houston Brewing Company for ales like Peters Well, Texas, Auld Copperheid, Goldihops, Pivo Estivo and Dark Moor. The pub is supported by the local Campaign for Real Ale group and regularly hosts their members. The Twa Dugs also has worldwide rights to its very own beer, Tartan Army Ale, made under license by the Kelburne Brewing Company.
On 17th July 2014
- rating: 10
[User has posted 717 recommendations about 712 pubs]