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The Cellars Alehouse, Maidstone
Maidstone
ME16 0SL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Cellars Alehouse
Hidden away the ‘wrong side’ of the River Medway in an industrial estate via a classic 70s town planner’s jizzdream of a thundering main road. The old winch mechanism with a dangling barrel makes for an excellent pub sign given the sparseness of the grey weatherboarded exterior otherwise. It is indeed cellary inside which on a hot and sticky day was a blessed relief. They've done well with the surprisingly spacious vaulted ceilinged interior (reek of damp excepted but I guess that’s hard to treat effectively) with the multiple vaulted ceiling complemented by dried hops, jumbo breweriana signs, exposed brick and slate floor. Six cask from the cool room as well as craftykeg and cider. Mixed bag - the Rudgate South Pacific was utter stillage (NBSS 2) being flat and naffv. The Cloudwater Verses Mild was better although on GBG-par (3). Guv’nor holding court to an array of bar blockers and I very much felt like the outsider. At least I got a laugh from the Doom Bar toilet handle on my way out. Shame, on entering I thought I’d really like this place but it fell somewhat short on this occasion. GBG listed, inevitably. 6.5
On 2nd September 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Cellars Alehouse
The Cellars does not open until 5pm during the week. So, we'd left a visit here until last. This is not exactly a pub you would notice in passing, as it's hidden well away alongside the railway between Maidstone West and Maidstone Barracks stations.
As the name suggests, it's a cellar bar that is surprisingly spacious. The bar is set in the one corner, with a cool room behind it from where the ales and ciders are dispensed. There is quite a range of ciders in particular. It is hard to imagine how they can turn over enough for them to stay in good condition, given the limited opening hours. However, everything we had was good quality and there were a fair number of regulars and visitors in the know whilst we were there.
6 real ales were Kent Cellars Session Pale, Battle EPA & Black Arrow, Drop Project Shifty, Musket Flintlock & Iron Pier Rosherville Red.
Ciders were Turner's Pear Cider, Dry, Apple Pie, Medium Dry, Rhubarb Cider & Elderflower Cider, Double Vision One Vision & Fruits of the Forest, Ascension Wrath & Champing At The Pit, Snail's Bank Sloe Gin Cider, Banoffee Pie, Pineapple & Pink Grapefruit Cider & Black Forest, Sandford Orchards Devon Red, Broadoak Mango Cider, Pear & Chilli Cider & Pheasant Plucker & Thistly Cross Whisky Cask.
Craft beers were Polly's Enigma Pale Ale The Hop Series & Mambo Sun, Verdant/Jon Hopkins Light Through The Veins, Wiper & True Phantasmagoria, Amundsen Helles, Yonder Trunk of Funk 2021 & Torrside Optimism As A Radical Life Choice.
With a friendly barman and some chatty locals and the excellent ale and cider choice, this was my favourite pub of 10 in Maidstone. The interior all feels a bit gloomy, but otherwise I found little I could fault.
On 17th May 2023
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Cellars Alehouse
Stuck out on a light industrial estate, alongside the train tracks approaching Maidstone west station, this is a pleasant cellar bar that has a bit of a micropub feel to it, despite a fairly spacious interior. Steps lead you down into a typical cellar space with a quarry stone floor, bare brick walls and attractive vaulted ceiling. The servery is over in the far corner of the room and has a pretty basic counter, with all the beer set up and dispensed on gravity in a back room. Seating comes in good supply, mostly in the form of simple tables and chairs, old pews and a few sofa and armchair options in a recessed space to the rear. The ceiling has been liberally lined with hops and plenty of pump clips, whilst the walls have been decorated with breweriana, much of which relates to long lost breweries that I’ve never heard of - in fact, this pub is located in the former barley cellar for the Style & Winch Brewery, which I’d also never heard of prior to my visit.
I was greeted by a very friendly barman upon arrival, who helped talk me through some of the beers available, which comprised Arbor My Little Sabrony, Long Man Old Man, Cellars Palehouse, Old Dairy Red Top, Dig Brew cask Bier and Vocation Salted Caramel Stout, plus eight keg beers from micro breweries and around twenty cider and perry options. I took a punt on the Cellars Palehouse - as the name suggests, a house beer brewed by the Kent Brewery based in nearby Birling - which I thought was a decent pint and kept in good condition. The place had only just opened when I arrived, so I was the only customer for the duration of my stay - hopefully custom picks up a bit in the evening.
I quite liked this place, despite it feeling a little empty on a quiet Thursday early evening. It’s definitely a place to check out if you want a good selection of ale or craft beer to work through and I can imagine an extended session here would be quite rewarding.
On 29th December 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Cellars Alehouse
Maidstone's first micro-pub, albeit a bit larger than most, housed in part of the old Style & Winch brewery cellars (now forming part of a small trading estate). Total of seven rustic high wooden benches under the low barrel-vaulted roof, with decor largely an ever-expanding selection of pump clips. However, there aren't actually any handpumps, with all beers dispensed by gravity from casks on stillages in the cool room to the rear of the small counter in one corner. On this first visit I found four cask beers on offer: Old Dairy Red Top, Animal Sea lion (saison), Redemption Big Chief and Brumaison London Porter (£3.60). With a friendly barman and generally good atmosphere too, this is well worth seeking out (with entrance via a rear gate out of normal business hours).
On 1st July 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]