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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: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Crafty Baa
Lively and quirky bar that was popular with a good mix of people on my Wednesday evening visit. It has two levels with the ground floor being packed due to a female singer performing. The bar is in the rear corner, whilst on the opposite wall is a beer board which lists the cask, keg and bottled selection, as well as ciders. All are numbered to give the impression that the drinks range is huge. However, when you ignore the bottled selection, the list is much more manageable.
With one pumpclip turned around, there were a couple of cask ales from the Ennerdale Brewery - Blonde & Wild. Ciders were Snail's Bank Black Forest Cider, Damson In A dress, Rhubarb Cider, Mango Cider, Pig Squeal & Raspberry Ripple, Weston's Old Rosie & Abrahall's Celtic Tiger & Tumbledown. Craft beers were Crafty Baa Pale Ale & Milk Stout (not sure who really brews these), Keswick Thirst Quencher, Wychwood Hobgoblin IPA & Grand Central IPA.
With no seats to be had on the ground floor, I retreated upstairs where there were a few tables available. The staircase has a couple of skeletons, one in a chef's outfit and the other with a drum kit, as well as some dried hops and other strange items such as a saucepan. Upstairs, there is a further skeleton, multiple lampshades and mirrors and more hops. There's also a child's scooter on the ceiling. This room is billed as a games room, but I didn't spot any games.
At £5.20 a pint, this was one of the more expensive venues I visited in Keswick. But the singer was good, the atmosphere was bustling and there's plenty to admire on the walls and ceilings. So, I thought this to be one of the better places to have a drink in what is a town with many more pubs and bars than I remembered from my last visit.
On 9th September 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Crafty Baa
Not sure I have been in a less welcoming place. Maybe I am misreading "Northern Gruffness".
Standard Micropub shop conversion by someone who must have an interet in woodworking. A massive and bewildering bar menu of around 100 bottles, cask and keg offerings.
Took me a while to select - and the 3 is for the choice.
Then we looked for somewhere to sit. There is a high barrel but this is only for standing at. A mistake was to move high stools to sit at. For which we were reprimanded.
We then moved to an area that was reserved for the DJ. We had missed the sign. Again, same staff told us off. We went back to the barrel. And stood.
Second round and I mentioned to the who I took to be the owner that maybe they need some customer training. Only for shouter to overhear and claim none of this took place.
4 of us couldnt get out of there quick enough to be honest. And this is a shame, as the beer collection is immense. Even if you do have to find your own bottle from the fridge.
On 8th December 2023
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1563 recommendations about 1543 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Crafty Baa
A micropub in a shop conversion, the bar is towards the back with a sign saying "happiness this way" indicating the direction of travel. (Another says "this is a mind your head sign".) There are two hand pumps on the bar, as well as several keg fonts both on the bar and behind, and a list of cans and bottles is on the wall opposite. There are lots more signs dotted around, as well as amateurish carpentry. There appears to be a games room and "lots more seating" upstairs, and an indication that live music is featured. I had just time for a swift half before my bus, and went for Cross Bay Smash 4.4%, which was ok but not outstanding; the other real ale was called Pie & Pint, the combination making me wonder if these were specially commissioned for the pub, or just renamed to suit. I'll be back for another visit when I get the chance.
On 3rd April 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]