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That Beer Place, Chester
Chester
CH1 1HB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about That Beer Place
That Beer Place is the current (2024) CAMRA National Cider Pub of the Year. So unsurprisingly, it was the pub I was most looking forward to visit on our day trip to Chester.
This bar can be found at the end of one of Chester's main shopping streets. With it being a reasonably warm days, windows were open onto the street with a little more seating on the pavement. It is a cafe-style bar with the bar itself to the rear left. Bench seating makes it good for groups. There appeared to be some kind of beer tasting session in progress during our visit. It was lunchtime and already very busy. There is a larger room upstairs which was almost empty.
There are just a couple of cask ales - Salopian Escalation & Farm Yard Haybob. I was expecting more ciders on draught, but there was just one - Nightingale Love Bird. Although, there were a couple of perries - Ross-on-Wye Hellen's Early Single Varietal & Little Pomona Table Perry. It seems that the vast majority of the real ciders offered are in fact in bottles, with some very unusual ciders found across the various fridges. I opted for the Ross-on-Wye perry, which was much sweeter than I would expect from this producer, with a dry aftertaste.
There are plenty of craft beers on offer too - Rivington Fall Out of the Sky & Never Known Fog Like It, Salopian Escalation (keg as well as cask), Factory & Friends Common Factor, Hudson Valley Blackberry Peach Glycerin, Tartarus Chocolate Brownie Stout, Factory/Track On Track & Donzoko Donnie's Nitro Dark Beer. There were plenty of other bottles and cans of beers in the fridges too.
Staff were coping well with the number of customers. This is certainly a place that I'd like to spend a little more time in with some really interesting beers and ciders, but without the wow factor that I was expecting.
On 24th June 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3204 recommendations about 3202 pubs]
Will Larter left this review about That Beer Place
This was scheduled as my last pub of the day, but when my erstwhile drinking companion texted me from his train to mention that a new station bar had opened since I'd done my research for this trip and it was a shame to miss it. I responded that I could just miss out That Beer Place, but he said I shouldn't do that as it was also too good to miss. In the end I squeezed yet another pub in on the way to the station - The Cellar - but this made each of my last three pub visits a little perfunctory. There is a solitary hand pump here, along with more bottles, cans and keg taps than I could possibly count. The hand pump was double clipped and I went for Salopian 13th Hat, failing to observe where the beer was poured from – probably a tap on the bar back - and I found it not hazy and quite pleasant, though New Zealand hops are not really my thing.
I sat at one of the quite smart benches that are used both inside and out of this shop conversion with a wide pavement. When I got up to leave I nearly tipped the bench over, as it acted see-saw fashion and no one was sitting at the other end. Nobody laughed, which I think is a bad sign. Come on people, enjoy yourselves at the expense of the tipsy old man! OK, suit yourselves. Evidently this beer drinking lark is more serious than I thought.
On 20th May 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4391 recommendations about 4036 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rob Hunter left this review about That Beer Place
Similar to its previous location, this is keg only but with 10 or 11 taps plus an additional 4 for cider, you are certainly not going to struggle to find something to your taste. I stayed for two halves - one by Anspach & Hobday and the other by Polly's, setting me back £6.25 in total which I think seems reasonable for craft.
Inside there are four large orange canteen style tables and benches, with some individual chairs too. There is one high level small round table. Weather permitting, a seating area is also provided outside.
Several large fridges are filled with bottles and cans and I decided to treat myself to a small selection to enjoy at home. Glassware is also sold. Board games are available and a selection of leaflets mainly advertising local events and activities.
Toilets are upstairs and although I failed to make a note of it, I am pretty sure there was a further seating area up here too.
Well worth a visit and this new location means its hours aren't restricted to those of the market, which will surely be welcomed by those wishing to pay an evening visit.
On 3rd May 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 843 recommendations about 668 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about That Beer Place
The second of the Beer Places it’s located at the far end of Foregate near the ‘spoons, similar in theme to the original in the market but housed in one place. Fridges and shelves down both sides as you enter through the full width folding doors with an L shaped counter to the rear left, there’s more fridges oppositethe counter. There’s two hand pulls on the short counter face with 10 taps on the rear wall, however the laser display screen lists 11 beers and five ciders. No cask on during my visit so swerving a 12.3% stout I settled for an IPA. Seating is in the middle space at narrow tables and forms and true to its roots more seating is available across the pavement but rather close to a major road junction. NB the original is only trading Friday and Saturday at present.
On 25th August 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3686 recommendations about 3364 pubs]