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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about Cryer Arts Centre
A comparatively new addition to Carshalton's ale scene, this is a theatre bar located on the main road through the centre of the village. Whilst that might not sound like a great prospect, they've done a reasonable job in creating a cosy feel thanks to muted lighting on my evening visit, and some pubby fixtures and fittings. You enter via a lobby and proceed through double doors into a spacious bar area, which is bare boarded, with the servery in the right rear corner. The bar has a plain counter, blackboards across the canopy with their WiFi password and social media details, and a red painted bar back adorned with a strong pump clip display and a collection of coloured bottles shaped like Devil's heads. Standard and padded chair seating is available throughout the room, serving tables of various sizes and there are lots of cool old theatre and movie themed posters on the walls which are worth browsing. A dresser on the back wall was stacked with CAMRA literature on top and had a large mirror above it, whilst a helpful beer board has been hung next to the entrance.
The bar is run in part by some of the guys responsible for making the nearby Hope a destination pub, so hopes were high and the ale range that greeted me was Surrey Hills Ranmore and Shere Drop (£4.60 a pint) and Wantsum Golgotha, plus various interesting keg options including a rare sighting of a Kriek beer, which my other half was very pleased about. We stopped here for some food, but found it quite pricey and nothing special, so I think I'd only call in for drinks in the future.
I like that this place has been given a new purpose and hope that their endeavour proves fruitful. I thought it was an unpromising, but surprisingly pleasant, place to enjoy a couple of well-kept ales and whilst it's no match for the Hope, it's not really trying to be and instead will enhance any crawl around Carshalton's pubs.
Date of visit - 17th April 2024
On 17th August 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Cryer Arts Centre
The Spotlight bar is at the rear of the ground floor in this community arts space with the performance areas upstairs.There are external seats around the entrance,while the bar room has a low vaulted ceiling,worn pine flooring and standard furniture.It was busy on my Friday afternoon visit and besides middle aged drinkers there were family groups and babies in buggies ,so there really isnt much pub atmosphere.
Standard pub grub including pizze is served and the bar to the right was offering on handpump Surrey Hills Shere Drop (NBSS 3.5) and Wantsum 1381 with two other pulls unused.There were some interesting craft keg options in Magic Rock High Wire,Lindemans Kriek,Clodwater Fuzzy and Ansbach & Hobday London Black.
It's in the 2024 GBG but the ale range hardly compares with the nearby Hope and although useful for a quick one,I wouldn't base myself here for a session.However it serves the local community well and stands proud of the sadly derelict Fox & Hounds next door.
On 30th September 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Cryer Arts Centre
The bar of the large modern community arts space on the High Street, which is open all day and is a fair replacement for the long-derelict pub next door. A bright and nicely decorated large room features the bar down one side. Two of the four handpumps were in use, offering Surrey Hills Ranmore and Shere Drop, with a few interesting craft also and some still ciders advertised. Not unpleasant at all.
On 24th September 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3641 recommendations about 3576 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Cryer Arts Centre
Rammed on my night time visit.Cant remember much about it other than the barmaid was a tad rude about my Camra discount enquiry and the Shere drop was superb.
On 26th March 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Cryer Arts Centre
The Cryer Arts Centre is a community theatre and events space with a bar/restaurant. The bar has 3 handpulls serving real ales and has also made it into the latest Good Beer Guide.
It was very quiet on my Tuesday afternoon visit, with just one other customer present. The barman seemed a bit bored and looking for things to do, whilst a woman appeared (possibly the manager) and asked the barman what he'd done with all of the customers. So, presumably it had been or is normally busier than on my visit. The seating area is quite large and could certainly accommodate a good size crowd.
Surrey Hills Shere Drop appears to be the regular beer with Ranmore from the same brewery also featuring regularly. The third handpull was clipped with Animal Siamese Fighting Fish, which was in good condition. A small blackboard on the bar advertised a range of Lilley's ciders. I think these were only available in bottles, unless they had a load of boxes stashed away somewhere.
Not bad at all for a theatre bar.
On 17th March 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]