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Submitted on Thursday, 21^st October 2021
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The White Horse, Hertford

33 Castle Street
Hertford
SG14 1HH

Correct details

Pub Type

Fuller's

Served areas

Hertford Town

Reviews of The White Horse (Average Rating: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Bucking Fastard left this review about The White Horse

ORIGINAL REVIEW April 2010.
The most attractive pub building in Hertford with low ceilings and a central fireplace which opens onto both bars.To the left of the low front door is the regulars haunt,basic but full of character while the room to the right is slightly larger,quarry tiled floor and settles,old tables,some high backed chairs all creating an authentic interior.From this room there are stairs to a first floor seating area which was closed on my visit.Each room has a counter and there are 8 handpumps dispencing 6 Fullers ales namely Pride,Discovery,ESB,seasonal Swing Low ,"Gales" HSB and Seafarer ,together with one permanent guest Butcombe Bitter and one rotating guest Everards Beacon on my visit.Pricing generally £3.10 but with ESB at £3.85 someone is "havin' a larf."
Ale quality is always reliable ,there is no juke box,fruit machines,muzak which makes this a real pub full of good conversation.Not quite got the ale range of The Old Cross Tavern or Old Barge but still well worth a visit.

February 2018

There is a regular turnover of leasees at this Fullers tied house,but there is still a two guest policy besides the regular Seafarers,London Pride and ESB .On my recent trip it was noticeable that ale quality has picked up a lot ,so well done to the new team.The CAMRA listed interior is augmented by traditional pub furniture and some new paintwork.When ordering ale ,dont rely on the board in the right hand room,it was woefully out of date and had it not been for an inspection of the handpumps in the left hand room,a very fine Little Beer Corporation Little Smooth would have been missed.

UPDATE

Fullers sold the pub to Admiral Taverns pubco. in 2024,and after a short closure it has reopened under as new leasee.The guv'nor is a friendly,polite,old school Irishman who has tidied the place up,without really changing much due to the listed building status.Go into the left sided bar if you want to see the full real ale range as there is no longer an ale menu on the right side.The only significant change is a large flat screen in the right hand side,for terrestrial sport and off otherwise.There were Six Nations bunting on the ceiling,some fairy lights in the rear snug and a few ,small tricolurs dotted about.The opening times are more generous than was the case.
With St Patricks day approaching there was some live music advertised and free Irish stew after 5pm on 17th March ,but that aside not too much irishness.The ale range on my visit was Tring Sidepocket (NBSS 4),Colley Dog (NBSS 4) ,Fullers London Pride (NBSS 3.5) together with St Austell Proper Job and Timothy Taylor Landlord.If ale quality can be maintained at this level,this should be a shoe in for the GBG,and it's good to see the pub open again.Given the ale and heritage it's a must visit in Hertford and I wish the new team well.

On 28^th February 2025 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Steve of N21 left this review about The White Horse

Am paying a few visits to this one currently as I have friends who are working for the new landlord of the last six months. This one continues to suffer from a regular turnover of Landlords and hopefully the current one can make a decent fist of it. I hope so as this is a fantastic historic pub and one of the best remaining Tudor buildings in Hertford. And the initial signs are good as the ales have been excellent on my recent visits.
Situated on Castle Street opposite Hertford Castle it is part of three timber framed houses that were originally built sometime in the 16th and early 17th centuries and were extended in the 19th century. Numbers 31 and 33 are now the pub whose earliest reference for use as a beer house is 1838.
Two smallish rooms downstairs you enter into the smaller bar room to the right. This section of the bar has three hand pumps but also a chalk board detailing all beers available as there are an additional line of handpumps and the keg taps in the larger room to the left which is the one favoured by the locals. And me due to its two-tone wood panelling and collection of breweriana, especially the impressive Cotleigh Brewery beer signs, a hangover from the days pre Fullers, when it was a Free House.
The current landlord is trying to make more use of the upstairs rooms, that are accessed by a door and steep staircase to the back of the right hand room. Even if they are not open when you visit ask to take a look, as its really only when you get up here that you fully appreciate the timber frame of this building and the age of some of the brickwork. Here there are two additional rooms , referred to as the Henry VIII and Elizabeth I rooms due to the portraits that hang here. But the right-hand room with the Elizabeth I portrait is also known as the Vinyl room, as it has a vinyl record deck and speaker set up and you can bring in your own LP’s to play. Then there are two further but plainer spaces used as the games rooms, one set up for darts and the other with a free to play bar billiards table.
Currently four fullers beers are kept on with Pride and ESB being permanent, and the other two rotating from the Fullers stable. Recently these have included Seafarers, Dark Star Hop Head and Dark Star Skylab.
It currently doesn’t open until 2 during the week as they are currently not doing food. Personally, I think this works better for the vibe of the pub as its ideally suited as a wet led ale house But the Guvnor will have to turn a profit, so it is likely to return in some fashion.

On 27^th July 2023 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Graham Coombs left this review about The White Horse

A small and gloriously-unspoilt pub on the edge of town. As noted below, two rooms with not a great deal to choose between them but both oozing tradition and history with few, if any, distractions. Ales on were London Pride, ESB and Hophead.

On 21^st October 2021 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3641 recommendations about 3576 pubs]

View more reviews of The White Horse (9)

This pub features in the following crawls:
Real Fire Place Crawl of Hertford by Steve of N21
Hertford by train man

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