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Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Friday, 4th March 2022
With picture contributions to 11567 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (14 more images)
Detail Pages
The Jailor's Barrel, Lancaster
Lancaster
LA1 1HP
Served areas
Reviews of The Jailor's Barrel (Average Rating: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Jailor's Barrel
Located a short walk down the road from the station, this is a small pub set out in a pleasant, contemporary fashion. Large shop style windows to the front allow plenty of light in to the decent front seating area, where high tables and stools run down both sides, along with a lone regular table with chairs, next to a small, lit fireplace. Three quarter height wood panelling can be found down the left side, with plain uppers, whilst the rest of the room is dominated by a series of exposed stone walls. The servery appears part-way down the right-hand wall and has a nice dark wood counter with a curved end, which has an unusual glass fronted display case built into it, full of old bottles. The bar back is matching and has some high, blocky shelving units. Beyond the bar, seating comes mostly in the form of lounge style furniture, including some fancy looking wing back chairs in front of a large stone fireplace on the back wall. The room has been decorated with lots of old paintings and photos, with beer boards on both sides, an unused TV screen to the front and a plain mirror above the rear fireplace. Stairs opposite the bar lead to the toilets and possibly a second seating area, which I failed to explore.
There were just two handpulls in operation on my visit, dispensing Cumbrian Loweswater Gold and Cross Bay The IPA, whilst two more had been left unclipped and one had a 'coming soon' sign on it. The Loweswater Gold was in reasonable condition and served to me by a cheery barman.
I found this quite a pleasant, comfortable pub with tasteful, modern decor, friendly service and a couple of well-kept, local beers to try. It felt like the sort of pub that might appeal to people who don't generally enjoy pub visits, but had enough to work for a more traditional pub-going audience too.
Date of visit - 14th January 2024
On 7th April 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
The Chairman left this review about The Jailor's Barrel
A very quick visit but one which impressed me. There were quite few people in the pub but service was very quick, and I easily found somewhere to sit and enjoy my excellent pint of Lunebrew LB202. On reflection, I should have had a second rather than rushing off to investigate the Tite & Locke at the station.
On 25th February 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 30 recommendations about 30 pubs]
Will Larter left this review about The Jailor's Barrel
Just a quick visit when I was here in April for Lancaster City's last match of the season, and just time for a couple of pubs before my train back to Sheffield. Notes were skimpy, but I do remember that it was quite busy in here. If this was the start of a night out then there'd been quite a bit of pre-loading going on, but maybe this was the remnant of an afternoon session. Why hadn't they been at Giant Axe to support their local team?
The Jailor's Barrel is much the same as the Robert Gillow but with a larger and longer bar now installed on the right hand side, replacing the smaller one that used to stand at the back. At the time of my visit there were six hand pumps with five Hydes beers (one of which was "coming soon") plus one from their experimental line (see photos). However, there is a photo on Retired Martin's blog, showing the line-up in July, which you can see if you follow this link [https://retiredmartin.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/wp-1691912719101.jpg] and make a donation to his favourite charity; this shows no Hydes beers at all.
Back in April I went for Hyde's Dark Ruby which was way too cold and therefore scored an automatic NBSS 2.5. At only £3.50 per pint it was easily the cheapest beer I had on my quick visit to Lancaster (only one other beer under £4). As with a lot of town centre pubs, it's not really seen at it's best on a Saturday evening, so maybe next time I'll pop in before the match instead of after, to see if it's any better.
Date of visit: 8th April 2023
On 13th August 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3744 recommendations about 3481 pubs]
View more reviews of The Jailor's Barrel (11)
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- Official site of The Jailor's Barrel - www.jailorsbarrel.co.uk
- Facebook page of The Jailor's Barrel - www.facebook.com
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Jailor's Barrel - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - 20p per pint - last updated 02 April 2018 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Function Room : Yes last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes - Thurs - last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 07 April 2024 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : Yes - Sun - last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : No last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 02 October 2017 by Quinno _
