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Top 100 with Strongers
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Image posted by paulof horsham
Submitted on Friday, 16th May 2025
With picture contributions to 6766 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (15 more images)
Detail Pages
The Ale House, Chelmsford
Chelmsford
CM1 1TS
Served areas
The Ale House
Managed to find a few of these beauties @HalfPintGent https://t.co/2WjCZKrNIm
4:48 PM Mar 21st 2019 from Twitter for iPhone
Reviews of The Ale House (Average Rating: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Strongers . left this review about The Ale House
The Ale House is found under a couple of rail arches where the left-hand arch houses lots of pine furniture with booths up the left-hand wall and long tables up the right. The bar is found under the right-hand arch where there’s a serving counter up the right-hand wall and mostly beer shelves are found throughout. There’s lots of crafty draught beers and ciders and I counted nine hand pumps, the list of cask ales on the large Untappd screen up in the left-hand seating area were Bishop Nick Brewery’s Scrum and Devout, Colchester Brewery’s Raven, Harbey’s Sisters, Oakham’s Citra, Leigh On Sea’s House Bitter and Flight Club and Mauldon’s Suffolk Pride, the latter being a bit meh. I liked the venue, but the modern dance music in the background on a Thursday afternoon wasn’t great, especially when the only customers are two old duffers. I also found the service to be disinterested, but the location adjacent to the railway and bus stations mean that this is an ideal spot to start and/or end a crawl of the town, if you can stand the music. Could and should be better.
On 10th March 2026
- rating: 6
[User has posted 6563 recommendations about 6525 pubs]
paulof horsham left this review about The Ale House
You can enter The Ale House from both sides of the viaduct. Cask is listed on a blackboard to the left of the bar, with the keg beers to the right. There's 7 or 8 of each, though neither are especially cheap. It's all indie though, as you might have hoped. I started with one of cask, but skipped on a second, keg-style, as the one I'd selected ran out, while the next few preferences were on the higher end of the ABV scale.
There's plenty of room inside, but with most punters opting for the outside seating - I initially went for the shady side, with tatty benches, while the crowds mostly seemed to prefer the sunnier side with its view of the chaotic bus station.
With a good range of beers, it's an ideal stop for one beer, or perhaps 2 or 3, depending on what's available on the day, before the train home.
On 2nd June 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 632 recommendations about 587 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Ale House
High hopes on approach as there is a Wigan Central vibe from the exterior, being housed as it is in converted railway arches. Interior is two distinct long rooms with curved vaulted ceilings lined with corrugated iron, and the left side has the seating separated into basic booths. Booming modern AOR music was the first sign of a departure from the Wigan Central hopes. The cask is located at the rear of the servery so you either peer over or wait for the beer board to revolve, which is rather unhelpful. Six, IIRC, on. My first choice was, I was curtly informed, off. So a panic order of what should be a home banker of Oakham Citra produced a flabby half lacking turnover (NBSS 2). Judging by what I observed around me after being seated for a few minutes made me think the place clearly trades on craftykeg nowadays. Expensive as well – I left feeling a bit miffed. Maybe I was unlucky given the reviews below, but the best places make their own luck.
On 6th November 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5992 recommendations about 5971 pubs]
View more reviews of The Ale House (11)
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- Official site of The Ale House - www.the-ale-house-chelmsford.co.uk
- Facebook - The Ale House Events
- Twitter - The Ale House
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Ale House - whatpub.com
Ingatestone, 6.68 miles, 2 hr 9 min walk (show)
Hatfield Peverel, 6.84 miles, 2 hr 12 min walk (show)
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 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : No - Pavement seating area - last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 12 December 2013 by john mcgraw
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes last updated 25 April 2015 by john mcgraw
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : Yes - Last Sunday of the month - last updated 31 December 2019 by john mcgraw
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 06 November 2024 by Quinno _
