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Submitted on Wednesday, 21^st February 2024
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The Cardinals Hat, Lincoln

Pub added by aleand hearty

268 High Street
Lincoln
LN2 1HW

Correct details

Served areas

Lincoln Central

Reviews of The Cardinals Hat (Average Rating: 8 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Cardinals Hat

Multiple seating and dining areas (with one on a slightly raised level), stretching most of the way around the central servery. Semi-traditional furniture and decoration inside and some more modern tables outside. Eight cask ales, including Nightjar's Wallace & Comet (£2.25), together with four draught ciders from a total of 12 handpumps (an understandable improvement over my previous coronavirus-era visit).

On 17^th November 2024 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]

Real Ale Ray left this review about The Cardinals Hat

Once you start wandering around this pub, you don't realise how big the place is especially when you take in the first floor space as well. The pub was busy on our Friday evening PG crawl and the service at the bar was fast and efficient. The staff here definitely know how to handle a pint of cask beer.
There was a very good selection of beers on both sides of the bar. I went for the Abbeydale Moonshine, which was in tip top condition.

On 13^th November 2024 - rating: 9
[User has posted 3645 recommendations about 3645 pubs]

Steve of N21 left this review about The Cardinals Hat

Situated on the High Street this is clearly a building of some antiquity which, as Tris explains below, started life as a pub in the 1500’s, went through a change of use in the 1800’s but in recent years has thankfully reverted back to being a pub, and a good one it is, well deserving of its current inclusion in the GBG.
You enter into the main modern décor L shaped bar room but retaining copious amounts of exposed brick and reclaimed beams to give the place character. As mentioned below there is a short bar area to the front with a few pumps, then a longer section the other side of a large brick pilar, to the right with additional pumps and although there is a frame on the brick pillar detailing eight beers available, this is not conclusive on the ale front as the board seems to be used more to detail the keg options that are available from a four tap keg wall behind the bar and if you are interested in the ales you have to inspect both sides of the bar to see what was on. I initially got all excited seeing the Northern Rising Unity Stout advertised but couldn’t find it on the pumps and finally spotted it on the keg taps. So instead, I went for the Nightjar Brew Co. Wallace and Comet Session Pale Ale, and very good it was indeed. Outside of the main bar there are additional snug rooms to left and right and the very pleasant one to the left is like a raised library section with a tartan carpet and high-backed chairs that you enter through two large book cases. In this section there is also a door marked Roof Garden which takes you via a staircase to an additional larger upstairs room, full of large, padded sofas and chairs, and its own smaller bar area. If there is an outside space off this, I never found it. It was indeed very lively when we finally made it here at around 6 on a Friday evening and unfortunately by this part of the crawl, my ale recording skills and ability to operate a mobile phone camera had deserted me, so I cannot recall what the full range was, except that it also included Oakham Darkness Falls Black Beer, Acorn Phantasm and Thornbridge Woodlands Pumpkin Ale and was an impressive mix of breweries and different styles. Yes, a good one this and well worth its inclusion in the GBG.

On 10^th November 2024 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]

View more reviews of The Cardinals Hat (11)

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