Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

The Beer Boutique in Tunbridge Wells

Another day, another bottle shop – this one being handily stationed opposite Tunbridge Wells station. This is a classic shop conversion with the bottle shop to the front and a tasting room of sorts to the rear. You enter into a narrow front section with shop-style front windows full of basic beer displays, scuffed floorboards, plain painted walls and plenty of shelves and fridges down either side of the room, full of all sorts of bottled and canned beers. The till and bar counter (if it can be called that) are to the rear left and the counter has been made from some sort of makeshift table. A few steps at the rear lead you up into a back room with more scruffy floorboards, plain walls decorated with arty images of the brewing process and a beer board. A single table to the right has bench seating and there are drinking ledges with high stools to the left and rear. Orange framed windows on the rear wall have been lined with hops and offer perhaps the greatest visual distraction in the entire room. A record player, various beer magazines and boxes full of unpacked stock lie around the room, making it all feel very messy and disorganised. There was some chilled out music playing in the background and I spotted a bagatelle board hung from the back wall.
The draught beer is dispensed from taps located at the top of the steps – order at the till and someone will go and pour the beer for you. There were three craft keg options available on this visit and I tried the Belleville Investor Beer, a half of which set me back £2.80. It was a decent enough beer and the two young chaps working in here on a Friday night were very friendly and helpful.
I find these bottle shop tasting rooms highly variable in quality and this one unfortunately didn’t really work for me. The lack of comfortable furniture meant that I felt like I was drinking in the back room of a shop rather than in any sort of pleasant pub or bar environment. I think this could be a decent venue if they worked to make it a bit cosier, as the beer range and service is certainly up to scratch, but as it is, the place works best as a shop for off-sales.
Reviewed by Pub SignMan