Farriers Arms, St Albans Central, St. Albans

I heard that this 'birthplace of CAMRA' pub was under threat of closure so thought I'd pay a visit. Still operating strongly with four handpumps and a good selection of beers, if a bit pricey at £4.60. It was tied to McMullans until 2013 when they sold it to the sitting tenants. They are now looking to retire and the place is on the market. One would hope that this historic pub in an historic town will remain as a pub.

I got a warm welcome upon arriving at this classic back street local’s boozer, with the crowd of blokes at the bar quickly dragging me into their conversation about the cricket, which they were avidly watching on a screen at the end of the room. I suppose in a way, it’s tricky not to get wrapped up in conversation here, as the front bar is very compact, with limited bench seating around the perimeter and most customers stood or perched on a stool at the bar. The room is bare boarded and has the servery running pretty much the full length of the back wall, with half-frosted sash windows allowing a decent amount of light in. A McMullen’s Brewery sign on one wall introduces the licensees, which struck me as a little unusual, and I also spotted a nice little burner in a fireplace to the right, a dartboard in one corner and a large plain mirror above the fire. The bar has a tongue and groove counter front and a smart, traditional bar back lined with various bank notes, pint pots and pump clips, with a few enamel drink advertisements around the door to the left. This leads through to a larger rear lounge, accessed via a notably high single step. This room has half panelled walls, exposed floorboards and a few tatty old rugs plus a selection of bench and chair seating options. Old photographs, drawings and brewery mirrors compete for attention on the walls and the room has its own, very small, bar counter in the front corner. From here you can head out to a small, colourful beer garden with just one table and a rather ‘earthy’ outdoor toilet block. I would never have guessed this pub was in anyway affiliated with McMullen’s from the ale range, which comprised McMullen’s Country, Skinners Betty Stogs, St Austell Tribute and Oakham Citra. The latter was competitively priced compared to other pubs I’d visited that day, with a pint coming in at £3.80 and in excellent shape to boot. This was the pick of the seven pubs I visited in St Albans on my most recent crawl and I would rank it up there as one of the best in the entire city. I found the classic local’s boozer vibe right up my street and felt very comfortable settling down in the front bar between all the locals whilst enjoying a great pint. It is perhaps a little too ‘blokey’ to appeal to everyone, but I really enjoyed the place and look forward to a return visit.

Small, locals, back street bar. Good choice of ales.... rarely seen Betty Stogs in great condition. Found the staff very pleasant! Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2tMDBNJ

A pub that warrants a visit due to its historical association with the fledgling CAMRA back in the day. And as a solid enough back street traditional pub serving four ales and with a sizeable local following. But in a town full of excellent drinking houses its difficult to see myself going out of my way to utilise The Farriers over several others.

A typical looking backstreet pub and to be honest was nothing too special as mentioned by my fellow pub crawlers below.The whole place seemed a little in a rut as was the ordinary beer selection, my Fullers Oliver's Island was a little tired and lacking in taste. It was OK for a quick pint but I wouldn't go out of my way again given the unadventurous beer lineup.

Not a great pub for atmosphere on our visit. This also reflected across the beer choice across the pumps, no local microbrewery gems to be found here. The outside loos with polished brass work, were the only feature on the day.

A traditional, street corner pub just a short stroll around the corner from the market place, it consists of an L-shape bar with a sanded wooden floor and white painted boards on the ceiling. There is some further pine wood panelling on the walls, a darts board and a couple of plasma screens, although one was turned off and the other that was showing the cricket had the volume down so these were not too intrusive. There was also a small brick fire-place in the corner. A few photos of the locals were on the walls along with a selection of beer mats suggesting a regularly changing line up. Food wise, the menu appeared to offer a range of “pub grub” dishes such as Thai prawns, scampi & chips, fish & chips, ham egg & chips, etc., and these were mostly priced around £6 or so. Beers on this occasion were McMullen’s County, Betty Stoggs, Tribute and Fullers Oliver’s Island. The solitary cider was a slightly disappointing Aspall’s Suffolk.