The Tap House, Lancaster

Somehow, on my third and final night in Lancaster, I was expecting more from this place than it actually delivered (especially as it was closed on the previous two days, Sunday and Monday). Anyway, it is a routine semi-modern bar housed in a more interesting-looking old side-street building. With three of the four handpumps in operation, I found Landlord, Hobgoblin and Lancaster Bomber (£3.90).

This pub has changed hands since my review of 2014. The main change seems to be in the beer policy, as the two Hawkshead beers were joined on my visit by the mainstream Pedigree and Jennings Cumberland from the Marstons stable. (See Real Ale Ray's photo of the pump clips in 2014, when two dark beers from micro-breweries featured.) I was the first customer, I think, as the lass behind the bar was still busy with a few bits of setting up, but she found time for a chat: I had lived in Lancaster for 10 years and it turned out she had spent a similar length of time in Sheffield, my adopted home city. I was able to tell her a little about the pub in its previous guise as the Fat Scot, when it was a hang out for scruffy bikers and hippies. In the absence of joss sticks and marijuana they'd probably have felt quite at home with the dim lighting and a candle on every table, though I'm sure that's not what the owners of the Tap House are aiming for.

Somewhere I’ve managed to miss when previously drinking in Lancaster. Not too easy to find, as it’s not on or directly off one of the main thoroughfares. A fairly small interior inside with a modern ambience - slate tiled floor, exposed brick and grey walls, tall furniture and some old casks incorporated into the walls. Plenty of customers on my Saturday mid-afternoon visit and a mix of ages and sexes too. Six pumps with only three on, 2x Hawkshead and Hardknott. There was also a selection of bottled beers and a handful of cwaft keg. My pint of Hawkshead was very enjoyable. Pork pies advertised for 2 quid a go, which gets my vote. I quite liked it here, a good stab at a modern craft beer bar that doesn’t fall into the clichés too much. 7.5