The Jolly Brewer, Lincoln

This is a very unusual art-deco pub in an attractive looking building on the fringes of the city centre. You enter into the main bar area with the servery along the left-hand wall. The bar has a dark wood panelled counter, mirrored bar back and amazing stained-glass canopy in the art-deco style that predominates in this part of the pub. The room is bare boarded and has most of its seating along the right-hand wall, mostly in the form of plush vinyl covered padded stools serving tables with bright mosaic/collage images set under the table tops, whilst to the rear an upright piano and a load of DJ equipment hinted at the pub’s musical credentials. There is a nice little fireplace in the front left corner with an art-deco frieze above it. These period features can also be found in the front windows and in a large, colourful mural to the rear of the room, all combining to create quite an impressive ensemble and one of the more striking art-deco interiors I can recall. The room opens out to the rear right into a much blander space with a few more tables, including some that are served by rows of old foldable cinema seats. The walls are bare except for a guitar and tambourine that have been nailed to the side wall as a bit of an afterthought and we felt this area really let down the rest of the pub. A long, covered passage way with a drinking ledge down one side leads out to a good-sized beer garden which was hosting some sort of loud disco with a crowded dancefloor of the sort that we’ve become accustomed to seeing on news reports about local Covid spikes. A wristband was required to access the garden event, so perhaps some checks and precautions had been taken, but we didn’t get a particularly good vibe and stayed for just a quick pint. There were three hand pumps in operation on your arrival, dispensing St Austell Trelawny, Adnams ghost Ship and Greene King Abbot Ale. My pint of Ghost Ship was in decent enough shape and the staff seemed friendly enough, well protected behind large screens running the length of the bar. I really enjoyed this pub at first, marvelling at the fine glasswork and murals and supping a decent pint of cask ale, but parts of the pub seemed shabby and uncared for, whilst the drunken revellers from the garden event made it feel a little uncomfortable and perhaps unsafe even. I’d be happy to come back here in different circumstances but was in no rush to stay for a second pint on this particular visit.

A pretty idiosyncratic place! Red and bright green colour scheme. Glitzy tables (see pics), cinema seats, art on the walls for sale – sounds potentially awful but has been done in a genuine enough way as to not feel contrived. Looks like the original long bar (as you enter) has been extended as the old wall and windows remain, presumably taking in a horseway to some former stables? Some salvaged bits of normality included an Art Deco stained glass bar gantry and tiled divider. Six pumps all on, mainly local micro brews - my Wellbeck Abbey Henrietta was a very nice drop. Inevitably draws the alt crowd, with the Rock soundtrack permeating and live music advertised. I couldn’t quite settle on my opinion of the place, but its leftfield feel and range of good quality ales means it should be sampled when crawling Lincoln. 7.5