Kings Head, Norwich

A two bar old style pub, front and back bars. It’s a small basic public at the front, delightfully unspoiled, quarry tile floor, wainscoting to dado level and plain cream above. Decor is confined to some photos of the pub including some of the great flood of 1912, a map of the immediate area and a selection of CAMRA awards. Furnished in plain style with Britannia tables at un-upholstered wooden benches and Britannia stools and there’s cast iron based stools at the bar. Six beer engines, all serving beers from small breweries, a blackboard behind lists the seven cask beers available, the beer is served from pulls in the rear lounge. A good range of Belgian bottles are stocked. The lounge is larger, well furnished and has a bar billiards table at one end. A splendid pub.

Of interest, is the pargetted Crown and the word ‘BREWERY’ to the parapet, a nod to Norwich’s former Crown Brewery, home to former brewers Youngs, Crawshay and Youngs. An avowedly traditional pub with a history in excess of 300 years and proudly boasting that it’s ‘A Keg-Free Zone’, with 14 ales and ciders on pump. A half of Derby’s Quintessential was very good, with a mini round coming in at £7.70. An excellent little pub, the refusal to surrender to keg being the icing on the cake.

A two room traditional pub, very basically furnished with wooden tables, chairs and benches. My notes say "proper alehouse" and on reflection it's very much that with seven beers on, I had three beers over two visits here, Humpty Dumpty Little Sharpie, S&P First Light and a rather impressive Starwing Stain Glass Blue Porter. This was one of several highlights of my stay in Norwich.

One of Norwich's highlight pubs, but with the atmosphere of a friendly backstreet local rather than a tourist honeypot. With 11 beers on at the time of our visit, plus a real cider, there's plenty to encourage a beer tourist, with most of the beers being from local microbreweries. Not my first visit here - my previous was at the end of a long crawl, so my memory was understandably hazy - and hopefully not my last either. Date of visit: 21st February 2018