Mount Pleasant, Sedgley, Dudley

An old school place, probably last decorated in 1967 and the slightly faded brewer’s tudor grandeur outside did make me wonder what me might get. Inside is over two rooms either side of a servery and accessible via a side corridor. We settled in the front (public) bar which sported a trad carpet, ceiling beams, red fabric bench seating, darts, proper fire and lattice frosted windows – so not too shabby. Cobs available, basic but good. Eight cask (six displayed at the front and two at the rear, look at the chalkboard for a full list). My Church End Fallen Angel was excellent (NBSS 4.5) followed-up by Oakham Citra (3.5) whilst my companion’s Plum Porter, one his favourites, was described as ‘faultless’. Almost everyone here was on the ales, and it showed. Nice gentle atmosphere from the mature clientele, just chat and banter. In terms of a being an ale boozer, this is a bit of a classic.

I must have gone past this pub on the bus dozens of times but this was my only visit to this GBG regular. The reason for this is that apart from Sunday it doesn't open until 18:30 or 19:00 and even on the afternoon of that day it's 12:00-15:00! As noted below, it has two separate bars front and back that are linked by a corridor to the right. It was busy on a Thursday evening but not rammed with the rear bar looking the busier of the two bars. I found a seat in the front bar which is a single roughly square room that is largely carpeted and includes a dart board. There was no music and I could see no evidence of TVs which is a big plus point. There appeared to be eight beers available that included two each from Salopian & Enville, Holden's Golden Glow, Kelham Island Drinking In The Air, Oakham Citra and Old Swan Bumblehole. I ended up with two Drinking In the Air (£3.20) as a fresh Salopian was about to come on which was Limerence (£3.30). Both were first class. The biggest problem with this one is the poor opening hours, however, it does serve some great beers at very reasonable prices and if you live in the area you won't be put off by the limited opening hours. It gets a strong 8.

Our trip round had us late enough to include this 2012 Good Beer Guide pub in our Black Country itinary and there was a choice of more established ales here. We had Holdens Special Bitter and RCH Double Header, both in good condition. Easily reached by bus. Two rooms one in the front, then down a corridor to another at the rear. The back room was full when we called, so we enjoyed the quieter front room.

This was my first visit to this pub, partly because it doesn’t open until 6.30pm on a Friday. Perhaps a classic case of not judging a book by its cover. Despite looking small and dark from the outside it’s actually a decent size, going back a long way, and it’s lit well enough. The ale choice offered something different in the form of Derby Quint Essential, Crannog Beyond the Pale, Ossett Excelsior, Old Swan Bumblehole, Fallen Angel, Enville Ginger, Salopian Hop Twister and Oakham Bishops Farewell. I liked it and would happily return.