The Cat Inn, Stourbridge

Official site of The Cat Inn - www.thecatinn.com

Official site of The Cat Inn - www.thecatinn.com

Frequent winner of the Dudley and South Staffs Camra pub of the year. Deservedly so. Lovely are for walking - with the sheepwalks and Enville Hall nearby. The pub building is part C16th and can trace its pubby origins to 1718. Its several buildings knocked together and tardis like inside, with multiple rooms leading onto to each other. Demands exploration. Beer wise, there are 7 real ales marked up on the chalkboard - all midlands based but it is linked to the local Enville Ale Brewery - so I didn't get past the £3.20 Enville Ale. Wonderful. Walk and visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2Mepmeq

Visited this lovely 2015 Good Beer Guide pub yesterday and enjoyed my Enville Old Porter, and the taste of their 6.5% Blizzard too. There are a few rooms with low beamed ceilings and we felt welcomed by the locals. There is a function room available upstairs. Real Ales from Enville brewery and guests, and they also serve food. Garden area at the rear.

This is a brilliant traditional rural village pub which dates back to the 1500’s but has been an Inn since 1718 and according to the chap behind the bar it is now owned by the Enville Breweries directors. The pub has two rooms, public bar at the front, lounge in the back left corner of the building and there is a small island bar counter that serves both rooms. The public bar is across the front of the building and is split in two by a dividing wall but it still feels like one room due to the wide opening in the wall linking the two sides, the bar counter on this side is in the back wall on the left, there is a small brick fire place with a cast grate in the middle of the left wall, a second larger brick fire place (with bucket of coal ready to go on) in the back wall to the right of the counter, blue fabric bench seats, blue patterned carpet, a couple of flowery paintings on the half timber walls and thick oak beams decorated with horse brasses. There is a short passage way down the left of the bar counter which leads to the back room, this has the bar counter in the front wall to the right of the room with the main seating area off to the left overlooking the beer garden, again there is blue fabric bench seating, a patterned carpet and oak beams. There is a door in the back right corner that leads out to a cobbled court yard directly behind the pub which is partially enclosed by the pub and an old stable block, at the left end of the court yard is a gravel beer garden with a couple of small trees and half a dozen picnic tables with large parasols. There is a third room in the front left corner of the building but this was closed due to renovation during this visit, but I believe it is now open. Regular ales are currently Enville Ale and Ginger with a single changing seasonal beer from Enville Brewery and two changing guests which on this occasion were Enville Gothic, Three Tuns XXX and Wye Valley Butty Bach (GBG 2013). I tried the Enville Ale and superb 5.2% Gothic which is usually hard to find, both were perfectly well kept. The Enville Brewery is only two miles away. A fantastic country pub with genuine traditional character and great local beer. I would say that most beer drinkers in the Black Country and South Staffordshire have at least heard of the Cat at Enville. Only drawback is that the pub is a bit out of the way and therefore difficult to get to by public transport, but it’s worth the effort, I shall keep endeavouring to visit but I wish I could get there more often.