The Lower Angel, Warrington

The Lower Angel is a very basic town centre boozer with small left and right hand bars. The bar to the left is thin with seating under the front window and opposite the bar, up the left hand wall. There was a large speaker on the bar that was blasting out Ska music, much to the delight of the two other customers, one of which was controlling the music. The slightly smaller right hand bar has minimal seating and a television on the wall that was showing muted Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown. There was one other customer in here keeping himself to himself. There are nine handpumps spread across the two bars, and during my visit on Tuesday evening last week eight of these were up and running. Available were Salopian Shropshire Gold, Wily Fox Dublin Up, Coach House Gunpowder, WeetWood Best, Purple Moose Whakahari, Ossett White Rat, Titanic Plum Porter and Lytham IPA. For fans of keg, Carling, Fosters, John Smiths and Guinness were also available. I had the Plum Porter which was excellent. I found the service to be very friendly and the other customers were lively, but harmless enough. This place is defiantly a must visit for real ale fans, but I would advise those that don’t like real ale not to bother. I imagine it gets very cosy in here Thursday to Sunday.

Well, I heard it has been spruced up a bit, but it’s certainly still a basic boozer. One side very spartan and spit and sawdust, perhaps intimidating. The other side carpeted and playing the Eagles, but still a bit ‘lively’. Every person in the place was a middle aged male. A proper throwback, if it’s not your cup of tea then at least the real ale selection should be, I didn’t even bother counting them all. My swift half of the Gunpowder Mild today was exceptional. Pound for pound, certainly my favourite in Warrington and one of my favourite pubs in the north.