The Holy Inadequate, Stoke-On-Trent

Stuck out of the way in one of Stoke's more bleak, post-industrial suburbs, this is an enterprising free house that has become one of the city's top ale houses in recent years. A corner entrance leads you into the main bar with an L-shaped servery positioned directly in front of you. The bar has a curved tongue and groove counter and a bar back lined with the sort of pump clip collection you would expect from such a wet-led establishment. There are exposed floorboards throughout, with some mighty fixed bench seating down one side and simpler benches and low stools along the other side of the bar. A large mural has been painted on the front wall and elsewhere there are some big Stone's, Bass and Joules mirrors to admire. In fact, the whole pub has some great breweriana on display, as well as many more pump clips, train themed paintings including a huge 'Evening Star' pub sign and lots of music themed bits. The Evening Star sign is the centrepiece of a rather cosy area to the rear right with a small stove on the end wall and some nice comfy furniture options. A corridor runs behind the bar, connecting you with a smaller servery area which had a big stack of pork pies on the counter alongside jars of pickled eggs. Back here you'll find a jukebox and a small rear room with bare boards and part panelled walls, where standard tables are served by decent pub seating, although the room did feel cut-off from the beating heart of the pub and was accordingly empty on an early Saturday evening. Blues music was playing quietly in the background during my visit and I noticed a sign pointing to a rear beer garden, although it was too dark to take a proper look. On the bar, the row of handpulls runs around the curve of the counter and offered Joules's Pale Ale, Salopian Kashmir, Mallinsons G1000, Springfield Outlawed, Bradfield Farmer's Belgian Blue, Fixed Wheel Milk Race Stout and three real ciders. The cheery landlord gave a warm welcome and poured a great pint of the Mallinsons which partly made up for me missing out on the Pubs Galore Huddersfield crawl the previous day. The pub has won countless local CAMRA awards in recent years including Staffordshire Pub of the Year in 2013 and 2014. This is a great little place which will have great appeal to the pub traditionalist, offering a warm welcome in comfortable surrounds and one of the top ale selections in the city. Their commitment to providing great quality beer has allowed the pub to flourish in what might otherwise be considered a rather sub-optimal location and I would certainly make the effort to visit this place again the next time I'm in the area.