The Hornet (JD Wetherspoon), Birmingham

The Hornet is a bit of an out of the way Wetherspoon's in the Washwood Heath/Ward End area of Birmingham. I doubt there are many other decent drinking outlets in this area. So, I'm sure the locals appreciate this place. Table service was offered well before we could get any joy with the app and it later became apparent that the app was out of date. The usual Greene King Abbot & Ruddles Best & Sharp's Doom Bar were on. The guest beer was Wood's Shropshire Lad. Real ciders were Weston's Old Rosie, Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon & Thistly Cross Whisky Cask. I ordered the Black Dragon, as the Thistly Cross appeared on the app as a bottle and the Old Rosie was showing as unavailable! The interior is fairly small for a 'spoon's, but locals were making good use of the place and staff were certainly friendly.

Official site of The Hornet (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Hornet (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Standard-issue 'spoons in a parade of shops. Usual dark interior with a relatively low ceiling, and quite dimly lit too. Just a few seats out front, but there is a rear patio area. Fair selection of real ales from two banks of five handpumps, with several local offerings including my pint of Salopian Dead Drop (£2.35). Only real quibble, though, was unusually slow food delivery - possibly just caught it on a bad day?

Surburban Wetherspoons attracting old time drinkers with cheap beer, near Fox & Goose island. Not much going on, very standard fit out inside. My beer was not of the best quality, but there are a number of real ale pumps in use. Average

Named after an old car rather than an insect this is a fairly standard suburban Spoons. It's a square room with a low ceiling and fairly typical furnishings. It was fairly quiet when I arrived here on a Tuesday just before midday. The beer choice was as mundane as the venue with the IPA variant of the JDW Trio Of Doom doubled up, a cider, Banks's Alpha 5 Pale, Moorhouse Blond Witch and Hobgoblin. I went for the Blond Witch (£2.19) and it was in first class condition. The beer quality on the day notches the score up of a fairly average Spoons.

This is a terraced Spoons, which I think it was the site of the former Lloyds Bank of the 70s (where i had an account). It is in pretty featureless 50s style brick, with a wood and glass frontage. It takes its name from the 'Wolseley Hornet' - the now demolished car factory was once a mile down the road. The inside has a single open plan room, with a long serving bar off to the left. It is in chocolate, wood panel, and i think pale green too. There was little in the way of decoration, just a pot plant and a few books that i noticed, as well as a few silent TVs. There was no music of course, which mean't that i could here every swear word from the bar area and singing, or rather shouting, from the drunk bloke in the suit. The place is populated with the general Spoon's tables for food and there is a family area (away from the bar!). The service was fine. Beer; usual tap stuff with Abbott and Ruddles on handpull as normal. Alongside, there was Arkell's Moonlight, St Peter's Golden and a reasonable Bath Ales Special. I am sure i caught this place at a bad time, at least i hope i did.