The Baum, Rochdale

Visited The Baum for the first time earlier this week. 8 hand pulls at the bar with 6 of those available, including Bass for those so inclined (a beer I have never been that fussed about and don't really understand its cult following). That aside, there were two ales by Pictish (Samhain Stout and Tweed Pale Ale), Vocation Heart & Soul, Thornbridge Jaipur and a Salt collaboration beer called Inndustry. The Samhain Stout was £3 for a pint (£1.50 for a half) and that seemed to be the going rate for the other cask ales too, based on what other customers were ordering. This is a comfortable traditional feeling pub with banquette seating, tables (copper topped) and stools, dark wood, stained glass and a nice central island bar. Music was playing at a sensible volume. My ale was in tip-top condition and I really enjoyed my visit here. I shall definitely be back if I find myself in Rochdale again.

I visited the much-lauded Baum on a recent Monday evening when there were a handful of other customers. To the left is a curved bar that supports eight hand pumps (6x cask ale and 2 x real cider) and a premium keg range. The multitude of pump clips on the walls inform those not in the know that this is a destination real ale pub. Seating is found in the right hand-side and in the left is a raised seating area at the front and a raised conservatory area at the rear. Through the conservatory access can be gained to a well-kept walled beer garden at the rear. A small speaker in the garden was playing background music that was also in the pub. The only television screen I saw was showing a list of the available beers. I hadn’t heard of any of them, which is normally a good sign. Pub grub is available, I had the Baum burger which was very tasty and reasonably priced at £10.95. I found the service to be very friendly and I am pleased to say that this was my favourite of the fourteen pubs I visited during my crawl of Rochdale.