The Infant Hercules, Middlesbrough

One of a cluster of micropubs and bars in this area on the edge of the central shopping streets. Very busy at the time of my visit, with about 50% of the customers people that I know well from the Bricklayers Arms in Luton. The owners were struggling to keep up, with two barrels having apparently been drunk dry in the space of a few minutes. I had the Higsons Porter, which was in very good condition. If I find myself in Middlesbrough on a non-football day, I'd be happy to come back to this one.

This is one of five micropubs in a very small area. It broke the guidelines by having a silent TV with subtitles and a 90s Britpop soundtrack playing. It's been more than well described below so the three beers available were Tyne Bank Northern Porter, Three Brothers Red Revolution and Springhead Roaring Meg. I went for the Roaring Meg (£2.80 including discount) which was in good nick and excellent value. This was probably my favourite of the five. It's also the only one with CAMRA discount.

The William Gladstone quote in which he refers to Middlesbrough as 'The Infant Hercules', seems an apt description for the town's micro pub scene, which sees several new ventures punching well above their weight against the towns drinking barns and chain pubs. It's therefore perhaps no surprise that this centrally located micro pub has taken its name from the quote, which is also painted in large lettering on the wall as you enter. Middlesbrough's micros run the full gamut, from those sticking close to the original formula set out by the Micro Pub Association to multiple roomed venues with dancefloors, live music and, whisper it, mainstream lager! This pub certainly fits more into the former category, with a compact converted shop unit main bar area and a tiny snug to the rear. The main bar has a laminate floor with cream walls and a row of seating down each side of the room. Whilst the right hand wall is mainly covered with the aforementioned quote, the left side displays a great deal of nautical themed bits, mainly relating to Captain James Cook, Middlesbrough's most famous son. This is juxtaposed with some pretty funky contemporary black and white wallpaper, which looks a bit busy compared to the plain walls through much of the rest of the room. The simple servery at the back of the room follows the local trend of having handpulls rather than pouring the beer from a taproom and had a huge 'Welcome' sign to one side and a nice Bass mirror on the bar back. Other items of note included an old Swiss-style clock, a book case and a TV showing muted news coverage. The small rear room is through a door to the left of the bar and is signed the Tom Dresser VC bar, in honour of "a true Middlesbrough hero". The room is painted black, which, coupled with the lack of natural light, makes it a fairly gloomy spot, brightened a little by a large mirror and various photos of local interest. There is enough room here for a couple of tables and some standing room for those queuing for the single toilet. Having propped up the end of the bar for the majority of my stay on a busy pre-match Saturday afternoon, after a while I spotted a couple of Middlesbrough FC bottled ales from the late 90's, partly hidden on the bar back and seemingly brewed to celebrate the team reaching the cup final. Sadly they weren't for sale, but there was at least a good range of draught beers on with the four handpulls dispensing Rudgate Ghostly Pale, Milestone Plot and Treason, Allendale Wagtail and a cider. Keg beers included some well known names and some slightly obscurer brews such as Sharps Pilsner. I had a very enjoyable pint of the Plot and Treason, served by the cheery bar duo who worked well together to manage the crowd and keep the beer flowing. I quite enjoyed this place and thought it was a solid example of the micro pub concept without quite developing the character of some of the others around town. The pre-match crowds didn't deter from the experience and I still felt very comfortable in here and had I not needed to run off to the match, I could easily imagine stopping off here for a second pint. A good introduction to the town's micro pub scene.