The Pestle & Mortar, Hinckley

An old school micropub,beloved by the local CAMRA branch which will tell you a lot about the clientele.It's a former chemists,long and thin with two square tables in either window,some well designed small high tables and stools opposite the long bar and then a back area with traditional chairs and tables. The landlady does not suffer fools gladly and can be very sharp which does influence the atmosphere.Her policy of all real ale at £3 is commendable but does lead to the sourcing of cheap barrels ,many with low ABV which will impact on choice. The ale is drawn down from stillage but served via a handpump which helps,and the guests on my trip were Bespoke Beware the Bear,Brampton MILD (strong and a regular),GK Scrum Down (?),Nelson's Jack the Knife and Brewster Hop a Doodle Doo (NBSS 2.5,boring malty brew).Bass is a regular and the fact that it was selling well tells you a lot about the guests.Worryingly the best draught seller on my visit was Veltins lager. The landlady is keen on ciders and offers a huge range grouped under sweet,medium or dry and this maybe the real USP here. I moved on after a single pint,there are better options elswewhere in town despite it's GBG listing.

Official site of The Pestle & Mortar - thepestlehinckley.co.uk

Official site of The Pestle & Mortar - thepestlehinckley.co.uk

Slightly split-level micro-pub with the main bar area supplemented by a further small seating area located up a single step. Plain furniture but plenty of pump clips and other breweriana as decoration on the long side walls. Bass always available from one of the handpumps on the counter, with three further beers - Elgoods Geese (£3.00), Wantsum Dynamo and East Side Of Providence by Hop Kettle Brewing - from the six additional pulls on the bar-back. Also has a great selection of up to 15 boxed ciders of various types.

As noted below this is a larger micropub than many consisting of a long narrow room that has a step up to reach the rear area. It was doing a good trade on my Saturday early afternoon visit including a table of older folk who all seemed to be drinking white wine. It's no surprise that this is the area cider pub of the year as they had 15. It looked like they can do up to 7 beers but 4 were available on my visit. The only two I could make out clearly were Bass and Titanic Plum Porter (£3.00) which I obviously went for and was in good nick. This is another good micropub.