Tower Brewery Tap, Burton on Trent

Stuck out on an unpromising industrial unit in a part of town you’re never likely to wander through by chance, this is a smart brewery tap set inside an attractive Victorian water tower. The building looked resolutely closed on approach, but against all expectation, the door yielded when I gave it a push and I was able to enter into an impressive quarry stone floored space with an extremely high ceiling and lots of quirky industrial features. The large open plan front area acts as a lounge of sorts, with loads of tables and chairs available alongside comfier armchairs and a fair few low stools in support. The walls have been decorated with old pump clips, some cool pub signs and all manner of brewery related items. Stairs to one side lead up to a mezzanine level with a couple of additional tables and a rather incongruous moped. Moving further back, the room starts to become dominated by the brewing kit, before the servery eventually appears along the rear wall, with its low counter, plain bar back and beer board. There are a few extra tables and chairs back here, but it didn’t feel like the best spot to settle down in and I was happy returning to the front part of the building, where a stove was lit, and the muted lighting contributed to a warm and cosy ambiance. The Tower Brewery seem to produce a decent selection of beers and three of these were available on handpull when I called in – Imperial IPA, Sundowner and Tower Bitter. A friendly barman poured me a good pint of the Sundowner which I was relieved to get my hands on after a failed attempt to get into the nearby Burton town Brewery Tap. This place is awkwardly situated and doesn’t easily lend itself to a crawl around the town, but if you’ve got a bit of time to spare and can face the uninspiring hike out here and back, it’s a nice little place with good beer and a very interesting interior. I’m certainly glad I made the effort.

I thought this to be a good brewery tap room. It’s a bit hidden away in the Yeoman Business estate to the north of Burton about a 10 minutes walk from the top of the High Street. A lot of microbrewery tap rooms can be a bit sterile and a bit industrial, but not this one. Firstly the building itself is an impressive Victorian brick building and then you enter into the main brewing room which, despite being a working site with all the brewing equipment, is a really comfortable space with a log burning stove and plenty of assorted seating on the main floor. Then to the right is a small and nicely intimate room done in burgundy with a load of Burton-based breweriana, which is easily missed unless you use the toilets. The bar is at the far end and there were three of the breweries beers on in the shape of Tower Bitter, Imperial IPA and Sundowner. Went for the Sundowner and obviously the quality was very good but the beer wasn’t really to my taste, but the whole ambiance of the place made this a very good visit. Worth searching out in my opinion, but at the moment you can only do this on a Friday evening.

Brewery tap in the brewing hall underneath the eponymous heritage structure, and somewhat hidden away in an industrial area on the northeast side of town. No frills, but quite atmospheric in its own way, and a good crowd in on a Friday evening. Three real ales available on handpump: Tower Bitter (£1.50, half), Sundowner and Imperial.

For me the fairly long and wet walk was worth it, as BF describes below they've made a decent fist of the taproom in a fairly large space, my Imperial IPA was fine if not ground breaking beer. I actually quite enjoyed the indoor setting.

This is well described below; I’ve never seen so much brew kit before. However, as mentioned, it’s a long traipse (and a wet one in our case) to reach and once here, it’s in a pretty unprepossessing location. I went for a half of the Sundowner at a very cheap £1.50 and found it fine but unremarkable. In all, the location and ale quality (not to mention the opening time) means I wouldn’t make a return visit; I’m also a rabid pub traditionalist. But it’s a lot better than the Burton Town Brewery Tap...