Tank Room, Toxteth, Liverpool

This is the token craft beer bar in the entertainment complex set in the old Cains Brewery. The bar is set in some sort of old factory unit to the rear of the brewery, in a concrete floored room with lots of steel girders and an impossibly high ceiling. The walls have been painted in very bright, garish shades with geometric patterns and graffiti art across them, whilst random items such as a guitar made from a Mustang hubcap, multi-coloured model pigeons and a huge octopus tentacle add a quirky twist to the decor. A long chipboard bench runs down one side of the room with chairs in support, eventually giving way to high tables and chairs further to the rear. The servery is along the left-hand wall and has a metal topped counter with a front that has been covered in hundreds of stickers. The bar back also sports some quirky decorative features and houses the eponymous beer tanks high above. A rear seating area has a check tile floor, neon lighting and a few cool art prints on display. A large pulldown screen was showing a daytime movie to absolutely no-one whilst a loud dance and R&B soundtrack blasted out in a vain attempt to attract passersby. Out the front, a small astro-turf yard offers some additional bench and stool seating, but not much of a view. There’s no cask ale to be found here, which is a bit of a shame on this old brewery site, and the two tanks were both out of action, leaving a few sad looking keg options as the best bet. I tried Beavertown Neck Oil, which clocked in at £6.00 and was served to me by a pretty surly barman. We were the only customers on a Saturday afternoon and the whole complex seemed pretty deserted, so I can only assume this place makes its money in the evenings. I was quite excited to check out this brewery site, but the whole place was depressing and epitomised by this poor craft beer bar. I didn’t travel all the way to the Cains Brewery just to end up drinking a beer that is ubiquitous back in London, and certainly not at London prices and with such miserable service in an empty factory unit. It may well be best visited at other times of the day/week, but I left here very disappointed and wouldn’t bother walking back out here to give it a second chance.

a crafty fizz bar in the absurdly trendy Brewery village (packed on a Friday night by the way). expensive and ultimately tedious but i'm glad the space is being reused in an enterprising independent way. one pint and back to the pubs!