Bundobust, Birmingham

For me The Pint Shop has taken over the Craven Arms mantle as the first, and likely last, Birmingham stop. It's been well reviewed so I'll leave that and focus on beer. Our visit found a cask offer of: Marble Dobber, Fullers Hophead, Nene Valley Australian Pale, Howling Hops Strong Pale and Moor Browner Shade of Pale. Some reputable breweries there and the inclusion of Marble puts The Pint Shop into the Premiership for this reviewer. In addition to that there are 21 keg taps featuring breweries such as Camden, Marble, Moor and Siren Craft. A place to spend the day in.

(Mostly) craft beer bar, with several smallish ground-floor seating areas but there is also a first-floor dining room too. Modern furniture and rather sparsely furnished, so it has a slightly spartan feel. However, with 21 craft keg lines and six handpumps (all anonymous, so you need to review the chalkboard first) you certainly can't fault the beer choice. My pint of the cask Wylam Cascade was expensive (£4.50) but in tip-top condition.

I visited the Pint Shop earlier in the week at lunchtime, and for what appears to be quite a new venue it definitely seemed to be well established to me. The scaffolding is still out the front which may deter the passer by but I had planned a visit here so was looking out for the place and had no problem identifying it from the street. There are six cask ales and a massive 21 keg beers to choose from. Bar snacks are available - expensive yet tempting (pork and fennel egg £5 for example). I had a Soma by Pentrich on cask, at £3.80 a pint (£1.90 a half) which is pretty reasonable. As others have noted, all the pumps and taps are unlabelled so you have to go off the chalk board, but this is huge and right next to the bar so difficult to miss. Fairly busy on my weekday lunchtime visit. There are different seating sections on the ground floor including a front room with another copy of the beer menu chalk board over the fireplace to allow you to consider your next drink before you go back to the bar. There is a dining room to the first floor and the toilets are up on the second floor - which I seem to recall is similar to the Cambridge venue. The wooden stairs are well worn / distressed and painted black. No complaints and I'd be happy to return.