Moonface Brewery & Tap, Loughborough

Official site of Moonface Brewery & Tap - www.moonfacebrewery.co.uk

Official site of Moonface Brewery & Tap - www.moonfacebrewery.co.uk

Set in a small industrial unit just outside the town centre, this is a small brewery taproom set across two compact rooms. You enter into the main bar area, which is a simple bare boarded space with tables and chairs to the left under plain painted walls, the servery to the rear right and a couple of large, upturned barrels in the centre for people to stand around. The bar has a rough and ready timber fronted counter which is in keeping with the slightly shabby feel of this old industrial premises, whilst the bar back is dominated by a large stilage unit, from which all the beers are poured. The room has been decorated with arty photos of the moon and planets, a few CAMRA certificates and various blackboards listing available beers as well as those that should be coming soon. Down a couple of steps to the left of the bar, you enter a rear room with chairs and padded kegs serving a few extra tables in a rather more echoey space with plain painted walls, bits of brewing equipment (albeit none seemingly in use) and some beer fridges. Moon and star fairy lights can be found around much of the pub, adding to the generally muted lighting throughout. There were no Moonface beers on stilage, with options instead comprising Frome USA Pale, Little Brewing Little Rambler and Milestone Deliverance, plus a couple of craft keg options. The USA Pale was in decent enough nick but the general reception was a little frosty and I very much felt like an outsider intruding on someone else’s territory. Putting aside the unwelcoming vibe, this seems like a decent addition to the Loughborough pub scene and offers enough to merit an inclusion on any pub crawl around town. They seem to offer beer that you might not find elsewhere in town and know how to look after it well enough, so I’d say it’s worth taking a punt.

One of the ugliest pubs in an ugly area, at least inside is ok, typical tap room real ales, though not selling their own, seems this goes to festivals and other houses. Nice feel inside

A micropub and tap for Moonface,this former industrial unit retains that vibe with the used of heavily obscured glass windows while retaining a courtyard entrance door.The inside is therefore gloomy and has a distinct older drinker smell ,the loo is right opposite the bar to the right side,while a left sided rear room with a glass partition has a few tables and the brewing kit.There is an outside area through this section. All the traditional tables and seats were taken ,so we drank vertically by a side fireplace.There was some staring at two strangers but friendly conversation then flowed quite easily ,with the owner/brewer/barman giving very helpful curry house advice. Real ale all from stillage and described by chalk notes on a ceiling beam,which meant on my trip 4 real ales in Moonface Mr b and Dancing Queen (NBSS 3.5,£3.85 ) with guests Goffs Lancer and Triple Point Gold. There were also two key keg beers from wall mounted taps including a Black Iris IPA and something else pokey I failed to note. Bottles and cans round out the offer ,while pork pies were waiting for purchase on the bar top. Worth including on any ale tour of town,it's mainly a locals haunt but I enjoyed my first sample of Moonface beers.

The microbrewery here isn't even up and running yet but I think it's fair to class the tap as a micropub as there are no TVs, no keg and no music or other electronic distractions. The friendly landlord said that he hoped to be brewing by Easter and that his priority would be historical beers. The old industrial building has been thoroughly renovated inside and consists of a rectangular room with a door to the rear left leading to the brewery. The bar counter is to the right of that and has stillage with the casks on. The ciders seem to be kept in the brewery and the fact that they do a few gins is the only minor diversion from the micropub template. My only concern is whether a prolonged hot spell would adversely affect the beer but the owner did say that the building was cool even in hot weather. There were five beers available Muirhouse Magnum Mild, Sambrook's Pumphouse Pale, Black Country Ales Plum Pig Porter, Potbelly Beijing Black and Spitting Feathers Empire IPA. I tried the Magnum Mild (£3.30), Plum Pig Porter (£3.50) and Empire IPA (£3.90). The Porter was a bit tired but the other two were in very good nick. This place is well worth a visit and I look forward to a return after they've got the brewing going.