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Beacon Hotel, Dudley

129 Bilston Street
Sedgley
Postal town: Dudley
DY3 1JE
Phone: 01902883380

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 9 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Quinno _ left this review about Beacon Hotel

No change to my previous description below from 9 years ago, the place is an absolute classic pub. Onto the beers - Dark Ruby (NBSS 3.5), Surprise (3.5), Amber (NBSS 4), Snowflake (NBSS 3). I think there may have been one or two guest ales but there was no way I was going to swerve the Sarah. Got chatting to an old boy local next to me who had an accent as thick as the Ruby and the memory of a goldfish. Excellent visit and it really is a Top 50 pub. Get in early, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

November 2012
So, where to start? Let's begin with the interior. The fairly inauspicious exterior gives way to a lovely, unspoilt gem (CAMRA National Inventory of National Importance). A number of different rooms with four of them clustered around a dark wooden hexagonal central servery which is essentially little more than a low hatch on two of the sides well-below head height; this truly is a place where you can talk to the hand. Such a set-up allows for a relaxed atmosphere and some welcome variety. Most people congregate in the front bar but be sure to take in the rest of the rooms including the modern conservatory which is home to a veritable jungle of plant life. Secondly, the beer. This is the home of the Sarah Hughes brewery who produce, amongst others (Surprise and Pale Amber usually), the sublime Dark Ruby Mild. A drink that anyone who enjoys beer should try at least once. A wonderful, dark fruity brew with a pretty unique taste weighing in at 6% abv. Along with three Sarah Hughes beers, there are usually a couple of guest beers available. All are served in sublime condition and in pint pots. The drop-brewery is located at the top of the building - it's well worth a tour, a real old-fashioned brewing affair with a large dose of love added. Other stuff includes cobs to eat, friendly clientèle and a dog-friendly policy. One very small point is that the fires don't appear to be 'real' fires, which is a small let-down. How amazing would it be to have some coals/logs on there in the winter? I wish this was my local. An absolute classic. Rated 9.5

On 30th December 2021 - rating: 10
[User has posted 5047 recommendations about 5030 pubs]


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Ian Mapp left this review about Beacon Hotel

Stone cold classic boozer - unchanged for 100+ years.

Pub - multi-roomed - tiny front parlours, larger rear "smoking room" connected by the serving hatch, with a ridiculously low serving hatch. Garden to rear.

Beers - brewed on site. Surprise, a terrific golden. Ruby - a too drinkable 6% mild.

Loved the fact that its an afternoon 2:30 closer - with the old school bell wrung at 2:20. I never make it out till last orders in the night, being such a lightweight.

A destination pub to be enjoyed.

On 9th September 2021 - rating: 10
[User has posted 1329 recommendations about 1315 pubs]


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Gill Smith left this review about Beacon Hotel

Very busy Sarah Hughes brewery pub full of friendly chatty locals and serving their excellent beers. What is not to like. We enjoyed our Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild and the Surprise here. Well described below.

On 21st November 2017 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]


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John Bonser left this review about Beacon Hotel

Another well known West Midlands home brew pub, this is the home of the revered Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild. Brewing on site dates back to 1821. It’s a marvellous unspoilt Victorian pub with a small enclosed kiosk style servery with hatches serving 2 rooms plus a central small corridor, off which, on the right hand side are 2 further rooms.

The small first room on the right is very basic and is The Tap Room, featuring fixed bench seating, wooden bar stools and tables and a tiled floor. Against the far wall is a fine cooking range. Lace curtains adorn the windows. Above a mantelpiece, a number of framed CAMRA certificates remind us that the pub was a CAMRA National Pub of the Year Finalist in 2010 and was the Regional Pub of the Year Winner for the West Midlands Region in 2014.

On the other side of the corridor to The Tap Room is The Snug, which is carpeted, traditionally furnished and has a hatch to the glazed in bar servery.

At the back is a larger and longish room – The Smoke Room – with plush fixed padded leather seating around the perimeter of the room and boarded wood panelling. The far end of this room leads through to a pleasant airy conservatory. This was in the course of being repainted during my visit and was full of pot plants, instantly reminding me of one of the glass houses at Kew Gardens.

It’s a fine old fashioned, but splendidly preserved interior that earns the pub a place in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

Further away at the back are the outside toilets and a grassy seating area with, inter alia, a kiddies slide. Reflecting the popularity of the pub and attached brew house as a destination for coach parties, there is a very large car park. On my late September lunchtime visit, a coach party from The Engineers Arms in Henlow ( I really must go there again soon ) had very much taken over The Smoke Room, with the usual crowd of good humoured, friendly and welcoming CAMRA worthies enjoying the fine home brewed beers and traditional atmosphere, which is pleasingly free of music and fruit machines. There’s no prizes for guessing which other pubs were on their itinerary and, later on that afternoon, our paths were to cross again in The Park Inn ( Holdens Brewery Tap ).

Home brewed ales on were Amber, Surprise and the much revered Ruby Mild at gravities of 4%, 5% and 6% respectively with corresponding prices of £ 2.50p, £ 2.65p and £ 2.75p. I thought the Amber was a bit bland, but the other two beers did not disappoint. Not having the car with me on this occasion, I felt able to indulge and, for someone living in the allegedly affluent Home Counties, with beer prices to match, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity of sampling a 6% beer at only £ 2.75p per pint. A number of guest beers were on which I didn’t sample and, inexcusably, did not record. Sam Smiths beer mats and drip trays were very much in evidence and I did spot several of their Man in a Box dispensers behind the bar, although they weren’t exactly prominent and I’m not even sure they were in use.

Perhaps appropriately, beer is served in old fashioned dimpled jugs with handles. The pub closes for the afternoon, even at weekends. On my visit, the bell rung promptly at 2.20pm and later on, the shutters unceremoniously came down. Staff are friendly and enthusiastic, although I always find it slightly disconcerting here that, the glazed bar servery means that, unless you’re a dwarf, you can really only see the midriff of the person serving you.

The pub is a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular and you really should make the effort to get here if you haven’t already.

On 26th January 2015 - rating: 9
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]


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Pub SignMan left this review about Beacon Hotel

The fairly plain, inauspicious exterior of this pub gives little hint of the magnificence within. This Grade II listed building has a four room set-up, based around a tiny central servery with serving hatches to two of the rooms and the passageway that connects them all. The front left room is signposted as 'The Snug' and is reassuringly compact and cosy, with a nice tiled fireplace on the far wall, basic seating options and enough space for an upright piano to be squeezed along one side. On the other side of the passageway there is the Tap Room - a larger space with another nice fireplace, a few decent sized tables with hard bench seating, hop lined walls and a selection of traditional paintings. Heading to the rear, you emerge into a newer, tile floored room with long hard benches along the left and right hand walls, but with no tables on the left hand side. The benches have a heating system behind them, so were very warm when I settled down here, making it cosier than initial impressions suggested. The walls are fairly plain here, broken up with a few old paintings, but otherwise, probably the least appealing room in the pub, hence it being the only place I could bag a seat on a busy Saturday afternoon. Alternatively, when reaching the end of the passageway, you can turn left into the Smoke Room, which has some attractive tongue and groove panelling, a carpeted floor, standard and low stool seating around copper topped tables and two more fireplaces. From here you can access the newer conservatory which stands out from the side of the pub and is so full of plants that when viewed from the road or car park you would be forgiven for mistaking it for a greenhouse. The servery is for me the star of this extraordinary show. It's a tiny little booth within which two (three would be a push) bar staff were able to dispense drinks through hatches that open into the Snug, Smoke Room and corridor. Each hatch has a low screen obscuring it, so you can't make eye contact with the staff, making it a slightly surreal transaction, the likes of which I can't recall making anywhere else.
As if this wasn't enough, the pub is also home to a tower brewery, which you can find by exiting through the rear of the pub. This houses the Sarah Hughes Brewery, named after the pub's former owner whose 1920's refurbishment of the pub can still be marvelled at today. Ales are mainly served from taps on the rear wall of the servery, although I did spot a couple of conventional handpulls. A board near the servery door lists all the options, which on this visit were Sarah Hughes Amber, Dark Ruby Mild, Snowflake, Surprise and Merlin the Wizard plus a guest of Sky's Edge Citrus Smash. Keg options unusually included a few Sam Smith's beers. The 6% Dark Ruby Mild has long been a beer I've wanted to try and it certainly didn't disappoint, although I can't say an easy drinking 6% pint is the ideal early afternoon drink!
Whilst this place clearly commands a large, loyal local following, speaking to a few other punters it was clear that I wasn't the only person to have made a concerted effort to visit this place. It's a really wonderful example of a perfectly preserved, traditional brewpub and one that every serious pub-goer should make an effort to visit.

On 11th January 2015 - rating: 9
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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Aqualung . left this review about The Beacon Hotel

Today was only my second ever visit to this famous pub. There is not much to add to what has already been said about it. On my Saturday afternoon visit the serving hatch area and the back lounge bar were busy but the more basic snug was quiet.
I went for the Dark Ruby Mild (£2.75) which I successfully got served in a straight glass. It was in superb nick.
I find the fact that this place shuts at three on Friday and Saturday totally inexplicable. I suspect several of the punters may have followed me on to the Bulls Head.

On 3rd March 2014 - rating: 10
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]


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Steve C left this review about The Beacon Hotel

I visited the Beacon Hotel, which is the Sarah Hughes Brewery tap, late on a Friday afternoon a month ago during a PubsGalore crawl. It was very busy and the odd serving hatch bar at the front of the pub was chocker with a very thirsty crowd. One of these hatches opens up into the entrance corridor so it was a little difficult to move through the pub. The ales available were Sarah Hughes’ Dark Ruby, Amber and Sedgley Surprise alongside Dark Star’s Hophead and Burton Bridge Brewery’s Stairway to Heaven. I went for the Ruby which was spot on.

Even though it was very busy and there was nowhere to sit I still enjoyed my visit here and would like a return visit.

On 1st November 2012 - rating: 8
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]


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Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Beacon Hotel

Famous, and very busy, tap for the Sarah Hughes Brewery. No decoration on the facade, and relatively plain furniture in some of the rooms (although not in the wood-panelled rear lounge). However, what really catches the eye is the implausibly small tap room with its two serving hatches and corridor counter. Only had time for a pint of Amber (£2.50) but would happily have stayed much longer. First rate overall.

On 31st October 2012 - rating: 9
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


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Real Ale Ray left this review about The Beacon Hotel

Have to say that if I was visiting here again, it would be an early doors visit as it's quite difficult getting served and poking my head through the serving hatches to see what beers were available. The Sarah Hughes Mild is an interesting brew and well worth tasting. Lots of like minded real ale fans, so all in all a decent Black Country pub that's well worth a visit.

On 8th October 2012 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


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Bucking Fastard left this review about The Beacon Hotel

The brewery tap for the Sarah Hughes beers,the building is unusual in not having a pub sign nor any name on the exterior walls,the only signage is on the verge by the car park.The two rooms with access to the central bar via hatches are the most impressive and the rear lounge has an upmarket feel.The corridor serving hatch has such a low frosted glass upper,that someone my size has to virtually bend double to make eye contact with the servers.
Besides the three house brews there were two guests in the shape of Dark Star Hophead and a Burton Bridge 5%er,but I stuck with the Dark Ruby Mild served in a dimple jug,as were the other real ales,nice touch.
If I had a quibble it is that the internal lighting in the lounge was a bit harsh and the original fireplaces now have a red glow effect from a lighting system rather than a real fire.The pub is hugely popular with locals and visitors alike,but doesn't have the earthy charm of other iconic Black Country pubs.However for lovers of real ale this is a pub that should not be missed.There is a very good chippy opposite that serves chips with an orange hew,useful if you want a quick bite before or after quaffing some fine ale in The Beacon.

On 7th October 2012 - rating: 9
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]

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