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The Boars Head, Brecon

Watergate
Brecon
LD3 9AL

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Will Larter left this review about The Boars Head

A two-roomed pub on the corner by the traffic lights, and with a beer garden as described below. I only went in the narrow front bar, which has a magnificent bar counter (see photo). There were four ales and a cider on the half dozen hand pumps - I presume there are more in the back room, which I could glimpse through the door at the back of the serving area. Dartmoor Legend, Blitz 1 (claimed by Untapped to be from Llanhileth in Gwent, though I can't find any confirmation of this), Tudor Skirrid (defo from Llanhileth) and former Thwaites Lancaster Bomber were the four ales on. I went for the Skirrid, named after a strikingly shaped hill near Abergavenny. The beer was less noticeable, but slipped down easily enough. Much better than the too few other beers I'd managed on this day when my cycling route unfortunately (and frustratingly) took me past many pubs that didn't open until the early evening. I'll certainly be calling in here on my next visit to Brecon.

On 11th October 2017 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve of N21 left this review about The Boars Head

As mentioned below the Boars Head was formerly the Tap pub for the Breconshire Brewery located in the business park a mile or so away on the A40 ring road. But it was taken over in September 2013 and following a brief period of closure for a major makeover, re-opened in March 2014 free of any tie.
Although no different from the outside, from what I could see from previous photo’s,now quite modern and contemporary inside with lots of clean wooden floors and furniture and lots of led lighting, but still just enough character with some nice exposed brick and stone walls to retain some traditional pub feel.
The smaller front bar has some seating to the side of the main bar around a flat screen tele and then the larger square back room has a larger serving bar with two flat screens on the side walls, seating throughout and a small stage section at the back which usually has an additional table and chairs when there is no live music on.
But the key feature of the Boars head still remains the lovely enclosed riverside patio pub garden with its bench seating, large umbrellas and excellent views of the River Usk and the Brecon Beacons beyond.
Our initial visit was straight into this patio garden during the Brecon Fringe for one of the live bands to be greeted by the initial shock of seeing a large banner for Doombar, pub staff running around in branded Doombar shirts and only Doombar as an ale available on the pop up bar that was servicing the outside section. Fortunately this was just down to the marketing power of Molson Coors who seemed to be sponsoring the fringe bar at this pub and a trip inside found four hand pumps on the front bar and three on the back and, although one of the front ones was dispensing Doombar, there were four regional Welsh ales spread across the other six.
These were Pecker Wrecker and Cwrw Haf from the Tomos Watkins brewery, Paragon from the Redstone Micro and one from the local Brecon Brewery and we tried them all over our couple of visits
I quite liked this pub and The Boars Head was one we returned to after the Fringe weekend for further beers in the patio garden, but it would still be unfair to rate it because for the following few days after the festival there is more life to be found in the morgue room of Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital than in the town of Brecon, so still not representative of what it is like normally for the rest of the year.

On 18th August 2014 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


ed davies left this review about The Boars Head

Cracking real ale pub - it's the tap for Breconshire Brewery, but also offers at least on guest outside of the brewery. Walk through the front door into a small, wooden bar (wood floor, bar, tables - all nicely mixed, think opposite of a trendy wine bar decked in pine everywhere). 7 Ale pumps, Quoits board, usual lagers/ciders. Westons Scrumpy available as well. Go through to the second bar, and a large, flagstone room houses a pool table, Juke box, 2 screens (not on) sofas, tables and chairs and access to the beer garden, overlooking the river. Beer quality spot on, and food proper home-made pub grub (chicken curry for me).

On 30th October 2009 - rating: 8
[User has posted 13 recommendations about 13 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve O'Gorman left this review about The Boars Head

From the outside it doesn't look much, but in the summer you can't get better than just sitting in the beer garden of the Boar's Head, listening to the ducks on the river as it flows alongside. There's always a good local crowd in here, the staff are friendly, the meals are excellent value for money, and the prices are reasonable for such a tourist hot spot. It's never too full (Jazz Festival aside) and it's a shame to pull yourself away from the fire on a cold winter's night. There's a nice bar and a sizeable lounge-cum-restaurant. Real ales, pool table, jukebox, Sky TV, occasional live music. Check out the plaque on a nearby wall, showing the extent of the floods which hit the town in Victorian times.

On 10th May 2008 - rating: 6
[User has posted 13 recommendations about 13 pubs]