The Taggy Man, Kirkby Stephen

Will Larter left this review about The Taggy Man

First impressions count for a lot, they say, and I found this place friendly and convivial when I walked in at teatime on a Thursday. Just the right mix of old and new, classy and eccentric, and the word "superb" crept into my notes made at the time. Numerous drawings and pictures adorn the walls: naff caricatures of G Best and G Boycott, arranged either side of one of a bearded man on a Vespa? Plenty of other examples of that sort of thing. On the bar were four hand pumps, with the house beer, Taggy Blonde facing the front alongside Ama-Royal from Eden River; on the side but with pump clip turned so that it could be read on entering was Kirkby Lonsdale 1822, which was in tremendous condition (NBSS 4.5). So much so that I came back on the Sunday night and had the same beer; the only trouble was, it really was the same beer, and it had deteriorated to NBSS 2.5. Still well drinkable but with nothing like the superiority that it had exhibited three days before. I guess it had been a quiet weekend on the real ale front. They do say you should never go back. But this is still a very nice pub, and I will return.

On 27^th June 2023 - rating: 8
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