Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Pubco. mergers. with Bucking Fastard
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Windsor Castle, Lye, Stourbridge
Lye
Stourbridge
DY9 7DG
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ale Monster left this review about Windsor Castle Inn
This is the Sadler’s brewery tap house which was only built in 2006, it has a nice half timber frontage but the interior décor is more modern with four rooms off a central hallway. The entrance is on the left hand side of the building, this leads into a small L shaped hallway which bends round to the left, immediately to the right and left are two small rooms and at the end of the hallway is the main public bar and a dining room. The public bar has a counter along the left hand wall, a piano opposite the bar, a large flat screen TV on the back wall with brown leather sofas below and high tables and chairs, on the walls were a couple of brass instruments and some framed pump clips. Opposite the bar counter next to the piano is the entrance to the larger of the two dining areas, this has high backed wood settles and six tables laid out with table cloths, wine glasses and flower vases. There is a doorway through to a nice snug type area which is also on the right of the hallway, this has a classic cast iron fire place with a pine surround and mantelpiece, a couple of leather arm chairs and three rustic tables. The second small room on the other side of the hallway is very minimalist with three tables and accompanying chairs but very little else. On the wall in the hallway is an interesting display of an antique beer engine. There is a small patio outside the entrance.
Regular ales are the standard Sadler’s beers plus a changing seasonal beer, the standard beers are Jacks Pale Ale, Red House (Mild), Mellow Yellow, Worcester Sorcerer, Thin Ice, Stumbling Badger, Hop Bomb and Mud City Stout. On this occasion I tried the Mild and Stumbling Badger both of which I thought were in good condition. I would also recommend the excellent Stout which I have tried several times before.
A good brewery tap house with well kept ales, the modern interior is not to my taste but the beer is, I prefer to sit in the small snug with the nice fire place when I visit. The pub had its 15 minutes of TV fame when it was featured in an episode of Oz Clarke and James May “Drink to Britain” series in 2009. In my opinion the pub lacks a bit of character but I like most of the Sadler’s beers so if I’m in the area I shall return.
On 3rd September 2011
- rating: 8
[User has posted 199 recommendations about 199 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Soup Dragon left this review about Windsor Castle Inn
What an excellent place, the second pub we visited on our Lye crawl, to which we returned before catching the train.
I have no need to describe the extrior, as you can see the pictures, though there is a beer patio/garden area. The inside is a strange mish-mash of old and new, that actually works. Sofas, barrels used as tables, tables usued as tables, chairs, stools, plain walls with olive green touches, different memorabilia here and there. The clientele were mixed and friendly, as were the bar staff.
Beer wise, its nice to see the usually dominant kind of fizz drinks shunted up the bar to make way for a central bank of handpulls, standing like troops awaiting a battle. A battle it was, as you were at war with yourself over which one to try next. Across the range, roughly from left to right; Jack's Ale, Mild, Greenman (lager), Worcester Sorcerer, Hop Monster, Thin Ice Stumbling Badger, Kinver Drop, Mellow Yellow and Mud City Stout
I tried halfs of several and sips of others. The MILD was better later on the evening visit, the stout excellent. The others were all good solid beers. Along with the Shovel, the two best places in Lye (Holly Bush, third). A must visit place.
On 6th September 2009
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Anonymous User left this review about Windsor Castle Inn
Cracking pub - choice of at least six excellent beers all brewed on the premises. This is the place that Oz Clarke & Brian May got carried away on BBC2 recently.
On 13th April 2009
- rating: 10
[User has posted 0 recommendations about 0 pubs]