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Brewery Shades, Crawley
Crawley
RH10 1BA
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Brewery Shades
The Brewery Shades is an L-shaped pub with bar to the right of the entrance with sunken seating around the left and rear sides. During a Friday evening visit last year there was some background music playing. The television was off, but BT Sport was advertised.
The bar supports a premium keg range alongside Fosters. There is also a large range of cask ale with Dark Star’s Revelation and Pale Ale, Weltons Horsham Old, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Dark Revolution Dog Daze, Handcrafted House Ale’s Brewery Shades Bitter, Bedlam Brewery’s Benchmark, Brighton Bier 4-3-1 That’s My Number, Greene King’s Old Speckled Hen and Cocksure Molasses Stout all being available. There are also four real ciders available which were Westons Old Rosie and Rosie’s Pig, Thistle Cross and South Down Honey Cider. Food is also available.
This pub was good and the service was polite, but I wasn’t a fan of Crawley Town center so I do not plan to return to the area anytime soon.
On 22nd January 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Brewery Shades
Flagged bar area, resaurant and lounge, ok layout, seating area outside in square. Nice enough
On 27th May 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Brewery Shades
One of several decent pubs on the historic High Street, just a short walk from the ugly modern shopping centre. This one is a Greene King pub, but if you didn't note the colour of the exterior signage then you might not realise this since the only hints from the ten handpumps were Old Speckled Hen and Rocking Rudolph. The seven other real ales I found were the 'house' Bitter (£3.30), Landlord, the Chocolate & Vanilla Stout and Plum Porter Reserve from Titanic, Dark Star Revelation, Christmas Pudding Porter from Weltons and Siren's Liquid Mistress. Two of the other pulls were dispensing a rhubarb cider and Old Rosie, with another eight available from elsewhere (presumably boxes in the cellar). Apart from the excellent range of draught offerings, the slightly split-level interior has been remodelled and refurbished at some stage, but the various seating / dining areas still retain a fair amount of character.
On 31st December 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Brewery Shades
This former Whitbread pub is now in the hands of Greene King, a state of affairs that no longer makes it an automatic write off.
Inside it's pleasant enough with a right angle bar in front as you enter, wooden floors and old beams. Down a few steps to the left is an area with a mix of tables & chairs plus some sofas. The pub extends past the bar to what looked like a dining area at the rear.
The bar has six hand pumps which ignoring the GK OSH and IPA had interesting beers. These were Dark Star Revelation & Carafa Jade, Rooster's Londinium and Boss Brave. I went for the Revelation (£3.70) which was excellent. The friendly landlady insisted I had a taster of the Carafa Red which was also excellent.
My reservations about this place are the Sky Sports which was on with the volume up even though it was just a load of idiots droning on about footbore and thugby. The other problem is that it has Karaoke nights, something that can turn the best pub into a complete nightmare. Without these pointless distractions I would rate this pub with an 8 or even a 9 which is a shame. It's definitely worth a look and is another good example of a GK pub with some decent beer. It's deservedly GBG 2016 listed.
On 11th September 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about Brewery Shades
Bit of an odd one this, although maybe Saturday night is not typical: loud music seemingly intended to appeal to a younger generation, but the majority of the clientele didn't fit that age group.
As to the pub itself, there's plenty of seating in various areas and service is friendly and efficient. 4 ales, 2 (Hophead & Revelation) from Dark Star, featured when we visited, as well as a standard set of lagers.
If you're in Crawley for beer, it's worth a look-in.
On 3rd February 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Brewery Shades
This pleasant High Street pub was a gaol house back in the 14 century and it thankfully retains a traditional feel befitting of such an historic building. The interior is fairly muddled, being split into various areas across a number of levels which require a bit of exploration. The bar is located opposite the front door in a flagstone floor area with minimal seating, lots of exposed brickwork, a few internal stained glass panes and a wide fireplace on the right hand wall. For some reason there was a large model cruise ship above the fireplace and a number of inflatable seagulls hanging from the ceiling. Ivy and ferns wrap themselves around the beams above the servery and the area has a nice cosy feel to it, which makes the paucity of seating a bit of a shame. Past the bar, three steps lead down to a lower seating area which doubles as the dining room. The floorboards are exposed here and there is a nice mix of standard chairs, pews and sofas to choose from. There is another nice fireplace down here and the rear part of the room has some old looking beams and supports. I didn’t spot any TV screens in the pub but there was a music soundtrack playing fairly loud on my Tuesday evening visit. Some of the beams have snippets relating to the pub’s two ghosts painted on them, which is a bit of a shame, even if the paint is fading now.
There was a decent ale selection at the bar, as I was able to choose from Greene King Abbot Ale, Dark Star Hophead and Revelation, Exmoor Wild Cat and Severn Vale Severn Sins. A Black Rat cider was available from a barrel propped up on the bar back and I noticed a few bottled ales in the fridge. My pint of Wild Cat was in good condition although not as enjoyable as I’d hoped.
This place has a nice traditional feel and a relaxed ambiance that I really enjoyed. It also seems to be one of a limited number of pubs in town where you might expect to find a decent ale selection, so I’d say it was worth including on any visit to Crawley.
On 13th October 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Brewery Shades
A sign as you enter advisies that this was previously a gaol house where prisoners were held before being tried at the George Hotel opposite and hung on the High Street Gallows (presumably the guilty ones only). Now owned by Brewers Fayre, these days it is a little more accommodating to visitors.
The interior is quite rambling with plenty of intimate sections, beams, pillars, brick fireplaces and bare floors although the diners occupied the front areas that accounted for 2/3 of the floor space with the drinkers housed in the smaller main bar area to the rear although I should mention that my visit was a Saturday lunchtime so it may be a different story in the evenings.
The 4 ales were split between Greene King and Dark Star, Abbott & Speckled Hen from the former, Hophead and Critical Mass from the latter. The barmaid displayed a good knowledge of the ales and the locals also seemed chatty and friendly as I tried to peer through to see what was available.
This wasn’t initially part of my intended crawl of town but but I was glad I did pop in and it does have an interesting history although, like most pubs in town, you wouldn’t probably choose it for a lengthy session.
On 22nd February 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]