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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Chesham Brewery Shop
This place is for all intents and purposes a micro pub owned by the Red Squirrel Brewery with a beer and cider off licence on the side. Sadly because of the keg offerings it doesn't qualify for the Micro pub Association which is a shame as the four keg offerings are brewed by Red Squirrel rather than being some appalling dross out of a chemical plant owned by a global abomination.
There is a distinct lack of seating as there are some modern uncomfortable looking bar stools and a couple of small cramped alcoves by the windows. I sat at one of the alcoves and tried three of the cask offerings, Milk Stout, Winter's Tail and Penryn Pale from Rebel brewery in Cornwall. All three were in excellent nick, although the Winter's Tail did have a slight haze. I finished by trying one of the keg offerings the Black Squirrel lager, an excellent Black Lager. The prices here are at Spoons level, £2.25 a pint for Red Squirrel brews and £2.50 for the guests. The interesting thing is that the £2.25 price includes the four keg options which were all from Red Squirrel so how do places like Dog Spew, Craft and others justify charging more than double this? The answer is simple, they are blatantly ripping everyone off! Another plus point here is that lined glasses are used.
I would gladly return especially as despite the fact it's deep in the Chilterns the Metropolitan line comes here, although it is at least an hour back to Central London.
On 28th November 2014
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Chesham Brewery Shop
The Chesham Brewery Shop is technically a beer bottle shop, but because it also contains a tiled pump wall of 10 taps dispensing 4 cask ales, 4 craft keg beers, 1 sparkling cider and 1 still cider from behind a small bar serving area, it rightly takes its place on this Pub review site.
It is a fairly new venture from the Hertford Red Squirrel Brewery, and was opened in September 2013 on the Market Square in the cobbled main Chesham High Street in a building converted from an Italian delicatessen. However before this it was once a pub called the Globe, (thanks to Mid Chilterns CAMRA branch for that historical fact).
The bottle shop section covers two and a half walls and a wide selection of beers, mainly from South of England brewers are available, alongside a limited selection of wines. There is a small amount of internal seating in the shape of a couple of bar stools and some seats in the front window and if Chesham council ever finish repairing the pedestrian section right outside the shop there will be a small number of outside tables.
The beers served from the tiled wall are dispensed via an air compressor and are available for carry out as well as drinking in. Red Squirrel Brewery product was available on four of the taps (including Hopfest and the excellent Black Squirrel Craft Keg black lager) and then the rest were guests including one from the Tottenham Redemption brewery.
No other drinks are available and also no food, with the exception of some bar snacks that they have just started selling. And with the Red Squirrel beers priced at £2.40 a pint or £1.20 a half it meant that for the first time for many a moon my halves cost me less than the packet of dry roasted nuts..
So not a traditional pub experience, but the Chesham Brewery Shop is certainly a welcome addition to the fairly thin real ale scene in Chesham and it will certainly appeal to fans of Cask and Craft ales and I wish it success.
On 23rd October 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]