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The Infant Hercules, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
TS1 2LS
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Infant Hercules
One of a cluster of micropubs and bars in this area on the edge of the central shopping streets. Very busy at the time of my visit, with about 50% of the customers people that I know well from the Bricklayers Arms in Luton. The owners were struggling to keep up, with two barrels having apparently been drunk dry in the space of a few minutes. I had the Higsons Porter, which was in very good condition. If I find myself in Middlesbrough on a non-football day, I'd be happy to come back to this one.
On 17th February 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Infant Hercules
This micropub was the original site for the award winning tea shop next door, until it came up for let and one of the employees of the tea shop took it over and open it as a micro. This micro is run by a husband and wife team, where the chat and welcome is very good. Four handpumps serving three ales and one cider. We went for the Oakham Endless Summer, which was served far too cold. Titanic Plum Porter and Rudgate Jorvik were the other two choices.
On 29th July 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Infant Hercules
This is one of five micropubs in a very small area. It broke the guidelines by having a silent TV with subtitles and a 90s Britpop soundtrack playing. It's been more than well described below so the three beers available were Tyne Bank Northern Porter, Three Brothers Red Revolution and Springhead Roaring Meg. I went for the Roaring Meg (£2.80 including discount) which was in good nick and excellent value. This was probably my favourite of the five. It's also the only one with CAMRA discount.
On 13th February 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Infant Hercules
The William Gladstone quote in which he refers to Middlesbrough as 'The Infant Hercules', seems an apt description for the town's micro pub scene, which sees several new ventures punching well above their weight against the towns drinking barns and chain pubs. It's therefore perhaps no surprise that this centrally located micro pub has taken its name from the quote, which is also painted in large lettering on the wall as you enter. Middlesbrough's micros run the full gamut, from those sticking close to the original formula set out by the Micro Pub Association to multiple roomed venues with dancefloors, live music and, whisper it, mainstream lager! This pub certainly fits more into the former category, with a compact converted shop unit main bar area and a tiny snug to the rear. The main bar has a laminate floor with cream walls and a row of seating down each side of the room. Whilst the right hand wall is mainly covered with the aforementioned quote, the left side displays a great deal of nautical themed bits, mainly relating to Captain James Cook, Middlesbrough's most famous son. This is juxtaposed with some pretty funky contemporary black and white wallpaper, which looks a bit busy compared to the plain walls through much of the rest of the room. The simple servery at the back of the room follows the local trend of having handpulls rather than pouring the beer from a taproom and had a huge 'Welcome' sign to one side and a nice Bass mirror on the bar back. Other items of note included an old Swiss-style clock, a book case and a TV showing muted news coverage. The small rear room is through a door to the left of the bar and is signed the Tom Dresser VC bar, in honour of "a true Middlesbrough hero". The room is painted black, which, coupled with the lack of natural light, makes it a fairly gloomy spot, brightened a little by a large mirror and various photos of local interest. There is enough room here for a couple of tables and some standing room for those queuing for the single toilet. Having propped up the end of the bar for the majority of my stay on a busy pre-match Saturday afternoon, after a while I spotted a couple of Middlesbrough FC bottled ales from the late 90's, partly hidden on the bar back and seemingly brewed to celebrate the team reaching the cup final.
Sadly they weren't for sale, but there was at least a good range of draught beers on with the four handpulls dispensing Rudgate Ghostly Pale, Milestone Plot and Treason, Allendale Wagtail and a cider. Keg beers included some well known names and some slightly obscurer brews such as Sharps Pilsner. I had a very enjoyable pint of the Plot and Treason, served by the cheery bar duo who worked well together to manage the crowd and keep the beer flowing.
I quite enjoyed this place and thought it was a solid example of the micro pub concept without quite developing the character of some of the others around town. The pre-match crowds didn't deter from the experience and I still felt very comfortable in here and had I not needed to run off to the match, I could easily imagine stopping off here for a second pint. A good introduction to the town's micro pub scene.
On 3rd December 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Infant Hercules
A long thin shop conversion with modern, well 1960s, style chairs at cast iron based tables although the pictures on the walls are pure tradional pub being black and white or hand coloured Victorian photos backed up with some old prints, a large photo of the transporter bridge, and for some reason a photo of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins. There's also a couple of arty ones of some bricks and the pub's wallpaper, pretentious moi? One wall is painted with the quote that the pub's name derives from,
"This remarkable place, the youngest child of England's enterprise, is an infant, but if an infant, an infant Hercules."
The counter is along the back wall with three pulls, beers from Mordue, Hand Drawn Monkey, and Hop Studio, plus Sharps Pilsner and Aspall cider on a keg bi-font and some bottled beers, there's a few wines and spirits on the shelf. The laminate floor, bright lighting and the table layout gives a bit of a Wimpy Bar feel but it's much better than most of the Boro's pubs. The beer was fine if cold and the handle / straight choice was offered. At the back is a small snug and the toilets. Pickled eggs, olives and nuts are offered.
On 3rd May 2015
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3269 recommendations about 2978 pubs]