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Cambridge PuG Crawl, Friday 5th April 2024 with Gann on the Pub Forum

The Cellars Alehouse, Maidstone

Pub added by Malden man
The Old Brewery, Buckland Road
Maidstone
ME16 0DZ

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Cellars Alehouse

The Cellars does not open until 5pm during the week. So, we'd left a visit here until last. This is not exactly a pub you would notice in passing, as it's hidden well away alongside the railway between Maidstone West and Maidstone Barracks stations.

As the name suggests, it's a cellar bar that is surprisingly spacious. The bar is set in the one corner, with a cool room behind it from where the ales and ciders are dispensed. There is quite a range of ciders in particular. It is hard to imagine how they can turn over enough for them to stay in good condition, given the limited opening hours. However, everything we had was good quality and there were a fair number of regulars and visitors in the know whilst we were there.

6 real ales were Kent Cellars Session Pale, Battle EPA & Black Arrow, Drop Project Shifty, Musket Flintlock & Iron Pier Rosherville Red.

Ciders were Turner's Pear Cider, Dry, Apple Pie, Medium Dry, Rhubarb Cider & Elderflower Cider, Double Vision One Vision & Fruits of the Forest, Ascension Wrath & Champing At The Pit, Snail's Bank Sloe Gin Cider, Banoffee Pie, Pineapple & Pink Grapefruit Cider & Black Forest, Sandford Orchards Devon Red, Broadoak Mango Cider, Pear & Chilli Cider & Pheasant Plucker & Thistly Cross Whisky Cask.

Craft beers were Polly's Enigma Pale Ale The Hop Series & Mambo Sun, Verdant/Jon Hopkins Light Through The Veins, Wiper & True Phantasmagoria, Amundsen Helles, Yonder Trunk of Funk 2021 & Torrside Optimism As A Radical Life Choice.

With a friendly barman and some chatty locals and the excellent ale and cider choice, this was my favourite pub of 10 in Maidstone. The interior all feels a bit gloomy, but otherwise I found little I could fault.

On 17th May 2023 - rating: 9
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Cellars Alehouse

Stuck out on a light industrial estate, alongside the train tracks approaching Maidstone west station, this is a pleasant cellar bar that has a bit of a micropub feel to it, despite a fairly spacious interior. Steps lead you down into a typical cellar space with a quarry stone floor, bare brick walls and attractive vaulted ceiling. The servery is over in the far corner of the room and has a pretty basic counter, with all the beer set up and dispensed on gravity in a back room. Seating comes in good supply, mostly in the form of simple tables and chairs, old pews and a few sofa and armchair options in a recessed space to the rear. The ceiling has been liberally lined with hops and plenty of pump clips, whilst the walls have been decorated with breweriana, much of which relates to long lost breweries that I’ve never heard of - in fact, this pub is located in the former barley cellar for the Style & Winch Brewery, which I’d also never heard of prior to my visit.
I was greeted by a very friendly barman upon arrival, who helped talk me through some of the beers available, which comprised Arbor My Little Sabrony, Long Man Old Man, Cellars Palehouse, Old Dairy Red Top, Dig Brew cask Bier and Vocation Salted Caramel Stout, plus eight keg beers from micro breweries and around twenty cider and perry options. I took a punt on the Cellars Palehouse - as the name suggests, a house beer brewed by the Kent Brewery based in nearby Birling - which I thought was a decent pint and kept in good condition. The place had only just opened when I arrived, so I was the only customer for the duration of my stay - hopefully custom picks up a bit in the evening.
I quite liked this place, despite it feeling a little empty on a quiet Thursday early evening. It’s definitely a place to check out if you want a good selection of ale or craft beer to work through and I can imagine an extended session here would be quite rewarding.

On 29th December 2022 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Cellars Alehouse

Maidstone's first micro-pub, albeit a bit larger than most, housed in part of the old Style & Winch brewery cellars (now forming part of a small trading estate). Total of seven rustic high wooden benches under the low barrel-vaulted roof, with decor largely an ever-expanding selection of pump clips. However, there aren't actually any handpumps, with all beers dispensed by gravity from casks on stillages in the cool room to the rear of the small counter in one corner. On this first visit I found four cask beers on offer: Old Dairy Red Top, Animal Sea lion (saison), Redemption Big Chief and Brumaison London Porter (£3.60). With a friendly barman and generally good atmosphere too, this is well worth seeking out (with entrance via a rear gate out of normal business hours).

On 1st July 2018 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8061 recommendations about 8061 pubs]