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Detail Pages
Brolly Taproom, Horsham
Horsham
RH13 5QL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Chapeau Brewing
Stuck out in an industrial estate unit to the North of the town centre (approx. 15 minutes on foot from the station), this is a typical microbrewery taproom with limited capacity during the current pandemic. To visit, I was required to book a two-hour slot in advance, which would guarantee me one of the 15 seats currently available, although as it turned out, there were only 8 of us on my Saturday afternoon visit so I could’ve probably just turned up anyway. The unit is nothing you haven’t seen before in countless other such brewery taprooms – a basic unit with a concrete floor and whitewashed blockwork walls under a panelled ceiling with a couple of transparent panels that turned the room into something of a greenhouse once the sun came out. Some funky benches have been constructed from old pallets and arranged in a semi-circular formation out on the loading bay, bookended by some old kegs to create a nice extension of the drinking space available. The unit’s shutters were up and take you into an open plan unit with a small servery to the front right. The remaining seating comprises high stools along a drinking ledge down the left-hand wall and some canteen tables and benches to the front and centre with a few chairs in support. The bar has a white counter with a blackboard on the bar back detailing the available beers and keg taps to one side. The brewing equipment is visible in the rear right corner of the room but isn’t really much to look at. There was no music playing, which is rare for this sort of small operation and I noticed a dartboard above the drinking ledge which, given its positioning, might well be for the sole use of the brewers.
I wasn’t entirely sure whether the beers were all keg or not, as at least one that I tried struck me as possibly being cask ale – the blackboard made no mention and I forgot to ask amidst the fluster of socially distanced bar etiquette. Either way, I sampled three beers – Summit, Rouler and Hard Yards – of which the Summit was my favourite. I had also hoped to try their Open Road Milk Stout as well, but a local came in with a refillable jug and walked off with the last few pints before I got to try any. The barman was very friendly, and the overtly strict rules described on their website when I made the advance booking ended up being a little more relaxed than I’d anticipated.
As with other such factory unit enterprises, this is nothing to get excited about in terms of pub character or architecture, but it is a good place to come and enjoy some decent beer straight from the source. It’s location out in the suburbs, away from any other pubs does make it awkward to comfortably incorporate into a crawl but I enjoyed my little venture out here and would baulk at the idea of returning again some time.
On 1st October 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about Chapeau Brewing
Brewery taproom, open Friday evening and Saturday morning. Occasionally open at other times for events.
On 14th July 2018
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]