The Barrels, Hereford

Quinno _ left this review about The Barrels

A quickish revisit before the train, after a day at the local attractions. Seems a bit different to how I recall – less basic than I remember but still a lovely place for great beer. Were the stained glass windows there before? Five of the Wye Valley on the go alongside two ciders. I inevitably went for the Wholesome Stout, which was excellent (NBSS 4). Deciding I had time to spare, I knocked-back a Hopfather which was also in great shape (4). Fab, time for a 10.

June 2012
Lucky me got a revisit in-between trains at Hereford. Very little has changed from my visit in 2009, except that the gents have had a well-deserved upgrade and are now quite pleasant. Just time for a swift pint of Dorothy Goodbody's Golden Ale which went down a treat. Rated 9

March 2009
My first visit to the legendary Barrels last month and was well-worth the 2 hour journey from Reading. The interior is very old-skool, with a working-man's back-street boozer feel from the 70's. The pub is divvied up into four separate bar areas which each feel a little different to the other. There's a TV in the far bar, which gets used for sports. But the star of course is the beer - this is the Wye Valley brewery tap. If you think you've had a good pint of Wye Valley elsewhere, you should come here for the real deal - a great range of their beers in amazingly good condition. The prices, as noted elsewhere, are around 5 years out of date so you can have a great session in here for under £15. Magic. The punters were mainly older males when we first stepped in, but the average age lowered and the lady count increased in the build-up to Wales-England rugby. The place was heaving at kick-off time. Staff were friendly and very efficient - barrels were changed over in under 10 minutes - loved the communication between the bar and cellar of banging the floor/ceiling, with one knock for yes, two knocks for no. The only small gripe was that the toilets, whilst clean, were a bit on the dark and grim side. Some new tiles and strip-lights wouldn't go amiss.

All in all, one of the best town boozers you're likely to find. Well done.

On 22^nd March 2024 - rating: 10
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