Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Random news of the day with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Tuesday, 21st November 2023
With picture contributions to 5000 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (19 more images)
Detail Pages
The Black Dog Beer House, Brentford
Brentford
TW8 0NF
Served areas
Reviews of The Black Dog Beer House (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Black Dog Beer House
This is a cosy, street corner pub, tucked away down the quiet backstreets of Brentford. The pub has a simple layout, with the entrance taking you into a spacious, bare boarded, main seating area, whilst the bar is all the way over to the left, where the room extends a short distance along the front wall. The main space has a typical alehouse feel to it, with a dark colour scheme and plenty of exposed brick pairing well under muted lighting on my evening visit, to create quite a warm, cosy feel despite the spaciousness of the room. Banquette seating extends around much of the perimeter, whilst decent quality tables and chairs fill the rest of the room. There’s a nice brick fireplace on the back wall with an oval-shaped mirror above and some nice potted plants across the rustic looking mantlepiece. The servery has a pleasant dark wood counter and bare brick bar back, with large beer boards on the back wall, although I didn’t find these all that helpful, as I couldn’t find half of the beers I could see on the pumps in front of me, anywhere on the board. There’s more seating to the front left, including some nice, fixed benches along the end wall, although this space felt a little detached from the buzz of the main seating area. There are lots of potted plants around the room, that brighten things up a little, as do the vases of flowers on each table, whilst the walls have been decorated with plenty of obscure bits of breweriana. An easy-listening soundtrack played in the background, but was lost, more often than not, under the general hubbub from a good Saturday night crowd.
On handpull, I noted Hop Back Fuggle and Citra, Downtown Solstice and Hand Brew Otto Dry Stout, but I could barely figure out what the extensive keg range comprised of, due to the difficult to decipher beer boards. A very friendly barmaid poured me a good pint of the Otto Dry Stout and only charged me a mere £3.00 for it – apparently, they had quite a bit in stock and had reduced the price to clear it out.
This is a cracking little pub with what must be the most interesting ale range in Brentford, making it a must-do if you’re in the area. I thought it worked really well as a contemporary alehouse and would appeal as much to the traditionalist as it would younger beer enthusiasts. I’ve no idea why it took me so long to check this place out – it’ll be my first port of call the next time I’m out this way.
On 31st January 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Quinno _ left this review about The Black Dog Beer House
Backstreet pub that defies the usual stereotypes - it's actually large, busy, modern and has a diverse drinks range. A V-shaped interior with the old partitioning long gone and it has been very tastefully modernised without losing a pubby feel; exposed brick, a modern stab at a traditional servery, old skool pub furniture and large Italianite windows. A nod to the middle-class neighbourhood is the plethora of pot plants which work well in context and a rather upmarket courtyard garden. Arrived 45 mins before kick-off to find a slightly more genteel specimen of Brentford fans in situ. Four cask with an eclectic selection, my Dead Brewers Halls IPA was in magnificent shape (NBSS 4.5) so good I stayed for a second. Also a strong range of ciders and keg. Really impressive and on-par with the Express for me (though it helped that I actually got a seat inside here). GBG listed and rightly so.
On 6th December 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Black Dog Beer House
The Black Dog is fast becoming one of my favourite pubs in London. For many years, if I was heading to Brentford, the Magpie & Crown would be my go to pub. But that one has gone downhill substantially. So, these days, it's the Express Tavern and the Black Dog. This one is the better of those two, not getting too crowded on football matchdays, not overcharging for their beers and ciders and having an excellent rotating selection.
Yesterday I walked in to find a selection of 5 cask ales - Bexley Redhouse, Roosters Londinium, Hopback Summer Lightning, Nightjar At One With Citra & Oakham Citra. By the time we left late in the evening, 4 had been replaced with Ilkley Juno, Hobson's Best, Twickenham El Dorado Pale & Loddon Citra Quad all appearing. The 3 ciders (also on handpull) were Iford Windfall, Thirsty Farmer Dry & Pulp Apple Craft Cider.
The craft beer selection is also extensive. It too was changing rapidly. On arrival, there was Animal Hop Kitty, Forest Road Lewi, Polly's Montserrat, Unity Dubbie, Salt The Final Straw, Almasty Apricot Sour, Werewolf Total, New Bristol Mello Yello, Wild Card Stout & Pig & Porter Trotty Veck. Later replacements were Brick Yellow Plum & Yuzu Sour, Polly's Oh My..., Verdant Weird Walk, XT Black Bear & Deya Steady Rolling Man.
After managing to get through 14 of the beers and ciders (all halves, I hasten to add), we staggered out feeling quite contented. My natural inclination is to visit as many pubs as possible, whilst also trying as many beers and ciders as possible. I can certainly fulfill one of may aims here without getting the urge to move on!
Original Review 18/10/20:
I paid my third visit to this much revived pub early on Friday afternoon. The fact that I managed to secure the last available table testifies to its popularity despite its location off the beaten track in the backstreets of Brentford.
As a corner pub, it has an L-shaped bar and room, with an outdoor area at the rear, which may come into its own over the next few weeks/months.
Inside feels a bit more like a gastropub than a traditional boozer. But it makes for a cosy enough environment, where the emphasis is still on beer, as opposed to food.
4 real ales were on - Rooster's Capability Brown, Oakham White Dwarf, XT Animal The Yak & Mad Squirrel Mr Squirrel. There were also a couple of ciders and a perry - Pontymedyg Perryscription, Hallets Oak Aged & Ascension Wrath. In addition, there were over a dozen craft beers. All are listed on blackboards and I was also informed that they can be checked by scanning the QR code on each table. Although that level of technology is beyond my device!
We enjoyed a short but enjoyable session here, before it was time to leave. Easily the best pub in the Brentford area.
On 28th August 2022
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
View more reviews of The Black Dog Beer House (10)
Pubs Galore is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
- Official site of The Black Dog - www.blackdogbeerhouse.co.uk
- Facebook - The Black Dog Beer House
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Black Dog Beer House - whatpub.com
Kew Bridge, 0.79 miles, 15 min walk (show)
Kew Gardens, 1.7 miles, 32 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Beer Garden : Yes - Enclosed patio - last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Car Park : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Darts : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 04 November 2018 by Komakino .
- WiFi : Yes - BT Guest - last updated 06 December 2023 by Quinno _
