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Picture of The Head of Steam
Image posted by Al Bundy
Submitted on Thursday, 21st September 2017
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The Head of Steam, Liverpool

Pub added by elizabeth mcgraw
85-89 Hanover Street
Liverpool
L1 3DY
Phone: 01517085688
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Served areas

Reviews of The Head of Steam (Average Rating: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Ian Mapp left this review about The Head of Steam

Disappointing visit, with disinterested staff who offered no help to choose a drink from their extensive menu. Still, it was easy enough to do a full circuit of the central island bar to look at all options available.

Chain pub, with a chainy feel - could have been in any City in the world and Liverpool has so much to offer.

Got the GBG 2024 tick. Much better available.

On 11th March 2024 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1328 recommendations about 1314 pubs]


Pub SignMan left this review about The Head of Steam

I have to say that I was slightly stunned to discover that I’d actually visited this pub previously, in a former guise, as I recognised nothing of the old pub in this fancy new enterprise from the Head Of Steam chain. You enter into a front lounge space with small tables and tub chairs either side of the front door and large windows out to the busy street outside. A parquet floor walkway leads you down to an elongated island servery with brick tile frontage, lots of exposed pipes, a large metal frame gantry and a very pleasantly presented bar back. Some very comfy banquette booths run along the right-hand wall, whilst basic banquettes can be found to the left under a grill-fronted display cabinet full of pump clips. The pub opens out to the rear, with plenty of tables and chairs arranged under high windows and a raised seating area behind the servery. The whole pub has an industrial feel beloved of such bars, thanks to timber clad walls, high ceilings, corrugated iron vaulting and plenty of exposed utilities. A few bits of breweriana have been put on display, but on the whole, the decor was pretty plain, with a TV screen listing the draught range and detailing customers’ Untapped check-ins providing the best form of visual distraction. Loud dance music was playing on our late Saturday night visit and there was a modest crowd in, with seating still available at all times.
On the bar, five operational handpulls offered a choice between Black Lodge A Better Land, Thornbridge Lucaria, Camerons Lions Pride, Hawkshead Bitter and a Lilley’s cider. I took a pint of the Bitter for £4.20 and thought it was okay - maybe a touch flat towards the end of the pint. The staff seemed nice enough and busied themselves to ensure prompt service and clean tables.
I usually enjoy these Head Of Steam pubs and thought this one was a decent enough example. I liked the bar area and comfy banquette seating, thought they had an interesting ale selection and liked the chilled atmosphere, despite the blaring music. An improvement on my last visit and a good option if your crawl wends its way through this part of the city.

Date of visit - 15th July 2023

Original review as The Abbey, 23rd May 2017. Rated 6

This large sports oriented pub close to Liverpool Central station, made it into the 2017 Good Beer Guide, so I decided to pay the place a visit when I found myself in the city in early February. However, upon arriving I was confronted with a sign at the bar explaining that ale was no longer available due to supplier issues, so I left without buying anything. Two months later and I was back in Liverpool again and figured I should give the pub a second chance, and I'm pleased that I did, as this time round there were two beers on the five handpulls - Sharps Sea Fury and Conwy Clogwyn Gold at a very respectable £2.50 a pint. I gave the latter a try and it was perfectly drinkable, if a little way short of top quality. There was a reasonable number of other customers in on my midweek visit, but they all seemed to be on the lager, so turnover may be an issue - at least they didn't have all five pumps on the go.
The pub is deceptively large, stretching back a long way from the entrance, and has an overwhelmingly corporate feel to it, with little warmth or charm. Steps take you up through the entrance and into the long but fairly narrow main bar with the servery along the right hand wall. A good deal of comfy seating is arranged under the front windows and walls have a garish floral pattern wallpaper which is quite off-putting. Some high tables and stools run along the left hand wall before the bar appears on the opposite side with a padded counter front and plain mirror bar back decked with fairy lights and topped with some even worse wallpaper. Further back to the left is a raised, two-tier seating area with long banquettes and standard chairs plus a few low backed banquette booths. A smaller raised seating area can be found to the right, past the end of the bar whilst high tables and stools resume their way through the centre. At the far end there is a large split-level space which was roped off for a private event during my visit. The pub is notably bereft of interesting decor but is furnished with a great many TV screens, all of which were showing a documentary about the Grand National which was due to be run that weekend. Music played in direct competition with the TV screens which were not muted and I noticed a cheap and cheerful pub grub menu which a few punters were taking a chance on.
This is a pretty basic pub with no real character which is pitched at those wanting to drink in large groups whilst watching some televised sport. The presence of a couple of ales was a welcome sight and I can imagine there would be times when a bar like this would come in handy, but it all felt very mediocre and I was happy to move on after a quick pint.

On 22nd December 2023 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3093 recommendations about 3093 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Head of Steam

I made my first visit to the Head of Steam in almost 2 years on a recent Saturday. It is just as popular as it was pre-lockdown with its central bar and plenty of seating all around.

Cameron's Strongarm is the regular ale. Guests on this Saturday afternoon visit were Green Duck Revolution, Top Rope Vanilla Monsoon, Vocation Heart & Soul & Brew York Maris the Otter. Ciders were Lilley's Tropical Cider & Gwynt y Ddraig Farmhouse Scrumpy. In addition, there are many craft beers on draft.

My Vanilla Monsoon and Tropical Cider were both very enjoyable and so was the CAMRA discount you can get here. Live sports are shown on the TV and food is also available.

A solid 8/10, one of the best pubs in the city and in reference to the last review, it is so much more reliable than its previous incarnation at Lime Street station.

On 5th October 2021 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


View more reviews of The Head of Steam (9)
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Pub location see interactive map of local area
Map location corrected by Alan Hurdle
Liverpool Central, 0.14 miles, 2 min walk (show)
Liverpool Central Loop Line, 0.14 miles, 2 min walk (show)
Liverpool Lime Street, 0.43 miles, 8 min walk (show)
Latest updates View all updates for The Head of Steam, Liverpool
11th Mar 2024, 12:20
Picture submitted by Ian Mapp
 
11th Mar 2024, 12:19
Review submitted by Ian Mapp

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 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Bar Billiards : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Beer Garden : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • CAMRA Discount : Yes - 20p per pint - last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Car Park : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Darts : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Function Room : Yes last updated 11 April 2019 by Rob Hunter
  • Hot Food : Yes last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Jukebox : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Live Music : Yes - Thursday & Sunday - last updated 21 September 2017 by ROB Camra
  • Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Micropub : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Pinball : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Pool Table : No last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Real Ale : Yes last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • Real Cider : Yes last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
  • WiFi : Yes last updated 06 September 2018 by Brainy Pool
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