The VillaTalk Good Pub Guide

[sidcow]

31 minutes ago, Xela said:

So, as mentioned in other posts, I had a last minute pub brawl around the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Mercia yesterday. A very enjoyable day it was. I was quaffing ales in a similar vein to what King Offa himself would have glugged mead in 766 AD. Unlike Offa, I finished the night with a vindaloo and an Uber home.

So, the day started at the Tamworth Arms. Known locally as the 'bottom house'. Not because they offer on-site colonoscopies, but because it sits at the bottom of Lichfield Street and is the first pub on the way into Tamworth. This has had a refurb in the last couple of years and now serves a good selection of traditional and Indian food. Not a great selection of real ale on, just Doombar and another that I can't remember. I went with a refreshing Veltins pilsner, which went down a treat

.

 

A two minute walk away, just up the road was the imposing Moat House. This venue has apparently featured on Most Haunted. It is now a real ale pub with function rooms for weddings etc. The interior is grand, with more grandfather clocks than patrons when we were there. Good selection of ales. A pint of Tribute Cornish ale was served in an old school panelled jug 

 

A five minute walk and we were into the town centre and the next stop was the Tamworth Tap. The CAMRA real ale pub of the year. This place was rammed! Huge selection of ales and the building is full of different rooms with nooks and crannies. They have a superb view of the castle from their beer garden (also award winning). A brilliant pub! Obviously word is out and it attracts visitors and ale connoisseurs. I was unsure what tipple to have until I noticed they had Bathams best bitter on tap. The choice was therefore easy! I could have quite happily spent the rest of the day here, but my Tamworth guides were keen to show me more...

 

Pub four was the Old Bank House. Opened as a pub a couple of years back, this was was formerly home to Sir Robert Peel's Tamworth Savings Bank. Now it is a thriving venue. A good cask ale selection was available but I fancied something different so went for a Tiny Rebel 'Rocket Air', a fruity and grassy IPA. I know the switch from real ale to craft beer will disappoint @sidcow

 

Next up was the final venue, the Market Vaults. This is a Joules pub and their current pub of the year. I was starting to get a little bit fuzzy headed now. No food and a few pints will do that to you. This was going to be the last pub as one of my mates had to go. I had a pint of Joules Pure Blonde ale, and a decent tipple it was too. A nice way to finish the pub crawl. 

 

After that, the ones that remained made our way to an Indian restaurant for a well deserved feed. I would like to say I had a pint of Cobra in the curry house, but it was a large Coca Cola, as i had hit my limit!

Overall a very enjoyable day and the last three venues in the town centre were excellent. There are a few more pubs we would have liked to visit, but they will have to wait until next time.

9/10. Would Drink Again. 

I can see I've developed a rep here

Tamworth is kind of Mrs Sidcow's neck of the woods but she only knew The Moat House, but it would have been 25 odd years since she's been out drinking there. 

[Lichfield Dean]

1 hour ago, Xela said:

So, as mentioned in other posts, I had a last minute pub brawl around the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Mercia yesterday. A very enjoyable day it was. I was quaffing ales in a similar vein to what King Offa himself would have glugged mead in 766 AD. Unlike Offa, I finished the night with a vindaloo and an Uber home.

So, the day started at the Tamworth Arms. Known locally as the 'bottom house'. Not because they offer on-site colonoscopies, but because it sits at the bottom of Lichfield Street and is the first pub on the way into Tamworth. This has had a refurb in the last couple of years and now serves a good selection of traditional and Indian food. Not a great selection of real ale on, just Doombar and another that I can't remember. I went with a refreshing Veltins pilsner, which went down a treat

.

 

A two minute walk away, just up the road was the imposing Moat House. This venue has apparently featured on Most Haunted. It is now a real ale pub with function rooms for weddings etc. The interior is grand, with more grandfather clocks than patrons when we were there. Good selection of ales. A pint of Tribute Cornish ale was served in an old school panelled jug 

 

A five minute walk and we were into the town centre and the next stop was the Tamworth Tap. The CAMRA real ale pub of the year. This place was rammed! Huge selection of ales and the building is full of different rooms with nooks and crannies. They have a superb view of the castle from their beer garden (also award winning). A brilliant pub! Obviously word is out and it attracts visitors and ale connoisseurs. I was unsure what tipple to have until I noticed they had Bathams best bitter on tap. The choice was therefore easy! I could have quite happily spent the rest of the day here, but my Tamworth guides were keen to show me more...

 

Pub four was the Old Bank House. Opened as a pub a couple of years back, this was was formerly home to Sir Robert Peel's Tamworth Savings Bank. Now it is a thriving venue. A good cask ale selection was available but I fancied something different so went for a Tiny Rebel 'Rocket Air', a fruity and grassy IPA. I know the switch from real ale to craft beer will disappoint @sidcow

 

Next up was the final venue, the Market Vaults. This is a Joules pub and their current pub of the year. I was starting to get a little bit fuzzy headed now. No food and a few pints will do that to you. This was going to be the last pub as one of my mates had to go. I had a pint of Joules Pure Blonde ale, and a decent tipple it was too. A nice way to finish the pub crawl. 

 

After that, the ones that remained made our way to an Indian restaurant for a well deserved feed. I would like to say I had a pint of Cobra in the curry house, but it was a large Coca Cola, as i had hit my limit!

Overall a very enjoyable day and the last three venues in the town centre were excellent. There are a few more pubs we would have liked to visit, but they will have to wait until next time.

9/10. Would Drink Again. 

They have Bathams in Tamworth? How have they managed that? I thought it never escaped the Black Country.

[Xela]

18 hours ago, Lichfield Dean said:

They have Bathams in Tamworth? How have they managed that? I thought it never escaped the Black Country.

It was on as a guest ale. I think i've only ever seen it in the Wellington, outside of the Black Country, before that. 

[Lichfield Dean]

2 minutes ago, Xela said:

It was on as a guest ale. I think i've only ever seen it in the Wellington, outside of the Black Country, before that. 

Ah, fair enough. Actually I seem to remember it once being on at The Duke in Sutton as a guest ale... maybe during one of the beer festivals the previous owners held. Although I could be hallucinating that.

[sidcow]

2 hours ago, Xela said:

It was on as a guest ale. I think i've only ever seen it in the Wellington, outside of the Black Country, before that. 

Used to be on regularly at The Lord Clifden but they couldn't get enough and it sold out immediately so they moved it to Sister Pub The Red Lion as it was much quieter, but they haven't had it there even for years.  

[sidcow]

The Old Royal has been refurbished and has ripped out the Beer Engines and gone down the Craft Ale route. 

£6 a pint apparently. 

My view is people were prepared to go a little out of the way for a cheap pub selling a selection of real ale.  No one is going to make their way down there to pay £6 a pint for neck oil. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by sidcow

[sidcow]

Having had a bit of a jolly in The Courtfield in Earls Court at the weekend it got me wondering where away fans drink when attending Villa Park? 

I guess they must pick somewhere in Town? 

[Mark Albrighton]

6 hours ago, sidcow said:

Having had a bit of a jolly in The Courtfield in Earls Court at the weekend it got me wondering where away fans drink when attending Villa Park? 

I guess they must pick somewhere in Town? 

There’s an away section in The Witton Arms. 

In my experience I’ve also encountered a few opposition fans in The Barton Arms (Norwich in that instance).

Elsewhere that was more apparent though was an occasion when me and my mate went looking for a drink after the game in the centre. Choosing the Shakespeare on Lower Temple, only realising when inside that at least 80% of those drinking were wearing red and white (Sunderland).
 

[Xela]

6 hours ago, sidcow said:

Having had a bit of a jolly in The Courtfield in Earls Court at the weekend it got me wondering where away fans drink when attending Villa Park? 

I guess they must pick somewhere in Town? 

As @Mark Albrighton says I've seen them in the Barton Arms (not rowdy, there to enjoy the food more than anything!), The Shakespeare and i've also seen a fair few in The Wellington, although they were older and sampling the ales, so I imagine there based on the reputation of the pub. 

[Xela]

6 hours ago, sidcow said:

The Old Royal has been refurbished and has ripped out the Beer Engines and gone down the Craft Ale route. 

£6 a pint apparently. 

My view is people were prepared to go a little out of the way for a cheap pub selling a selection of real ale.  No one is going to make their way down there to pay £6 a pint for neck oil. 

Thats a shame. Was always my go-to cheap town pub for sporting events. Saw Villa lose the play-off final there to Fulham

They've even renamed it to just The Royal.

 

[sidcow]

11 minutes ago, Xela said:

Thats a shame. Was always my go-to cheap town pub for sporting events. Saw Villa lose the play-off final there to Fulham

They've even renamed it to just The Royal.

 

At least they didn't go the whole Hog and call it The New Royal.

I predict it won't last long. Apparently it was empty on Friday night when it would normally be pretty packed 

I suspect they've pissed off all their previous regulars and will struggle to attract new regulars with that offering off the beaten track 

I just can't understand why pub after pub just decide that Craft Beer is their thing now and they can't offer even one or 2 ales.

Brum is rapidly returning to the state it was in the 80s but with Neck Oil replacing Brew XI.

I'll be forced into Whetherspoons next.

At least The Colmore Bar on Colmore Row seems to get it now and has a decent selection of Craft Beer AND Real Ale 

I'm still worried about what The Prince of Wales in Moseley have done following their refit.

[sidcow]

Pleased to report that The Colmore bar on Colmore Row which stocks a large number of craft beers AND real ales was doing a roaring trade last night. 

[blandy]

On 03/04/2023 at 17:53, Xela said:

Thats a shame. Was always my go-to cheap town pub for sporting events. Saw Villa lose the play-off final there to Fulham

They've even renamed it to just The Royal.

I went off it a few years ago as the beer seemed to go downhill and not be looked after so well. Not been in since.

[sidcow]

14 minutes ago, blandy said:

I went off it a few years ago as the beer seemed to go downhill and not be looked after so well. Not been in since.

Won't have that problem now with all that keg beer. 

I did pop in yesterday and it was actually pretty busy. The upstairs was open and we got the last table available. 

I ordered a pint of carling as a protest. **** me, people actually drink that stuff voluntarily? It's actually their drink of choice? Are they actually brain damaged? Christ, I'd rather have a bucket of horse piss. I left it on the table as we departed. 

Neck Oil might be completely ubiquitous but in the event I find myself in there again I won't be so stupid and I'll order a pint of that instead. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by sidcow

[blandy]

1 minute ago, sidcow said:

I ordered a pint of carling as a protest.

No Guinness?

[sidcow]

The other thing I found absolutely hilarious was people ordering CANS of lurid craft ale in The OC'S. You're actually going to a real bona-fide pub and ordering cans of beer.  People are just insane, I really had to bite my tongue. 

[sidcow]

Just now, blandy said:

No Guinness?

I'd rather drink 8 pints of Carling than a single pint of Guinness. 

[Mark Albrighton]

25 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I ordered a pint of carling as a protest. **** me, people actually drink that stuff voluntarily? It's actually their drink of choice? Are they actually brain damaged? Christ, I'd rather have a bucket of horse piss. I left it on the table as we departed. 

I used to drink Carling - a lot. Just a wilful disinterest in trying anything else at all. 

I’m still a lager drinker, but it’s typically a premium lager, pilsner or a local produce. 

Anyway, while sitting in The Alb in Shrewsbury one quiet afternoon (nice enough bar, modern setting, not quite hipster), a bloke walks, straight to the bar and looks what’s on offer and asks if they have any Carling. Barman says no but offers a handful of alternatives, including some mainstream Carling-equivalent choices. There is a more than sufficient selection to choose from.

This bloke, who by the way isn’t some kid who might be lacking in experience to move away from Carling - he’s a middle aged guy, mulls it over for about 5-10 seconds, fingers tapping on the bar, then says “Nah I’ll leave it.” turns and walks out the pub without another word.

Me and the barman exchange a wry incredulous look at the display of power Carling has over this near patron.

[imavillan]

23 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I'd rather drink 8 pints of Carling than a single pint of Guinness. 

Heathen 

[rjw63]

A few pubs in London I've been in since yesterday serve Neck Oil IPA, I approve