Latest reviews from Gornal
| 66 /100 109 KENT STREET “Visited on our heritage pubs tour. Rather small two room room pub with a bar left of the entrance. Historical back room was closed since they were having a paint job done. Beer selection was quite limited with two or three casks and several usual macro suspects. Only one guest besides us so not too much of an atmosphere. I guess it was OK for a quick pit stop, but one of least favourite pubs for me on the tour.“ |
| 70 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited 31/05/17. A pub of two halves - the atmospheric and small original pub at the front. At the rear what was described to me as ’the estate pub’. Two Fownes beers on and an interesting enough array of real ale casks. Lively atmosphere, aided by a massive St Bernard rolling around on the floor. Friendly bar staff. Good view over Birmingham from the rear car park.“ |
| 56 /100 109 KENT STREET “May have been the day I visited (early evening on Weds 31/05/17) but not sure I saw this place in a great light. First thing I noticed was the dodgy looking locals in the front bar. We sat in the more atmospheric rear bar with two old geezers for company. I asked if the mild was on and the barmaid responds, Not til tomorrow. Bye. Obviously dislikes tickers getting in the way of her chats with the mangy locals. The Best was good the other option was a Youngs stout. Of the two Bathams pubs I’ve been to this place was a run down let down.“ |
| 70 /100 8 TEMPLE STREET “Visited on 19th November 2016, lovely old 2 roomed pub in deepest Black Country, bar area leads through to area set up for dining, didn’t visit the other side as bagged a table, decent range of well kept cask beers, nothing too exciting but found a couple of new ones, service good, prices fair. A good local boozer.“ |
| 78 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited as part of the Black Country brewpub run with Travlr, Richthevillan and jmgreenuk. I liked this pub, characterful and friendly, very traditional. A good selection of casks. Three from their own brewery and the rest were guests from some solid breweries such as Salopian and Abbeydale. I will definitely need to revisit this place.“ |
| 68 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Part of the Black Country pub crawl organized by SarkyNorthener, RichTheVillan and jmgreenuk. Very characterful older pub. Three of their beers on when we visited, plus some interesting guests (more interesting than their beers, I’m afraid). One of the highlights was the headrests in the gents’ toilet, with separate left-handed and right-handed steadying posts.“ |
| 72 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Gorgeous brewpub in Upper Gornal (between Dudley and Wolverhampton for those of us less geographically inclined). A smaller public bar in the front, with a spacious lounge in the back. Nine real ales served, on my visit three house and six guest. The brewery’s beers are quite good, but the overall atmosphere seems a bit staid... Or maybe I’ve been spoiled by the sheer awesomeness of Black Country boozers?“ |
| 64 /100 109 KENT STREET “Another hard-to-rate pub, on the Wolverhampton to Dudley road in Upper Gornal. Multi-room, quiet and traditional, this is a must-see. However it isn’t a tickers’ pub (unless you’re missing Bathams Bitter or Mild from your list). You’re better off putting your notebook away and enjoying the atmosphere.“ |
| 80 /100 8 TEMPLE STREET “There were about 10 casks on offer, three of these were standard GK offerings the rest were from around the UK, mainly micros. They also had three Belgians on tap - hoergarden, Leffe blonde and timmermans Kriek. The food I had was good also, lots of variations of bangers and mash. Good service, nice environment.“ |
| 82 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Descended on this place as part of a Potteries CAMRA coach tour. Pub coped well with 50 thirsty Stokies. Good boozer and there was even a Titanic beer I’d not seen before.“ |
| 78 /100 109 KENT STREET “Traditional proper black county pub, in keeping with the Bathams tradition, only Bathams Mild/Bitter and in winter XXX is available on Cask pull. Bathams have 11 pubs and this has also been one of the better "land time forgot" venues. Tiled in the entrance and corridors, with the Bathams Bull featuring on the tiling gives it a Victorian feel.
Small bar area leading to a seating area with open fire, behind is "Aunt Sally’s" room which features a small bar (limited working) and a till like Arkwright would have! another room to the back too for when its busy.
On the No 1 bus route.“ |
| 74 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Frequented this venue numerous times before and since Fownes appeared on the scene. Very handy off the No 1 bus sroute (Tettenhall - Wolverhampton - Dudley) which runs ever 7-8 mins in the day and every 20mins evenings and sundays. Beer is always in excellent condition and the Fownes can be a nice detraction from the normal "twig" as some may say. Often have Titanic on as previous house beer was brewed by them.“ |
| 62 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Low ceilings, beams... centuries old Upper Gornal boozer.Lots of low gravity golden ales on offer and a couple of Fownes brews which are made on site. Old fashioned charm and efficient staff. Main bus between Dudley and Wolverhampton stops right outside.“ |
| 78 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited during the 2013 RateBeer Black Country Bus Bash. A nice little boozer. Focuses mostly on lower-ABV session beers (which is pretty common for the area). It’s a classic, low-ceilinged affair with cozy seating and absolutely no pretense. Efficient staff. A nice place to experience British session drinking.“ |
| 76 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “An old roadside brewpub – home to the Fownes brewery. The Jolly Crispin has nine hand pumps with a good selection of beer from Fownes and guest breweries. The pub looks as if it is sinking into the ground, which it may well be as it’s quite old. A black and white photo on the wall shows it looking quite bucolic in 1901 as a low stone building with a horse and cart outside. The passageway between the front and back areas is built of large old stone blocks and there’s a big stone sit-in fireplace but otherwise it has probably been altered on numerous occasions over the years. We visited on the Ratebeer Black Country Bash and the sole barman, who hadn’t been expecting a sudden influx of beer geeks, did a marvellous job of serving us and making us feel welcome.
(Visited 6 July 2013).“ |
| 76 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Love these sort of pubs. Low ceilings, beams. Clearly been a pub for centuries! Nice vibe here. Decent ales. Service was surprisingly quick given the lack of staff. All in all just lovely characterful old pub with decent ales.“ |
| 78 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “I too visited during the ’Black Country’ trip on 6th July 2013: this however was my fourth time, having been before on ’bus-trips’.
First time since they started brewing though, enjoyed the two beers I had of theirs (and the Allgates one. Always had a good selection of Real Ales in excellent order and always full because of the bus loads I’ve been with!
Not a great ’looker’ but a good honest pub and I’m always pleased when the bus pulls up outside no matter who has organised the trip.“ |
| 76 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited on 06/07/13 on the RB Black country bus shindiggidy. Located on a busy road the Crispin is a pretty unasuming boozer. Inside however reveals a central bar betwixt 2 rooms dispensing 9 beers via cask. 4 from Fownes who brew out the back and 5 guests including Oakham, Allgates and Dark Star.
Only 1 barman at around 1pm and he did well to serve the 15 or so who came off the bus in addition to a few locals.
Check out the punch pads in the gents - I’ve never seen the like in all the pub bogs I’ve visited!
Didn’t rate for food but I had a well filled cheese and onion bap for abour £1.50.
Well worth taking in on a Black Country crawl.“ |
| 78 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited during the Ratebeer Black Country Bash. Pretty unspectacular interior with a two sided bar. The beer selection’s relatively large. 9 beers on cask. Fownes featured prominently alongside a few guests. The barman was slammed, but handled the situation pretty gracefully. The prices were very fair. Overall, an excellent spot to come and get your tick on, though I don’t think it’d be my first port of call in the area.“ |
| 78 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited as part of Rate Beer Black Country Bus Bash; great place friendly staff and clientele the Fownes beers are decent and well kept.“ |
| 82 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “We have visited this pub many times on our Black Country tours and have always enjoyed it. Right on the main bus route through, the bus drops off outside and on entering you are straight into a world of calm from the bustle outside.There is always a large, interesting and well kept range of beers, they always seem to carry the latest Oakham specials. We favour the little bar to the left on entry, but to be fair, anywhere in the pub is worth parking up and spending some quality time. Excellent.“ |
| 88 /100 Jolly Crispin (Bar) 25 CLARENCE STREET “Visited as part of the amazing ’Gornal run’. My final pub in Gornal for this visit. Right at the top of the hill and yet another different, but equally brilliant location. Olde world front bar, with dark, cave-like alcoves and a good choice of guest ales. The back is a plush lounge with chintzy curtains and probably a big garden (it was too dark to see). Another great place. Honestly, everyone should make a point of coming to Gornal, it will reinvigorate your faith in good beer and pubs.“ |
| 74 /100 109 KENT STREET “Visited as part of the amazing ’Gornal run’. Sensational Black Country boozer, which might as well have been lifted straight from 1967. The interiors are beautiful, especially the back room which is a preserved victorian serving area, with the original till - unbelievable. The choice of beers is narrow, but significantly they serve not only Bathams, but Bathams Mild, which is a treat indeed. Fantastic pub, which is almost at the top of Gornal.“ |
| 88 /100 Black Bear Inn (Bar) 86 DEEPDALE LANE “Visited as part of the amazing ’Gornal run’. Up the hill from the Fountain, this is a sensational pub, which has the look and feel of a proper English countryside pub. Wooden beams, low celings and good ales. The location is excellent and the front garden offers amazing views across the hills. Possibly my fave place in lovely Gornal.“ |
| 82 /100 8 TEMPLE STREET “Visited as part of the amazing ’Gornal run’. Up the hill slightly from the Old Bulls Head. This is a really smart, yet traditional boozer, with a big eating section at rear. Some nice guest ales on, plus a few continental choices. Really enjoyable place.“ |
| 70 /100 1 REDHALL ROAD “Visited as part of the amazing ’Gornal run’. Of the good pubs in Gornal, this is the lowest down the hill. Traditional outside and in, and a (or the) tap for Black Country Ales. Locals were a teeny bit rough and ready, but not in a scary way. Beer choice was OK and quality was fine. Good pub in fine company.“ |
