80 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Specialist ale house in a former shop in a side street off the Common. Om entry the first thing you notice is how small it is ! There is a small seating area to the right, underneath a giant mural of beer taps (this is new). Beyond that on the right is the bar. The whole left hand wall is taken up with shelves for bottles and cans, and the rear wall is covered with old pump clips. There is a microscopic seating area further back by the loos.
This place is a micropub that predates micropubs ! It started out simply as a shop selling bottled beer (very few cans in those days). Then gradually moved into selling cask beer. Now the cask beer is being gradually replaced by craft keg. The current score appears to be 4 cask beers (5 hand pumps) and 4 keg taps.
Local breweries feature prominently in the cask beers. This is a rare outlet for the new Four Priests brewery. It used to be the case that the cask beers always included one dark beer, but on my latest visit the nearest to that was a “red” beer from Ossett. The craft keg beers appear to be fairly mainstream.
As implied above, there is a sizeable range of bottles and cans, easily available for perusal (and possible purchase !). Prices ranges from the merely expensive to outright extortionate ! There’s a good range of local beers, some from further afield, a decent range of German beer, and a few Belgian ones. (I didn’t notice any US beers on my latest visit).
This place is a must if you are visiting Sandbach
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64 /100 HIGH STREET An impressive looking Tudor building built in 1656, so impressive in fact that we walked back from town after driving past just to have another look. Run by the Brunning & Price chain and it's hard to imagine a building that suits their upper-middle class aesthetic more. Expect a maze of walkways, secluded seating areas, fireplaces and chesterfield sofas.. the rear of the building seems reserved for group dining with large wooden table, though on this sunny day it seems most were taking advantage of the picnic tables in the front gardens. As is customary in these places, beer takes a backseat with quality focus on fine wine and spirits, though there were a few regional cask and even a keg IPA! It's not a beer destination, though some ticks are to be had, but it is a nice historic building to enjoy a bite to eat. |
76 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Nice little 'beer shop / micropub' in the historic town of Sandbach, which I've always associated with that god-awful Roadchef services on the M6 for as long as I can remember, but I'm glad I've had a little walk round today. This is a typically simple set-up, some cask, some keg, mostly local beers, couple of modern craft keg options for those that seek it. Surprised to see it so busy on this Monday early evening. Nice array of bottles and cans lining the left hand wall.. good mix of regional real ale and modern craft, quite a few German lagers, few Belgian and some US breweries I've not seen before. Prices from the reasonable to the offensively eye-watering. A few ciders, though worth checking dates. Nice friendly place. |
86 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Bottle shop with a good mixture of local/traditional beers plus national craft breweries and international (Belgian/German) bottles at reasonable prices. Cask and keg lines also available to drink in. Staff knowledgeable and friendly. |
60 /100 HIGH STREET At the lower end of the High Street opposite the St Mary’s Church, its name is apt and the Tudor styled Hall is a lovely imposing building set back from the road. This allows a car park and some well-kept gardens that increase drinking capacity as well as providing a lovely outdoor space to drink in, in the town centre. It feels less spacious than it should be once in side, with the bar immediately upon you as you enter, with mainly drinking tables in and around it in several open plan rooms facing the front. You can eat here, but there’s more suitable and specified dining tables in the longer back room which isn’t formally separated from the front, but as its tables are laid out for dining its obvious this is the main area. The beer selection is from the current Brunning & Price list, with their own beer available too and a handful of guests ales over half a dozen hand pumps. |
56 /100 George Inn (JDW) (Bar) 39 HIGH STREET The traditional pub building towards the lower part of the High Street in the town centre doesn’t quite look big enough for the standard size of Spoonery they require for a pub, but inside its open plan area with pseudo-consevatory area at the rear offers up plenty of space for a town this size except perhaps at peak weekend times when family food orders are aplenty. The front of the pub is given over to tables and chairs with part-partition walls here, with the bar at the back against the left hand wall. There’s an outdoor area along the side of the pub on the opposite side to the bar. There are 12 hand pumps here, but both sets of 6 carry the same ales, with 3 guests complimenting 3 of the Wetherspoon normals. There were a couple of left-over festival real ciders in the fridge too. |
62 /100 CROWN BANK On the quieter cobbled side of the St Mary’s Church in the town centre, this pub is in a lovely looking old building both inside and out, with an outdoor area facing the church and its graveyard grounds. The door is up a set of steps and the bar is immediately to your left as you enter the door with very little room to manoeuvre between the two. They only had 3 of their regular Joules ales and one Salopian guest ale (also a regular) on offer when I went so nothing new for me here. |
88 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Best Beer shop in the area, friendly and always busy of an evening and weekends. Great selection of beers from far and wide. 4 hand pull draught and 1 keg for the craft, plenty of beers from Germany/ Belgium and a growing Craft Can Selection. |
72 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Nice beer shop and easy to get to as it’s just off the M6. Good rNge of mainly local beers, but a few from London and Belgium too. Well worth a visit. |
70 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Nice little beer store that’s worth a visit if you’re passing by. A good selection of ales with a focus of local brewers, some of the better craft brewers and a small international selection. |
74 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Owner was just right for me, friendly but not too much, knowledgable but not a know all. Haven’t been for ages but I got different vintages of JW Lees harvest ale and the sherry, whiskey and calvados versions. Nice. |
100 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET This place is well worth a visit. It sells a VAST range of bottled beers/ciders including a huge choice of Belgium beers. It also sells 2/3 excellent beers on draught which you can sip at your leisure whilst sitting down enjoying the shop’s atmosphere. Alternatively if you do not fancy trying the draught beers then pick a bottle off the shelves to drink in at no extra charge. If you’re very lucky you may also bump into the shop’s mascot a Border Terrier named "Ted" who has a personality all of his own (not to be missed). |
82 /100 CROWN BANK A 16th century pub on a cobbled courtyard. Surprisingly there are no parking restrictions outside. 6 ales and 2 real ciders available. Definitely worth a visit. |
96 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET First visit to this shop over weekend. Wow, great selection of British beers - lots of Bottle Conditioned too. Small cider selection and basic foreign range. Added loads of new beers to my collection and took full advantage of the free glasses offers. Well worth a visit. |
96 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET Fantastic beer shop, good selection of local Cheshire ales as well as other British ales, good selection of German and Belgian beers with associated glassware. The guy who runs it is very knowledgable and will try to order beers in for you if he can get them. A bit on the pricey side and a bit of a trek for me to go regularily. Might go every so often for something special |
86 /100 Beer Emporium (Beer Store) 8 WELLES STREET A very friendly shop in a lovely location not far from the M6.Excelent selection of local micro’s that is constantly updated. Some foreign as well including a good selection of trapists. Internet page is informative and regularly updated.They have just started a mail order service which at present only covers a small percentage of their stock. |
Kirkstall Three Swords George Inn (JDW)133 days ago |
Ossett / Turning Point What Th.. Beer Emporium133 days ago |
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