Hereford's Beer in Hand was a great place to bring up my half century. The venue is fairly new and from the front it doesn't really look like a pub but don't let initial impressions fool you.
I later discovered that Beer in Hand is a former launderette which is now awash (get it?!) with real ales and ciders. Although the pub is only the width of an average shop front it goes back a long way, and the bar is in the far corner, well, it isn't really a bar, just a long table in front of a range of beer barrels so the place has got a beer festival feel to it.
Landlord and landlady Mitchell and Alison are very friendly and knowledgeable on their products and encourage you to try before buy. There is a large selection of local beers and ciders so Craig and I opted for the Ledbury Bitter while the girls chose a cider that was unsurprisingly cloudy in appearance. Be warned Carling drinkers this isn't a place for you, there were no draught lagers although there was a large selection of bottled continental beers though you know you are in for a rocky ride on those when you see that the weakest one is 7% ABV.
The pub is frequented by a range of different types naturally there are the stereotypical real ale buffs (beards and beer guts under their wooly jumpers) but there is also a younger crowd who are obviously drawn in by the quirky feel to the place. Although it is too new to make this years CAMRA good beer guide you can put your mortgage on it being in next year.
Lack of space means the toilets are a bit on the small side, so shamefully I went large and visited the one marked special needs !!
If you are in Hereford this place is a must !!
UPDATE 15th November
Maybe I should take up gambling as I predicted (when we visited this pub back in February) that this pub would be in the 2015 Good Beer Guide and sure enough when it was published in September it was quite rightly included.
As much as I love The Barrels it simply doesn't come close to being my favourite pub in Hereford, the Beer in Hand takes that accolade, this is a fabulous place.
You could spend an age choosing what beer to have such is the ever changing choice. If I lived in Hereford I would make it my aim to appear on the pub's honours board, the Hundred Beer Wall, which commemorates folk that have drunk at least one hundred different beers in the pub..
Now that's something worth achieving !!
Craig and I both went for a pint of Purity Pure Gold which, as you would expect, was a marvellous pint with the girls going for a 'real' cider of some description after trying a sample in advance, something that is encouraged in the Beer in Hand.
There was a deja vu moment as we sat in the same seats (well round the same barrel actually !!) as last time..
An early start and no food since breakfast meant that I was feeling the pace a wee bit at the Beer in Hand and the mandatory curry was still a while off so a snack was required, well, when I say snack this isn't a place for food so it was another pint and three packet of crisps, the old adage eating's cheating was the motto for the moment.
I've almost run out of superlatives for this place. A simply brilliant pub..
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