Review: Why Tuesday afternoon is best time to visit The Beer House Hillsborough
Christmas and New Year festivities are all very well but the toughest test of any pub is a mid-week afternoon in January.
Boozers are almost guaranteed to be quiet as people return to work, feel skint and have New Year’s resolutions at full commitment.
But that doesn’t mean they have to be unwelcoming and in the absence of literally anyone else, that falls on the person behind the bar.
So it was as I walked through the door of The Beer House Hillsborough on Langsett Road at 3pm opening time on Tuesday.
John Harrison was cheerful, chatty, and generous with his advice and his tasters, he more than justified the decision to come in.
I had a Nelson DDH 4.5% cask pale ale from Two by Two brewery which was aromatic, light and hoppy.
Manager Casie Templar was all smiles too and their warmth was a lovely-pick me-up as another cold night began to fall.
If you have any money left this month and a taste for beer, head to this most welcoming of boozers to beat the January blues.
It is perhaps no surprise then that CAMRA has just named it January Pub of the Month for its ales and atmosphere.
CAMRA says: ‘The open plan yet cosy bar has six cask lines and five craft kegs on rotation.
‘The micropub places importance on both variety and quality, stocking from breweries such as Two by Two (always on one line), Pentrich, Elusive, Black Iris, and North Riding, among many others. They always have an unusual flavoured stout on offer, a best bitter, and a range of pales’.
It added: ‘Atmosphere and community is just as important as the real ale offering in this Hillsborough micropub, and this award is well deserved’.
CAMRA is having a ceremony at the pub on Tuesday, January 13 at 8:30pm to ‘celebrate the award and enjoy a few drinks’.