Latest reviews from Berkhamsted
| 74 /100 104 HIGH STREET “A lovely brewery taproom in the heart of the town with a good selection of Mad Squirrel beers and guests too. There are 10 beers on tap and plenty of cans too. The bar itself is rather small but there is an outdoor seated area to the side and another extension to the bar upstairs. Super friendly and helpful staff. Working WiFi. Sadly no food. Worth stopping by for some excellent Squirrel beers.“ |
| 76 /100 104 HIGH STREET “A modern bar and shop in an old building on the high street. Getting into the bar was a bit of a squeeze but there’s a comfortable room upstairs and a small enclosed patio outside.
(Visited 3 June 2017).“ |
| 88 /100 Rising Sun (Bar) RISING SUN, GEORGE STREET “Called into this fantastic 2018 Good Beer Guide pub while on a CAMRA coach trip of the area, and enjoyed it's sunny canalside location and it's choi ce of beers with CAMRA discount offered. It hosts all sorts of event from beer festivals to quiz nights, and has a cheese club. As well as around 5 real ales there can be up to 20 ciders. Our beers of choice were Tring Drop Bar and Stamps Bondi Blonde, both in good condition.“ |
| 86 /100 104 HIGH STREET “Quick visit on May Day bank holiday while the family waited in the car outside. A bright and welcoming beer shop with tap room. There was a great selection of cans and bottles with a knowledgeable staff that was quite happy to give recommendations; which is always a good sign. Quite a few very new beers on sale and I ticked off one that I have been after for a while. The prices weren’t cheap, but I was buying some of the stronger stuff. There was a good range of beer on taps, with the obvious emphasis on Red/Mad Squirrel. The fascinating thing was that it really does seem to be a "pub" as there were 3, what appeared to me, regulars in their usual places twenty minutes after the shop opened. This was great and they were extremely welcoming and friendly. When we drove past at the end of the family day out I looked in and it was packed. I would have loved to have spent a couple of hours in there sampling the taps, but as a family man I am happy that I managed to visit. However, as General Douglas MacArthur said on his evacuation from the Philippines, "I will return."“ |
| 94 /100 104 HIGH STREET “Fantastic bar/bottle shop cross over! 8 keg lines and 6 cask lines ,showcasing some of the best brewers in the United kingdom! They have a fantastic growler filling system that keeps the beer fresher for longer! Their bottle range boosts 250 different beer from the UK at peak times during the year. I have been told that their small international range is becoming significantly larger, including international beer on draught. This is a fantastic way to drink new craft beers at fantastic prices, furthermore the staff are very knowledgable and the place has a great atmosphere.“ |
| 88 /100 104 HIGH STREET “Excellent addition to Berkhampstead’s already decent drinking circuit. The cask and keg beers have all been in perfect condition on my 3 visits so far. The bottle range is extensive by any standards and cheaper than many London bottle shops. The staff are knowledgable, helpful, efficient and friendly. The locals are discerning and gregarious. I wish I had a place like this in my neighbourhood.“ |
| 84 /100 104 HIGH STREET “The Brewery Shop opened, then a month later, I moved to Berko...coincidence? My wife thinks not.
It’s a great place to try things and buy bottles as well. They have cask and craft taps (quite a few!) for both drinking in and growler fills. They also have cider on tap and wine by the bottle that you can drink in then take the remainder home at a great value.
Speaking of value the Red Squirrel beers are typically 2.50 or 2.80 per pint. Can’t beat that and most are very nicely made.
There is a two level deck outside that is popular during the nicer weather. An upstairs with seating is also another option.
The staff is younger and is mixed in service quality from a couple of the guys who are excellent to a couple that are a bit green.
For bottles there is a nice selection with highlights being the Kernel, Beavertown, BBNo, Tiny Rebel amongst many nice beers. There is also a limited import selection.
As others have mentioned the Berko beer route is simply walking back and forth between the Riser and the Brewery Shop.
A great new addition to town!“ |
| 88 /100 Rising Sun (Bar) RISING SUN, GEORGE STREET “We (me and Barry) visited The Rising Sun on Saturday 1st August 2015. The ’Riser’ as it is called locally, is situated a short walk away from the town, perhaps just 6-7 mins, in fact that is about the time it took us to get there from the Red Squirrel Brewery Shop. We walked over the bridge which crosses over the canal and past The Boat a Fullers pub which is a stones throw away. It was a glorious day the sun was shining and The Riser looked marvellous in it’s canalside location, narrowboats going through the lock, a happy tail wagging dog marvelling at the boat as it rose to meet him and adults and children having a great time relaxing at this quintessential English pub. You walk up a few stone steps to reach the entrance and you are immediately in front of the main bar (only bar?) there was a good choice of cask beers a few keg offerings, a very good selection of bottled and canned ’craft’ beers and finally the best choice was reserved for the ciders and perries. There must have been three or four staff all young chaps working behind the bar which was impressive as the area behind the bar is really a 1-2 person area as it’s pretty small. A small room off to the LH side is a little quieter but again it’s very small, quite dark and only seems to have a couple of tables. From this bar/room continuing left a small flight of stairs leads to the toilets and an outside patio area which appeared (and I may be wrong because I didn’t venture out) to be shielded from the elements. This really is a great pub, prices were reasonable, staff friendly and offered good advice on beers and ciders. There were posters scattered around which really suggest this is a real hub for the community as they encouraged people to bring and share cheeses on selected Saturday afternoons, invites to gourmet food evenings and cricket matches against rival pubs. I also liked the fact that they sold snuff and cigars on the counter. In fact I could only see a couple of negatives, i.e. it’s popularity makes it very busy and also if you were infirm, elderly or disabled I think that you would really struggle to get in and also get around the bars in here, otherwise it’s brilliant.“ |
| 82 /100 104 HIGH STREET “We (me and Barry) visited The Berkhamstead Brewery Shop on Saturday 1st August 2015. The shop/bar is situated on the High Street, it is reasonably centrally located I would guess and only 6-7 walk from The Rising Sun. We walked in here and I was surprised at how busy it was, 4-5 people sat at the small bar and there were quite a few people sat outside on the decking patio added to that a few beer shop bottle browsers and purchasers and all of a sudden you’ve got a good crowd. As you enter the shop/bar you have shelving all down the RH side stacked floor to ceiling with bottles a bar ahead of you and a fridge on your LH side with a smaller area of racking for an international selection this also leads to the decking patio which whilst doing the trick admirably does have that garden makeover let’s slap decking down feel to it. It is impressive how many cask and keg offerings they manage to squeeze in here as it is a small place. On our visit they had Beavertown Black Betty and Earl Phantom as well as other London offerings plus some on their own Red Squirrel beers mostly on cask. The bottled offerings were good with Kernel, Tiny Rebel, Leighton Buzzard (new brewery for me) Brew by Numbers, Weird Beard etc amongst those on offer, it was a pretty decent selection. There were two staff working behind the bar, they seemed friendly and knowledgeable. My only criticism was that some of the bottled beers seemed a tad pricey for example the Weird Beard Tsujigiri was £3.75 a bottle, whereas I paid £2.75 for that last week at Cotteridge. However putting that one tiny niggle aside it is nonetheless a great little place, which is clearly thriving and is well worth a visit.“ |
| 84 /100 104 HIGH STREET “Part of Red Squirrel Brewery, this is a modern craft beer shop, bar and brewery taproom all in one. With a shop facade, the name and the shelves displaying racks of bottles at the front, this seems like a craft beer shop at first, but at the back there’s a 14 tap bar and a patio seating area outside and indoor seating upstairs. Busy and buzzing at the weekend this is a smart little beer operator. Slightly over half the beers on tap are Red Squirrel and the rest are guest beers. When I was in that included Cloudwater and Tiny Rebel. The bottled beers feature both local beers, London beers and national craft beers. Kernel, Brew by Numbers, Weird Beard, Beavertown, Tring, Cropton, Camden, Haresfoot, Cloudwater, Wild Beer Co. to name but a few and then a smaller International shelf with some American, German and Belgian ales. Orval, Founders, Weihenstephaner. Vibe is good and this is clearly a popular venue. They are already expanding the patio to increase capacity.“ |
| 80 /100 Rising Sun (Bar) RISING SUN, GEORGE STREET “Here on a lovely summers evening. the pub is quite busy, they happen to be holding a cider and beer festival. 24 beers at the festival plus ciders. Also a good selection of beers inside at the bar. Two wild beers and cloudwater ipa.
Atmosphere is pleasant, sitting by the canal.
Service has been friendly and efficient. Would probably visit again.“ |
| 76 /100 Rising Sun (Bar) RISING SUN, GEORGE STREET “Beautiful location, this canalside pub is usually busy and bustling in the evenings with a nice crowd. In Summer it’s hard to beat sitting by the canal side. Several cask beers on offer, usually including a few from Tring Brewery including their very own ’Riser’ which is a tasty beer. When I was in there were 2 x Tring beers, 1 x Cotleigh, 1 x Guest of a hoppier American variety and then Doom Bar and Tribute. On keg were some boring regular macros although they did have a craft lager. Beer quality was generally good, only one was maybe fading. Re-rate - been here a few times now and the beer quality has been so good it deserves an upgrade. From 70 up to 76.“ |
| 72 /100 Rising Sun (Bar) RISING SUN, GEORGE STREET “Visited after 5-aside footy on 28/08/12.
Canal side pub around a 10 minute walk from Berkhampsted town centre/BR station. Old Victorian sltyle interior up a staircase from the canal, two rooms in different levels. Beer garden to the side and benches out front on the tow path. 5 cask ales availble on my recent visit from Dark Star, St Austell, Nick Hambleton and Dorset. Also the House beer Tring - Rising Sun. I enquired on the latter and as suspected a re-badge, Brock Bitter being the beer.
Cracking canalside pub which also offers 20 pence off a pint to CAMRA members.“ |
