Newcastle-under-Lyme – Artisan Tap
Continuing our trail down the Hartshill Mile, this is another pub that’s listed in the Good Beer Guide. There appears to be a way in that doesn’t require walking through customers smoking, but it seemed to be closed when we arrived. I’m also conscious that I’m listing this pub in Newcastle-under-Lyme, but it’s actually just over the border in Stoke-on-Trent.
I found this board just a little confusing to be honest, but that might just be me as it often is.
I’m not sure that the beer they gave me was the one that I ordered, although they seemed confident that it was even though it didn’t resemble the colour that it should be. It’s the first time this has happened to me, but perhaps given that beer is always slightly different in its brewing that all was in order, it just wasn’t what I expected.
The service was pleasant, but I can’t say that I felt particularly comfortable here, it was the sort of inviting atmosphere that we’d just left at the formidable Greyhound. It was all a bit loud and vibrant shall we say, even though it wasn’t overly busy. These things are transient, it’s likely that if we had arrived thirty minutes before or after that I might have found the environment different.
Some information about the bar and how it has evolved in recent years. In short, it opened in June 2018 and they mention that the bar area was once the workshop and rehearsal stage for a Victorian theatre. That’s some interesting heritage to have.
There’s a cosy room at the rear of the pub, decorated very differently from the rest of the venue. The pub was just a little grimy in places when we visited and the toilets weren’t in a great state, but the bar area seemed clean and tidy.
The pub is very well reviewed on-line and seems to be surprising and delighting its customers in a positive sense, so that’s all marvellous. They appear from reviews to be popular for their live music and they do have several real ales available alongside a wide variety of other drinks, so considerable efforts are clearly being made. Nothing really wrong here, but I think I’d say that I just felt a bit more at ease in some of the other venues that we visited.
