08/01/23 - Swindon Good Beer Guide Pub Crawl

Swindon - a destination for a beery adventure

Good Beer Guide Ticks - #777 to #782 

A lively debate on one of my favourite lockdown Podcasts. The BeerOClock show has been reborn as Beerlonging and Episode 3 had a lively debate about whether the Good Beer Guide was of any use at all.

Three hosts with differing opinions (although none fully supportive) made for an interesting listen, having me shout at the car speakers in both violent agreement and disagreement.

My own take - how else would I navigate a town like Swindon? And surely I would have missed the cream of the crop that was my first port of call.

The Glue Pot is an unassuming back street boozer and the last remaining pub in Swindon's Railway Village. I was never going to simply discover it by chance.  High hopes provided from the exterior corner plot, with steamed up windows showing signs of late Sunday afternoon life.

Sticky since 1853

A single roomer, with a comprehensive tasting board allowing me to make my mind up before panicking at the bar and rushing my decision. Hop Back Winter Lightening seemed most apt from both a seasonal and ABV perspective.

Everything you need to know, except the price.

Pint of the night

Little booths allowing me to spread the Sunday Times out to all its broadsheet glory.  

Excellent Pub.

Onto the Wyvern Tavern, after a walk through a standard, soulless pedestrianised Town Centre. The owners obviously looked at the JDW blueprint and asked "How can we improve on this?". Their answer, rather than go for 99p pints, was to install about 100 TV Screens, including some "per table". Brightly lit and although wild horses wouldn't drag me in again, I concur with the bible's claim that "it has a better than average interest in the sale of real ale". Goffs Brewery Black Knight Ruby Porter a good find.

Wyvern Tavern look very Spoons

A quirkier and more independent feel found at the Beehive. Don't let the Greene King tie put you off.  Not a hint of IPA on offer.

The Beehive - Greene King Branding but an independent beer range

The positioning at the corner of two streets on a hill leads for a slightly odd interior, with the pub spread over several levels.

View from the middle level....

.... where a regular let me share her bench seating

Super friendly and knowledgeable bar staff who helped me choose a Bristol Beer Factory Resurface by explaining the different hops in the five or so offerings. I was not to be intimidated and could out geek him by saying Australian Ella Hops were going to be popular this year. I'm no expert but I had watched the Craft Beer Channels Big in 2023 YouTube post the night before.  

Sometimes, I scare myself.

If you are still with me, I can hear you saying "But you're three pubs in, Mappiman. Where are the micro's with the unpredictable opening hours?"

Two together on opposite sides of the Devizes Road. The Tap and Brew providing the first 2023 break from legally enforceable, advertised hours.

2 days, 18 hours early.  Dubious Tick Panel notified

And if you think that was a dubious tick, even I'm not sure about this. I should have been looking for the Hop Inn. The building I entered was called the Little Hop Inn.  Close enough for a man three pints into a beery adeventure. It's only during blogging and another look at Google Maps, I can see that the other side of BetFred is the real Hop Inn.

When is the Hop Inn not the Hop Inn?  When its the Little Hop Inn

Post crawl Internet based research showing they are indeed brother and sister establishments. One made it, the other didn't but I am sure the beer quality was the same in both. The Little Hop could have been offering a Castle Rock tap takeover, with a near full complement available. The owner confirmed that this wasn't the case and he just liked Nottingham beers. Budvar proved a temptation too far, with 50% of the other punters supping from the ceremonial chalice.

Budvar in a Budvar Pot

Last genuine tick of the night, The Goddard Arms.  A pub so terrible, it showed that the Beerlonging chaps were on to something with their lack of enthusiasm for the Good Book.

Not too shabby from the outside

The Proper Job was in fine condition, but I defy anyone to enjoy it in the environment that they create. Yes, I am used to brightly lit Gastropubs, with every table festooned with a jumbo sized menu, but this provided a fresh aural vision of hell.

A piped-in, pre-recorded pub quiz - with count down music, jingles and a host that was too poor to get the local radio DJ gig that he so dreamed of aspiring to.

No one staying for the quiz

I couldn't end the night on a low, so I used my own local knowledge from working in Swindon 15 years ago.

The pub with the best atmosphere in Swindon is the Victoria.

Those that know, know. Or those that remember, remember.

And I can just about remember Thursday nights in the Victoria, mid 2000s.