Pub 143, Day 52 – The Bar Stewards

It's time for a very special collaborative blog between Pubquest & Pete over at Sheffield Ale Pubs! 

Andy: By this stage of the pub crawl I was a little worse for wear (after Pete had bought us a 7% pint in Shakespeares), so Pete's half of the blog will provide a fair and balanced review; while my half will be pieced together from fuzzy memories and what I have since been told by Rob (who was not quite keeping up with Pete but was faring far better than me).

By Andy & Pete

Pete: While drinking with Pubquest they asked if I would review a pub with them. I chose The Bar Stewards: a small independent pub which only opened last November. I've been a regular from the beginning when they only opened the odd weekend – back then they were much smaller with only three cask ales, but their enthusiasm was very much “we are here to stay”.

After the initial period of odd weekends they closed for a refurb, moving the bar to the other side. The new layout hits you as soon as you walk in – they now have four cask ales and a further row of six keg lines.

To the right of the bar is the 'menu' – a blackboard which states the beers in stock. The guys certainly know their stuff and on this occasion they had ales by Magic Rock, Buxton Brewery and Tiny Rebel.

Andy: Unlike Pete I had never been to The Bar Stewards before, but I had heard good things. Rob and I selected Hank Golden Ale by Tiny Rebel, an easy-going pale ale with a citrus twist. The barman had a very strong Welsh accent (I would later find out he co-owned the pub), and in my state of intoxication I decided to impress him.

“I speak Welsh!” I declared, unprompted. (Although not strictly true, I had to learn rudimentary Welsh for a previous job).

The man, halfway through pouring my pint, looked up but did not respond.

“I know the days of the week!” I continued. “Llun, Mawrth, Mercher, I can't remember Thursday, Gwener...”

“That'll be six pounds eighty please,” announced the barman, interrupting my flow.

“Don't you mean chwech pounds eighty?” I enquired, proudly. (I only knew the numbers one to twelve. Eighty was far beyond my reach.)

By this point I was clearly impressing my Welsh counterpart, who paid me such compliments as “If you don't know Thursday then you don't know the days of the week,” and “Shouldn't you take that drink to your mate?”

Alas, he was right. Safe in the knowledge that I had made a new friend, I stumbled over to join Rob and Pete.

Pete: We sat at a small table surrounded by an assortment of stools. The seating area is only small but plans are in the offing to expand it. The walls are sparsely-decorated and currently painted white, but again this will change in the near future.

One of my favourite features of the pub is the vast array of glasses: when I had a Magic Rock beer it was in a Magic Rock glass, when the boys drank Tiny Rebel it was in a Tiny Rebel glass. To me this means a lot – I'm somewhat of a glass freak.

There's no food here so make sure you eat beforehand, although handily a new fish and chip shop has opened just up the road.

The owners are Charlie and Alan (from Devon and Wales respectively), two guys who are passionate about ales and very friendly as well – so do stop by to ask for beer recommendations.

The pub has just received a license to open six days a week, so if you find yourself at Shakespeares make sure to cross the road and pay this place a visit!

Andy: I really enjoyed our visit to The Bar Stewards – there was a fantastic selection of beer and I was really good mates with one of the owners. The calligraphy in the main window also caught my eye – a great way to draw in punters from the street. Inside, the walls were painted white and a bit bare, although they somehow managed to give off the illusion of slowly spinning.

Pete said the other owner's from Devon; I should ask him whether he puts the cream or jam on his scone first. He'll love that...

Pub: The Bar Stewards (163 Gibraltar Street, S3 8UA)

Rating: 7.5/10

Pint: Hank

Brewery: Tiny Rebel Brewing Company (Newport, Gwent)

NEXT UP: Vomiting, at The Wellington...