Apostrophes are for losers.
Bower’s Tap is the new name for the refurbished Hourglass pub. It’s still the same owners (the ubiquitous Stonegate) but the change is so dramatic it deserves a whole new review to itself.
Here’s a pub that is trying to be all things to all people and somehow managing to pull it off. It chalks up almost all of our tags for amenities – everything from an extremely extensive breakfast menu (eggs rarebit or chorizo hash, anyone?) to live sports.
Slightly too shiny to be an indie bar.
Beer-wise they’re not letting you down either: there are 7 guest craft kegs (plus BrewDog and Camden in their ‘regular’ keg selection) and 6 casks. Lots of interesting local craft beers to choose from and all quite reasonably priced. There’s also a small bottle selection which includes a lot of American beers (including breweries we’d not seen before like Crazy Mountain and The Bears), plus things like Einstök which are always a welcome sight. There’s also a craft keg cider for people into that.
Look! A barrel that’s also a table.
The décor is trying to be a hip craft bar: tiles and wooden crates everywhere, massive artworks painted directly onto the walls, that sort of thing. It kind of works but at the same time it’s obvious you’re in a big-money chain pub. There’s another bar upstairs called “T’other bar” which we didn’t check out but we expect more of the same.
Here’s the bar. A neon sign directs you to beer, in case you missed it.
All in all, Bower’s Tap was a really welcome improvement over its predecessor, and over any other Stonegate pub in town. It’s definitely a wealthy pretender trying to be down with the kids, but here’s the thing: it kinda is.
Tags: arcade games, beer garden, breakfast, coffee, food, free wifi, sports
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