Watford’s only microbrewery Pope’s Yard opened its doors for a few days for locals to sample its range of cask and bottled beers.
The brewery’s located in a unit at 477-479 Whippendell Road (the ‘Whippendell Group’ building) and would have been pretty easy to miss if signs hadn’t been helpfully placed outside.

Four beers were on tap (see below), our favourite being Quarter Master, a bitter pale brew that – sneaking in at 4.4% – just about qualifies as a session ale.
Of the bottles, Club Hammer was out favourite – a chocolatey stout that wasn’t too heavy and didn’t cloy like similar stouts can.
Of a more – ahem – acquired taste was Bruitish, a gruit ale. Gruit is a combination of herbs that was widely used in beer making prior to the inclusion of hops. Let’s just say the sour taste was one for the connoisseur or historian!




Would love to pop back sometime soon – in the meantime here are some links:
http://popesyard.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/popesyard
https://twitter.com/popesyard