It has been ten years since I last visited Dorset's county town. Back then, the brewery quarter was a construction site, but in 2024 the former home of Eldridge Pope was looking rather majestic despite the obvious disappointment that it's no longer a brewery and there is no Thomas Hardy barley wine being bottled here.
The grand old brewhouse is now surrounded by chain restaurants and lounge bars, a gym, hotel, and swanky shops.
Happily, there is still some brewing going on, albeit on a small scale.
In a shiny modern building adjacent to Dorchester South railway station, the Copper Street Brewery was established in 2018. Probably not photogenic at the best of times - but I've gone all-out to disappoint with the picture, capturing some big reflective windows...
On a mid-week afternoon, I expected to have this place to myself. Hence the surprise to find it bustling with a wide range of folk, relegating me a perch on the window ledge with a stack of empty barrels getting in the way of any chance of comfort.
This is basically a micro pub with a hatch to the side of the bar providing a view of some brewing kit. Features included canine trip hazards, clutter in the sole WC, and a shelf of cans and bottles that you'd have to squeeze past the cheery, boozy blokes to get to.
Moving on, I made the 8-minute stroll into the town centre and checked into my accommodation for the evening - the Old Ship.
But it was a lot cheaper than the ambitious off-season Premier Inn prices and met my simple requirements for a night (roof, bed, TV to switch on and instantly fall asleep in front of).
Bag dropped off, I made Beer Guide regular Tom Browns my next port of call.
This is now under the ownership of Oxfordshire pub group Oak Taverns, whose pubs appear in a few of my blog posts this year.
I just need to find my way to the Old Crown at Ebley, Stroud, to complete the lot.
I bowled in through the front door, looking forward to the revelry within...
Hmmm...
Yes, PropUptheBar, not for the first time, fails to visit places at their liveliest and best.
At one point the member of staff popped outside when he spotted friends passing by, leaving me with the whole place to myself.
But who needs a crowd when you've got an Uncut magazine soundtrack (Broken Bells...Alt J...Foster the People) and five cask beers to pick from. These came from from Langport, Dorset Brewing Company and Piddle. As Dorset BC brew a beer specially for the pub, I opted for the 'Tom Browns' trad best bitter.
At one point the member of staff popped outside when he spotted friends passing by, leaving me with the whole place to myself.
But who needs a crowd when you've got an Uncut magazine soundtrack (Broken Bells...Alt J...Foster the People) and five cask beers to pick from. These came from from Langport, Dorset Brewing Company and Piddle. As Dorset BC brew a beer specially for the pub, I opted for the 'Tom Browns' trad best bitter.
Sat on my lonesome, I ventured to Google, deciding to look up who Tom Brown was to add some informative content to the blog. Unfortunately, the top result was a 25-year-old homeless chap sentenced for possession of a firearm. Which I suspect may not the Tom Brown the pub and beer are named after.
Right, let's move on to a micro down an alley...
Uh-oh, another quiet pub visit. The crowds had swelled to four in Tom Browns when I left, but I found myself only the second punter in the 'Rabbit. Things promised to pick up later with a number of tables reserved for the Dorchester crib players at 7:30pm, but I'd be gone before I had the chance to see how frivolous the crib crowd get.
The beers were listed on a board above the bar and fetched (very slowly) from a side room somewhere. Quantock 'Quest for the Holy Grale', Nottingham 'Dreadnought', Cerne Abbas 'Ale', and Saltaire 'Big Table' made for a respectable choice.
The Quantock pale for me - an enjoyable pint in fine condition, from a brewery that always seem to do the business.
The Convivial Rabbit was a nice place - on the larger end of the 'micro' pub scale, with quality beer at reasonable prices. But with no music and no crib players to liven things up, I'm afraid my time here was a little bit dull.
The Convivial Rabbit was a nice place - on the larger end of the 'micro' pub scale, with quality beer at reasonable prices. But with no music and no crib players to liven things up, I'm afraid my time here was a little bit dull.
In the search of action, it was time to move on to the guaranteed crowds of Spoons.
The Dorchester branch is located on the traffic-heavy High Street West, in a former coaching inn with arched entrance leading through to what would once have been the stable yard.
The Dorchester branch is located on the traffic-heavy High Street West, in a former coaching inn with arched entrance leading through to what would once have been the stable yard.
This is a bit of a mix of Spoons styles - smaller rooms at the front, the design dictated by the historic hotel layout, whilst the bar is in a modern rectangular extension to the rear - Spoons-by-numbers as far as the design and furniture are concerned.
The Royal Oak offered a quality range of guest beers to pick from, from which I chose the Salopian 'Disintegration', a 5.1% strong pale ale that was crying out to be described as 'chewy'.
So I scrapped the B&K plan and dashed a few meters down the road to my accommodation.
Old Ship Inn (High West Street, Dorchester, DT1 1UW)
Sadly, not quite so 'old' inside, with some ghastly wallpaper, polished wooden floors, TVs on for the sake of it, and typical town pub decor.
On the plus side - there were a nice couple of model ships on display.
And I was treated to a rousing singalong to Frank's 'That's Life' from the (possibly quite tipsy) locals around the pool table in the rear section.
A little less action around my chosen seat by the windows...
Sadly, no surprise handpumps to prove WhatPub wrong.
No silly strong craft beers or lethal dry-as-a-bone Dorset ciders.
No silly strong craft beers or lethal dry-as-a-bone Dorset ciders.
So my evening in Dorchester ended on this smoothflow classic...
Hi, Nick, I’ve probably driven past Dorchester, and may well have driven through it during holidays in Dorset, but it looks an interesting town.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t Tom Brown’s brew its own beers, at one time? Pleased to see that the Eldridge Pope – Dorchester Brewery is still standing, although I never could understand why it closed.