Lincoln - Your Handy Cask Ale Guide for the Walk to Sincil Bank

Having initially made a beeline for the pubs in the shadow of the cathedral, I set out to discover what was along the southern bit of the High Street - the flatness of which is welcome after a few treks up and down Steep Hill.

There are a fair few pubs dotted along this road between the level-crossing and South Park, including three 2026 Good Beer Guide entries.  All very handy for supporters of those little championship sides like West Ham who'll be making the trip to newly-promoted Lincoln in the 26/27 season.

Let me start (not again!) in Wetherspoons.

Ritz (143-147 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 7PJ)
The Ritz cinema opened in 1932 with seating over two levels for 1,750 people.  It became the Odeon from 1956-81, then an independent venue which was able to put on live acts as well as show films, playing host to Sister Sledge, Saxon, Tangerine Dream, and 10cc amongst many others (some of whose pictures feature in frames around the current pub).  In 1995 it was sub-divided into three smaller screens in the age of the multiplex, before closure in January 1998.  A few months later Wetherspoons opened in the lower section.

It's not one of those conversions where you actually feel like you're in an old cinema, but it does have a nice sweeping bar counter, a couple of steps down from the main seating where the stalls would have been., The art deco woodwork is great too.

You really need to head to Retired Martin's blog for extensive Spoons breakfast coverage, but I did photograph my veggie full English for the sole purpose of applauding the satisfactory extra portion of beans.

So often the £1.08 extra beans add-on is just a second micro pot of the same size you get on the plate.  The thimble pot is not a portion!

Guest ales on my visit were Oakham 'Root and Branch' and Burton Bridge 'Top Dog Stout', plus two World Cup-themed beers: Grainstore 'Metatarsal' (you named your football beer after an injury?!) and Pheasantry 'It's Coming Home' (is it?).
I ordered the Pheasantry, a perfectly pleasant golden ale brewed 17-miles away in East Markham, Nottinghamshire.  Easy-drinking, although it still feels rather decadent washing down breakfast with beer, however late I leave it in the morning.

Back-tracking a short way to the pedestrianised bit of the street close to the railway level crossing is the intriguingly-named Treaty of Commerce.

The Treaty of Commerce (173 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 7AF)
The Treaty it is named after is the 1860 Cobden-Chevalier Treaty (ah, that one!) which reduced tariffs and encouraged trade between England and France.  Apparently it's called this to reflect the High Street's commercial character - current commerce either side being slot machines in Mirage to one side and mobile phone's brought sold and fixed in Mobile Zone the other.
The orange signage under the pub's front window tells us that this building opened as a tea retailer in 1862.

The front section was bright from sun streaming in the windows, ten-or-so customers glued to the cricket on TV.  Through an archway beyond the bar is a rear section ending in a few tables under a barrel vaulted ceiling.
This is a Batemans house with their 'XB', 'Gold', and the dark mild now abbreviated to 'DM' available, plus Timothy Taylor 'Landlord', the compulsory real ale of 2026.
The 'Gold' for me, which I don't think I've had before, in good condition and most enjoyable.

Heading away from the centre, part-way down the High Street is the Tiny Tavern...

The Tiny Tavern (107 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 7PY)
"You'll walk past twice trying to find it," insisted a chap I met in another of Lincoln's pubs earlier, as he recommended a visit to this micro as essential.
I didn't think it was that hidden, but it was good to be forewarned about the need to ring the bell.  Entrance is via the door to the right, admitted by the bar staff who lead you through a cluttered store area into the bar next door.  When you come to exit later, you let yourself out through the other door.
Converted from two 17th century cottages, this small pub opened in March 2020 one week prior to the country being plunged into pandemic lockdown.  Unfortunate timing.

I have to commend a pub that is playing Faith No More's 'Epic' on arrival - you don't hear that very often.
More musical satisfaction for me came from the Hawkwind beer mats - you don't see them very often. 

Rather alarmingly the same fella who told me I'd miss it and walk past was stood at the bar and greeted me like an old friend, draping his arm round my shoulders, and informing the lady behind the bar that we're CAMRA members and beer connoisseurs.
"We get a lot of those," she replied patiently.
I did take his recommendation of the 'Scarth' by Trig Brewery, - who I'd not heard of before.  Other options on an impressive line-up came from Ampersand, Beermats, Small World and Milestone.

My friend at the bar had other people to chat to, enabling an unsociable retreat to the bench seating.  The alternative was al-fresco drinking in a lovely little garden to the back.
Top quality beer, friendly staff, folks to natter to, and a good music playlist...the Tiny Tavern was great.

A little further along the road is the pub closest to the football ground.

Millers Arms (88 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 7QW)
This is a L-shaped pub with three sections to it, plus a courtyard garden to the back which was full on this warm afternoon.  The front sections were a hubbub of noisy conversations in a pub doing a very good weekend trade.
Four hand pulls on the bar with just one in action for a heavily Carling based crowd.

But "one's plenty" as someone once said...and the cask Pheasantry 'Lincoln Tank Ale' was a pleasing sight.
"What does it taste like? Newkie Brown? Murphy's?" asked a young chap stood next to me at the bar.  Neither of the above.
He agreed he'd try the real ale at some point but not today as he was sticking to cider.  We had a nice football chat, until I upset him by refusing to agree that Ronaldo was the best player ever.

The beer was a sessionable smooth malty amber ale - another one on respectable form despite this clearly not being a real ale stronghold.

Even though we're just a few minutes away from Sincil Bank - actually the LNER Stadium these days - the local football stickers aren't immune to being scraped off the cistern in the WC.

I did have a walk around the ground which has changed a great deal since I was sat inside for a Forest pre-season friendly in July 2004.
Each corner of the ground was a summer building site, with a new development behind the Rilmac Stand...

Apologies for not being able to include a better ground pic.  I was planning to make a quip about views from the new stand being poor due to the old stand in front of it, but have since discovered this is a new event and hospitality area.

Back on the High Street, it was a just a short distance onward to a modern micropub which is noted as being busy on match days.

The Imp and Angel (417 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 8HX)
This became the city's first micropub when it opened as the Hop & Barley in 2016.  It was refurbished and reopened by new owners in 2019 when it became the Imp & Angel.
It's much tinier than the tiny tavern.
One single room that would feel busy with a dozen folks in, but had more than that when I visited.  The old wooden pews lining the walls are great.  The botanical wallpaper is not.

There were three handpumps on the bar, with two beers on: Little Critters 'Mount Hood' and Ossett 'Trip Hop 6'. A very reasonable £4 brought me a pint of the Little Critters pale ale, one of a single hop series from the Sheffield brewery.  Lovely stuff in excellent condition.

The Camden Town design team have gone all-out with their red post box dispenser, almost tempting me to stay for a Helles.
A lovely modern micro with a friendly local crowd.

Nearing the end of the High Street, close to South Park was the Golden Eagle.
My local for a couple of nights, with my great-value lodgings being just around the corner.

The Golden Eagle (21 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 8BD)
A pub that once had a Lincoln City player as the landlord - left-back Yaffer Ward clocked up 129 appearances for the Imps, taking over the Golden Eagle in 1931 when his third spell at the club came to an end.
A 17th century inn, it's now part of the Castle Rock portfolio.

The chalk board propped by the archway advertised a beer festival.
Beer festivals and pub explorations are not good bedfellows.
I would quite happily have worked my way through all five ales on the bar, let alone diving into the marquee at the end of the garden.

A pint of Kerr's 'Summer Special 2026' for me.
A fruity, hoppy 5% pale ale from Scotland which was packed full of all sorts of unusual flavours.
The front room was the quiet spot, probably lovely in the winter with the fire lit and the St George flag gone.

On my visit everyone had gravitated to either the garden or the back room where the football was on TV and the pub quiz was in full swing.
It took a great deal of effort to not blurt out the beer and brewery round answers to the team next to me...they frowned in deep concentration and muttered "I know it...I can picture it...erm, erm..." to the question "Which brewery from Bury St Edmunds produces IPA and Abbott Ale?"
GREENE KING!!!!
I'll get me coat - well actually I'll leave you in peace and see what I can drink in the beer festival tent.

The High Street from the railway station to the Golden Eagle delivers a great run of pubs in a straight line.  The Shakespeare and The Anchor are also on this route for anyone not fussed about cask ale, but I didn't have time to try them.
Some fine ales and pubs, before you've even ventured up Steep Hill.

Lincoln Pub Explorations

The end of June 2026 found me in Lincoln for a couple of days with a ticket for a gig at the castle and a plan to get around a dozen-or-so of the city's pubs.

This coincided with England's heatwave #2, the temperature already past 30°C by 11am.  This meant...
1. An element of concern over cask quality
2. The poor folks of Lincoln being subjected to my legs on show
3. Knowing that the trek up Steep Hill would to be a stinker

Having arrived pre-noon, it's an inevitability that I'd start the day in Spoons.  Not the celebrated one in the old cinema though.  I headed down to Brayford Wharf and its modern glass-fronted waterside buildings, home to the Odeon, Wagamama, Nando's and the like.

The Square Sail (Brayford Wharf North, Lincoln, LN1 1YW)
The first thing I had to commend the Square Sail on was some very effective air-conditioning.
The second, a decent selection of guest ales - a trio from Notts brewery Milestone: 'Fletchers', 'Summer Breeze', or 'Summer Lovin'.  Double summer action.
My pint of Summer Lovin' was a little on the chill side to be honest, but still received a satisfied "aaahhhhh" after the first long refreshing sip.
Less commendation for the rather dull industrial surroundings, perhaps with the exception of a giant Lincoln mural on the back wall.

This is a modern and functional branch of Spoons, previously a Lloyds No.1 although I don't think there's any difference now is there?  The high-ceiling gave it a spacious feel, with an additional mezzanine floor offering more seating for a decent pre-lunch crowd.

Right...let's tackle that uphill climb.
I made a detour to the Usher Gallery - free-of-charge and providing another spell of air-con relief.  There's some great stuff in this small gallery, including Lowry's painting of Lincoln and Matt D. Wright's Papestry - an incredible 6-meters of immaculately detailed drawings of buildings on Steep Hill and Bailgate.
Leaving the gallery,  I tackled the steepest bit of the climb to the castle and cathedral and saw those same buildings for myself.
A little further on was the Good Beer Guide-listed Morning Star.

Morning Star (11 Greetwell Gate, Lincoln, LN2 4AW)
A sign outside the pub advertises 'Beer Garden, ample car parking, and secluded cathedral views'.  It looks like the car park has been assimilated into the garden, where you can indeed see the cathedral and where most of the Friday afternoon customers had chosen to sit.  But I'd just walked around three sides of the cathedral, so didn't require a secluded view, always happier to take a seat inside a pub that's new to me.

On the bar was a sturdy national cask line-up of Doom Bar, London Pride, Landlord and Tribute, plus Blue Monkey 'BG Sips' from Nottingham.
'BG Sips' for me - a beer I like but which was suffering in the heat and far too warm.

The Morning Star is designed for socialising and pub chat without any piped music or TV screens interrupting.  Sat in the corner I could earwig the locals discussing how much you needed to spend to get a decent bottle of wine...£8 will be quite sufficient, apparently.  The same cost as the pub's advertised forthcoming Swiss Fish Supper.
Good value, but I've no idea what makes it Swiss?  And it seems to come with bread and no chips, which is just wrong.

I decided to seek out Blue Monkey beer elsewhere and handily their Organ Grinder venue was a short distance away, back near the cathedral.

The Organ Grinder (4 Eastgate, Lincoln, LN2 1QA)
Located in a building dating back to 1895, this was previously Beerheadz, prior to Blue Monkey opening in August 2025.  It has the feel of a large micro - a single rectangular room with raised stage area by the window, bar at the back, and spartan decoration.
This was another pub with welcome air conditioning, less-welcome Oasis playing in the background, and three solo drinkers socially distanced from one another.

Six cask ales on offer...

I admitted to the young lady behind the bar that the grinding gears in my head were contemplating the pros (not many) and cons (many) of picking the cask 8.4% double dry hopped IPA, priced at a remarkable £6.00 a pint.  Respect for her response that it was 'probably a bit early'.
I ended up with the brown and twiggy 'Coopers' traditional bitter (£4.00).  A satisfying proper beer in great condition.

I often seem to mention pubs filling up during my visit.
This time I have photographic evidence...

I really liked the Organ Grinder and could happily have settled here for longer and delved into the tempting keg beer list.
But I refused to be beaten by the heatwave and was determined to continue on to two central Beer Guide inns.

I walked downhill along Priorgate and Pottergate (perhaps one of Oxford's excess of Hogwarts tourist tat emporiums can relocate onto such an aptly named thoroughfare).  Pottergate arch is at the road junction at the bottom of this route, the whitewashed frontage of my next pub across the road.  

The Adam and Eve Tavern (25 Lindum Road, Lincoln, LN2 1NT)
This seems to be Lincoln's oldest pub with records suggesting it opened the doors to punters in 1701, a fairly modest date for a city with such ancient streets and buildings.
Other than some wooden beams, it doesn't feel especially olde worlde within, a grating soundtrack of bad modern pop music, TV screens, and games machines not helping. 

Beers you've heard of from Castle Rock, Sharp's and Timothy Taylor's.  Lilley's cider perhaps not a bad idea on a bright summer day.  But I ended up with the fourth cask whose pump clip is hidden behind the Madri glass in my picture.

This was an Arkells World Cup-themed 3.7% pale ale name 'The Showboater'.  All the way to Lincoln to drink beer from Swindon.

No local ale in my next pub either.

The Birdcage (54 Baggholme Road, Lincoln, LN2 5BQ)
"A pub is not just about the ale", says the CAMRA website listing.  Wise words, which I don't think every CAMRA member has grasped.  Here it's all about the community atmosphere which was in full effect on a Friday afternoon when plenty of folk seemed to have used the hot weather to warrant clocking-off work early.
Cask ales on offer were St Austell 'Tribute' or Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' on this occasion.
The Tribute was in fine condition and absolutely hit the spot.

There were a good number of customers, many of them in the garden, all of them regulars I suspect.  I could have gathered numbers for repairing the roof, landscaping the garden, and re-wring the electrics from the various polo shirts being worn, Lincoln's tradesfolk in evidence enjoying an end-of-week pint. Another couple of chaps made their entries into the forthcoming meat raffle which was much a much more complicated process than I would have imagined.

There was a decent soundtrack including Cyndi Lauper, Thompson Twins, The Farm, then Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' on request for someone's special day.
"Ain't nuthin' wrong with Stevie fuckin' Wonder", confirmed the chap at the next table.

Now for some local beer.
I made my way to the bus station, dilly-dallied in Co-Op picking some snacks and almost missed the 17:50 PC Coaches service to Oak Paddock Farm.  The twenty-minute trip took me out to the suburb of North Hykeham where I'd never have found Poachers Brewery had it not been for the sign.  The brew kit and tap room are basically down a driveway, behind a house and next to a vegetable patch in the back garden.

The Poacher's Den (439 Newark Rd, North Hykeham, LN6 9SP)
Opening times are somewhat limited...

So I was chuffed to have made it, first customer of the evening.  Now I've ticked it, feel free to put it in the Guide!

There were three of their own cask ales on the bar, plus a Bee Sting and national-brand keg lager and cider.
I am still mystified as to how anyone can keep three cask ales when they're only open five hours a week.

But I have no complaints about the two I tried.
Firstly the 'Teddi Boy' a 4% pale ale, then back for tasty 4.5% 'Hykeham Gold', both priced at a n amazing £3.00 a pint.
It was thoroughly pleasant sat on the picnic benches with the micro brewery beer, a band setting up for later in the evening, a handful of local customers gradually arriving. 

I made a ten-minute walk down the main road back towards town, reaching the retail park which has the Centurion pub on the corner of it.

The Centurion (Newark Road, North Hykeham, LN6 8LB)
Is this the equivalent of Reading CAMRA sticking various Tilehurst boozers into the beer guide?  It doesn't jump out as the most obvious of entries, but has graced the Good Beer Guide for a few years now.
The Centurion is exactly what you'd expect from a modern pub by a retail park aimed at families and diners.

Perfectly fine to settle in with a pint - plus the menu offers some good value pub grub - but not somewhere you'd want to divert from the centre's real ale pubs to visit if you have limited time.
The cask range was a trio of big names: the now slightly lesser-seen Sharpe's 'Doom Bar', a different Timothy Taylor option - their 'Golden Best', or Leeds Kirkstall 'Three Swords'.

I grabbed myself a 'Three Swords' - in good condition - and sat quietly in the corner, checking the bus times for the return to the centre.
Stagecoach charged me £3 - £1 dearer than the outbound PC Coaches trip - to get back.

That's a taster of Lincoln's pubs - more to come in the next post when I explore the High Street hostelries, storm the castle, and find a beer named in honour of a tank.