TOP 100 PUBS – COOPERS TAVERN, BURTON UPON TRENT

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Pyromania complete, we headed round the corner to the Coopers.

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It’s just possible you’ll have heard me mention this one. Historically the Bass Tap, but recently moving between Hardy & Hansons and Tynemill before ending up in Joule’s sympathetic hands

Always in my Top 5 pubs for 3 reasons.

  • Superb Draught Bass from the barrel

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  • For folk yet to discover the true faith, a tremendous (scary) range of cask and keg. The queue to the famed Tap Room was long, and mainly for the ales.

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  • It’s a gorgeous multi-roomer of a boozer, filled with all ages. Outside loos, too.

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  • And best of all, you can take your beer into a next door curry house.

Which is what we did, picking the Apne for our  Bass and Salopian Polygraph.  Both sublime, though the Polygraph (£4 for a 7.4%), defeated even Mrs RM.

The table next to us had more traditional accompaniments for their tandoori mixed grill.  Cobra v Bass, tough one that.

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I think you’ll agree, our beers looked very lovely.

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The best beer washed down the best curry we’ve had anywhere.  Nothing flash, just high quality cooking.

If it’s not back in the Beer Guide next year, set fire to your Beer Guides, folks.

 

 

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

16 thoughts on “TOP 100 PUBS – COOPERS TAVERN, BURTON UPON TRENT”

  6. Come on . Remember Def Leppard in that estate pub in Wath when the 76 electrics were still working. Oh maybe that was ‘Animal’. Anyway one of the best days.

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  7. Only out of the GBG because of a change of licensee. Should be back next time. A wonderful refurbishment by Joules has, almost impossibly you might think, made it better than ever before.

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    1. Thanks Colston. I did mention the change in my first post from Burton, and was being a bit mischievous. All the Burton pubs in the GBG have good or great beer, as well as several that aren’t in the Guide. Need a bigger branch allocation !

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  8. “If it’s not back in the Beer Guide next year, set fire to your Beer Guides, folks.” –I do wonder about those rare times that you (and Simon, presumably) feel the guide gets things wrong. I’m sure you never lose faith in their underlying system of choosing pubs. But there must be instances, like this one, where you feel that certain inclusions/exclusions are just plain wrong.

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    1. Better just emphasise, for legal reasons, I was joking. Burning the Beer Guide is the equivalent here of singing Joan Jett songs in the market square after 10pm and will get you in big trouble.

      Also, the Coopers is (I guess) only out of the Guide due to an unfortunately timed change of licensee. The Olde Mitre in London suffered a similar fate. So not Burton CAMRA’s fault.

      Phew !

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  9. Sorry to say I’ve still not managed a visit to the Cooper’s. Been to Burton several times, but on one occasion I got waylaid at the Burton Bridge Tavern and another I spent too long at what was then the Bass Museum.

    My first visit to the town was when I worked for Bass (or rather their wine & spirit division). A colleague and I had our own private tour around the old No.2 Brewery (the one which housed the famous Burton Union sets). We then joined our Burton-based QC colleagues in the sampling room, where there was plenty of Draught Bass to enjoy, straight from the cask.

    An unforgettable experience – even if the afternoon was spent in an alcoholic haze!

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