It’s a good job Stafford’s top #PubMan doesn’t sue me for using his picture on this blog, as he’s becoming almost as much a fixture as a dodgy pint of Otter.
You’ll remember that Paul joined my Black Country Auditors Amble at the Great Western, a visit that divided opinion. But where next ?
We’d planned an early curry and Manx beer at the Hooded Ram, but oddly it was closed on Monday. That doesn’t happen much, does it ?
Never mind, a chance to admire Wolves architecture and veer away from the pub classics.
Now what does this one look like to you ?
Actually, it’s the Hogshead; formerly Hog’s Head, Hogshead, Vine etc. And my first Hogshead since before Wetherspoons invented craft, when the Hog meant Boddingtons, Castle Eden and Flowers IPA (it did in Letchworth, anyway).
I was quite impressed, if not a little astonished, at the cask range. Three Tiny Rebels, a Green Devil, the undrinkable Titanic one, Pedigree and a Banks’s beer brewed to pre-emptively celebrate Wolves draw with City. Something for everyone, except the bloke for whom one pump is plenty.
Most surprising of all, there were a couple of dozen young drinkers on a Monday night. This is Wolves, not West Bridgford.
Perhaps they were drawn by the presence of PubMan royalty, perhaps by the soundtrack (“What Difference Does It Make“) or perhaps by the cutting-edge art ?
No, I’m sure the Kidz were there (like Paul) to sample the super-strong Brew Dog 8 Bit keg; we passed on the 17% stout, sadly. The cask was good enough too (NBSS 3 for the Pedi), though clearly there’s far too many pumps. Odd this formula works here but didn’t work for the Slaters bar.
But where next ?
Our tour guide at Banks’s had recommended the Banks’s Mild at the Wheatsheaf, and I like the idea of a pub in central Wolves that isn’t in the Guide.
Boisterous on my last visit on a match day, it wasn’t much less boisterous now.
“Earthy” would be the word, I reckon it will appeal to fans of the Stile rather than the Sunbeam (look them up).
Paul found the classic corner table (top) and contemplated the Mild. Good, if not remarkable. unlike the ceiling.
We finished with a Tetul Mix at the Dilshad. If you haven’t had Tetul Mix after a pint of Banks’s, you haven’t lived.
Wolves. Increasingly, the best night out in the Midlands.
retiredmartin 
The main drag as you walk into town from the railway station is really beautiful. I was quite taken with it. Royal London is quite a building. You’re making me want to go back.
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That’s the purpose of the blog !
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The Hogshead has been a consistently good pub for not far off 20 years. A regular Friday lunchtime place when I worked very nearby some years ago. There was one in Walsall too, which was consistently awful, and only lasted a couple of years.
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In general I reckon beer quality is getting a bit worse, year-on-year, as volumes decline. But on four trips to Wolves in last couple of years I’ve been universally impressed.
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“Universally impressed”, yes, Banks’s leads the way and no pub dares fall far behind.
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It’ll take more than being closed on Mondays to persuade anyone that the Hooded Ram is a micropub.
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Surely wolves beer quality is good because it is at least ten years behind Brum….😉
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🤔
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If your falling standards is right…which I reckon it is….then wolves beer should be ten years better than Brum!!! Demographics…it is why express and star still sells more paper copies than the Birmingham Mail…
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Glad you got to go in the Wheatsheaf – had it been entirely up to me our last Wolves excursion would have made a call in there. I must go back to try it…
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Yes, we should have done the Wheatsheaf instead of the Dog and Doublet.
We will next time.
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I think you can tell a Pub Man from a Beer Fan by whether they’d enjoy the Wheatsheaf and Stile.
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Yes, and surely next time we must include the Clarendon, the Banks’s Brewery Tap.
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The one that sells Greene King ?!
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Martin,
Oh, no, not that confusion between Greene King’s Combermere and Banks’s’s Clarendon again !
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Gets me every time !
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Dog and Doublet was a waste of 45 minutes of my life, company apart.
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Mmmmm? Although I enjoyed my trip to Wolverhampton, I would be very surprised if it were the best night out in the Midlands? Although I am no aficionado of Midlands nights out, what does it say about the rest of the region if this were the epitome?
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We’re experts, Richard, you’ve only scratched the surface. It does, of course, depend on your definition of “Midlands” and the company you keep.
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We’re gradually getting round the Midlands.
Leicester is East Midlands, Northampton is South Midlands and it’s Worcester next month.
Imagine a night out in the Rifle Drum !
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I’m too old for nights out.
9pm is my bedtime.
Then it’s mornings and lunchtimes for a pint or two.
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“except the bloke for whom one pump is plenty.”
But I thought you loved the milkshake beer thingy.
“New model of jam jars”
You could be on to something.
“we passed on the 17% stout,”
Bloody hell. If you hadn’t passed on that you most likely would have passed out.
“If you haven’t had Tetul Mix after a pint of Banks’s, you haven’t lived.”
I reckon I will never have truly lived then (sigh). 🙂
Cheers
PS – “I’m the Kidz were there ”
Are you ‘sure’ you’re not missing a word there?
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I’m sure you’re right !
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