I kicked a hornet’s nest, as they say in Carluke, with those Top 7 Bass pubs.
To avoid wars with Pontfaen and Portishead, here’s another seven for the intrepid Bass Man or Woman who has a second day (or week) on their hands.
It does make the map look a little more representative of the UK, though the east of England looks a bit of a laggard. No change there.
Oddly, some of the best Bass I’ve ever had was just down the road in Harlton, but you know how Wickingman feels about occasional Bass stockists.
The classic parlour pub.
An inexcusable omission from my first list, given I was only there last summer. Note how well Duncan blends in with the Dyffryn’s unique wallpaper.
In my defence, I was DES that night, one of my dafter decisions.
“Old school” sums it up. Mr Long greets me warmly and gives me his entire life story as a Somerset publican while I sink a pint of Bass.
It looks wonderful, and I can only wonder how it took SO long for the Ship to sail into the GBG (sorry) and force me to Portishead.
I might go back soon and drink his Doom Bar. You know you want me to.
The same question in St John, near the Devon border, but in this case the Landlord is a relative newcomer so I’ll let Kernow CAMRA off.
Certainly the best looking Bass this year.
A chatty landlord from the Wirral, and a strenuous walk up the hill after to work off the 207 calories.
Which takes us just over the border to;
Perhaps the best looking pub, and certainly the best buskers.
It wasn’t the best Bass on this list, nine beers rather the one it used to have, but it had great staff, friendly locals spanning the ages, and that buzz you get from the very best boozers.
Parental warning : Bar flies
A similarly earthy atmosphere in the Cross Foxes, a recent Guide (re)entry.
A simple unspoilt one bar locals pub, with long row of bench seating, darts board, horse racing from Wincanton, 4pm drinkers. You could be in Derby. Or heaven.
Is this the only Bass in Scotland ?
Just looking back now, I remember what a cracker it was. Folk of all ages enjoying England in the 2018 World Cup, and Bass flying out.
Who said the Scots were philistines when it comes to beer ?
retiredmartin 
Re-Scotland, Tennent’s in Hillhead still listed by GBG and WhatPub as permanent Bass. I get conflicting reports from folks on availability.
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I have a distant memory of good Bass in there 20 years ago, you know.
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What a great list of pubs. Is the reason these pubs sell Bass that it just sells really well for them? Interesting to me how big a range the pubs cover.
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That’s a really interesting question.
Is it because some of our best publicans like Hughie at the Tynemouth Lodge like Bass themselves, or because there’s do much loyalty in places like Plymouth and Stockton and so on that it sells enough to be consistently good.
I can’t think of many other beers with that sort of reputation outside a tied estate.
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It seems different than throwing Landlord on and I’m not sure why. (I love both beers.) I think it seems like it may be a personal connection on the landlords’ part. It’s hard to believe Dryffn Arms has all the locals begging them to put Bass on.
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Yes, Landlord is a good comparator.
You can’t imagine a southern pub putting it on because they have loyalty to it, more that it’s a brand name. Same with Adnams.
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No Tennant’s, Byres Road,Glasgow, well not until December 11th.
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My deepest sympathies to any readers in Glasgow 😕
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“Note how well Duncan blends in with the Dyffryn’s unique wallpaper.”
Duncan’s in Dyffryn in disguise!
“and I can only wonder how it took SO long for the Ship to sail into the GBG (sorry)”
No worries; that was ok. 🙂
“A chatty landlord from the Wirral”
Is that considered a good thing or a bad thing? Or does it depend?
“Perhaps the best looking pub, and certainly the best buskers.”
Minus a point for having a bike against the wall instead of a mobility scooter.
“You could be in Derby. Or heaven.”
I won’t ask how one differentiates the two.
“Folk of all ages enjoying England in the 2018 World Cup, and Bass flying out.”
As this was in Scotland I take it they were enjoying England losing? 😉
Cheers
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I was there the week England were winning the World Cup, or thought they were!
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Duncan’s attire has nothing on my rough-plastered shirt, oak-panelled trousers and axminster loafers.
Try spotting me in any number of pubs.
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Interesting list (or lists, perhaps I should have said). I’m certainly thinking of making a little list, incorporating your suggestions, for future exploration. I missed the Coach & Horses in Dumfries when I was there in September, as I was driving, but I hope to get back there next year, viral illnesses permitting, and the Dyffryn Arms looks intriguing. The St John Inn, perhaps it should be noted, has opening times that, if it were a micropub, would have prompted severe criticism from certain quarters.
Monday closed
Tuesday closed
Wednesday closed
Thursday 5.00 pm – 11.00 pm
Friday 5.00 pm – Midnight
Saturday Midday – Midnight
Sunday Midday – 10.30 pm
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We stayed in our motorhome in Dumfries town centre and did the six GBG entries during the day.
Shame the council have stopped overnight parking.
The landlord at St John discussed opening hours with us; very much weekend trade it seemed. I blame pubgoers.
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Yes, they certainly have a lot to answer for.
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The problem with pubgoers is that they rarely go to pubs, just whine about them closing.
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and whine about not getting a seat on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve during their biannual pub visits. .
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You’ll miss that moaning this year, Paul.
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These all look like lovely pubs. Thanks for the time you put into gathering the various photos.
Would you say that the very fact that a pub carries Bass allows you to make any general assumptions about what sort of pub it’s likely to be? Or have you seen Bass in all manner of pubs, some of them quite drastically different, one from the other?
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That’s a good question, Mark.
You’d get a very different answer from Life After Football, who sees more Bass than me in all the pubs the brewery used to own in the East Midlands.
Outside the Midlands, Bass SEEMS to be a beer you see in older, traditional pubs with older drinkers. Some old pubs (e.g. New Inn in Trywardreath in Cornwall) have a covenant that requires them to always serve Bass !
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Martin,
And such covenants have more legal validity than any pronouncements from Boris.
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