The Mash Tun, Norwich (Pub review)



The Mash Tun. Such an appropriate name for a craft beer establishment. They could have used “Hop Store” I suppose, but that gives the image of being rather cold.

It’s situated on Charing Cross in Norwich and is in the building that was previously known as The Hog in Armour, a pub that I recall being awful.

Luckily for us, The Mash Tun isn’t. In fact, The Mash Tun is rather good.

When you walk in you’ll notice that the main room is incredibly long and narrow, and right in front of you is a large board displaying the names of breweries (Weird Beard was spelt wrong), the beers, ABV and prices. Oddly though, only the keg prices are listed. Not cask.

You glance to the bar on the right and you’ll notice the unique keg taps which have a chamber above it, showing you the colour of the beer as well as beer menus on tables which give you a brief description of the beer. This can be incredibly helpful for customers in deciding what to drink based on their preference BUT it does have a big disadvantage in that it kind of limits interaction between the customer and the staff. You’ll also notice the HOP INFUSER which is a hollow keg font which you can fill with hops, fruit or whatever else you want to infuse the beer with to give it a crazy twist. On my visit it was Redwell Wheat w/ Oranges, Lemons & Blueberries which made it deliciously tart and even fruitier.

15 kegs and a few casks you'll find and the beer selection was great… a load of Redwell, 3 Weird Beard (Hit the Lights, Fade to Black & Black Perle), Bruges Zot Dubbel, Bavo Pils and quite a few more on keg, with Blue Monkey BG Sips & Oakham Green Devil on cask.

The prices are quite good considering there’s a lot you can’t get elsewhere in Norwich. I certainly wasn’t complaining at £4.90 for a pint of Weird Beard Hit The Lights, anyway!

You’ve also got food which is a pop up called “Madder Mash Kitchen” that does various small plates that look delicious, but I’ve not tried yet.

At the moment, only the main bar floorspace is open but there is going to be another raised seating area which is great as there’s not much space at the moment so I can imagine it’ll be horrible when busy. There’s also going to be a Gin Palace upstairs, which will apparently have 150 different varieties of gin!

All in all, it’s a very cool bar with an awesome beer selection and definitely one that I plan on visiting whenever I can!

Nate

Comments

  1. The food is good too, I had the chicken wings in Kernel BBQ sauce. Chips are very good also! Nice bar, good alternative to the Tap House which gets a bit full of Hooray Henry & Henrietta's on Saturday evenings.

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    Replies
    1. Christ, those chicken wings sound so good! Must return over the weekend.

      To be honest, I think I'll drink here more frequently than Taphouse. Even midweek. I've not been to Taphouse in a while, but last time the beer list didn't really interest me.

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    2. Can be hit and miss I agree. Often of around 16 beers there are at least 5 Redwells (not a bad thing of course but that's not why I go there), a Cider, Guinness and Becks...

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    3. I suppose the running themes for both pubs though is A) Loads of Redwell & B) The other 90% is London beer. London beer is all good, but I'd like to see variation.

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  2. You raise aninteresting topicin passing. I notice when I'm working atNorwich beer fest that some people want to do their own research, get tbe beer list, look at the gravity cards, pretty muchmake their own minds up and, I suspect, enjoy that part of the process. Others want to know from staff, what would you recommend, what dark beers are good this year, they want a taste or a chat about. Sometimes I see oneof the first type later in the week and they'vemetamorphosedinto type two - "I've tried all the beers I wanted to,now what can I have that's abit different?"

    Now then... Which type ofpunter are you Nate? Type one I'm guessing...

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    Replies
    1. I think a beer festival is a completely different ball park because as a rule they're really packed, it's difficult enough to get to the bar and then standing there asking questions takes up valuable time which the staff could use serving others, and preventing other punters from getting pissed off. At a beer festival, I will generally look at the menu because it's just a lot easier.

      Generally though, I'd rather be able to talk to the bar staff and have some interaction beyond "Can I have a pint of that please?"... "Here's your pint. Money please".

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