O little town of Whit-y-church
How still we see thee lie …
89 beers puts me at a solid 18th for Shropshire with 47 from Salopian. Not too much a surprise as I live very close, in fact I often cycle through the closer areas and was there this morning. I also got married in Bridgnorth in 2019. The first 9 of my top 10 are unsurprisingly Salopian, with Hibsons Bitter coming in 10th at 3.7, which I’m very happy about!
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Here we are, my home county. Its been nice reading all the kind words, I do love it here. When I moved back after living in London and country-hopping with work, I instantly fell back in love with the countryside, cask pints and community feel that instantly connected with me.
But far from being a lazy retirement county (well, it is to some) the mentality here is incredibly outdorsey, a bit Oregon-esque. The names of Hills and Welsh mountains are common parlance and those who I’m friends with on Strava or instagram will know Im into mountain biking and we’re spoilt for choice here. Definitely one of the best spots in the country, if not the world for epic trails, and not far from world class spots in snowdonia and the Dyfi Valley.
Beer wise, of course you know we have the excellent Salopian brewery, setting the bar in a non-showy way. It only opens the bar every so often, once a month I think, but Stonehouse brewery in Oswestry is more of a destination, opening Fri-Sun serving pizza and also cider from their own orchards and their own multi award-winning gin. Always packed there. The Bailey Head is a great pub in Oswestry too.
Jjsint touched on the lack of really outstanding pubs here. In terms of a pub that ticks all the boxes, I’d tend to agree. I think the closest would be the Coracle in Ironbridge but it’s really small, or Bailey Head. I’m sure more will adapt in due course. Definitely plenty of small microbars cropping up, such as Tap & Can, Kings Yard in Shifnal, Bastion Alehouse Oswestry and a brand new one in Newport who’s name escapes me.
Also, anyone who’s into wine should check out hencote vineyards (a stones throw from my house) they have glamping accommodation and the wines excellent.
I could go on and on but I’ll just say if anyone’s passing and fancies sharing a beer (not necessarily a full blown tasting) give us a shout and myself and Haddock will be more than happy to meet up 
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Haddock is still hibernating I believe ?
Shropshire… This is a county that I have visited frequently. I used to live in Worcester for a number of years back in the late eighties and early nineties and of course being a neighbouring county we used to go frequently on CAMRA organised trips usually brewery visits or pub crawls. Loz’s sister and parents also live close as they are in Herefordshire so we’d frequently hit places like Ludlow or just go to some historic national inventory pub. We also used to go to the Shrewsbury Folk Festival every year for a number of years, so yes I am familiar with the county. It’s a great county, countryside in particular with it’s impressive hills is superb and the towns of Ludlow, Bridgnorth, Ironbridge and not forgetting lovely Shrewsbury are great. Along with the Ratebeer contingent, I have a couple of friends who live in Shrewsbury, Jim a schoolteacher and fellow Worcester City fan and Guy (Pluckett) who works for the environment agency but is from Oxfordshire (Islip). I’ve only been to one football match that I can recall and that was Worcester City away at Telford Utd, I think that it was an FA Cup or Trophy match, I cannot recall much about the game but think we lost.
I have rated a total of 116 beers and I am very surprised to see that places me in the top ten, just! as I am in 10th position.
Whilst Salopian have a healthy showing amongst my top rated beers they are not dominating with Stonehouse, Three Tuns and Bridgnorth all muscling in on the action.
Blackwater Expressionist 4.0
Salopian/Tiny Rebel Catatonic 4.0
Stonehouse Cambrian Gold 3.9
Stonehouse Station Bitter 3.9
Salopian Darwin’s Origin 3.9
Salopian Resistance 3.9
Salopian Polygraph 3.9
Bridgenorth Best Bitter 3.8
Salopian Pecadillo 3.8
Three Tuns Stout/Castle Steamer 3.8
I’ve rated 17 breweries of which 7 are no longer in operation.
Breweries with most ratings
Salopian 40
*Woods 18
Hobsons 11
*Three Tuns 8
Wem 5 - closed
- I’ve also actually visited Woods brewery, many, many years ago and perhaps Three Tuns as well if my memory serves me right
I have rated 4 ciders from Shropshire.
I’ve rated fifteen places, but have been to many, many more. I have only included open places below as a few of my favourite places have sadly closed.
- Chez Sophie - Shrewsbury - 86
- Dolphin Inn - Shrewsbury - 82
- Admiral Benbow - Shrewsbury - 80
- Blind Tiger - Shrewsbury - 76
- Three Fishes - Shrewsbury - 72
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I am actually meeting @minutemat this afternoon for a few. So beginning to swim again at last. Be seeing you @Martinsh in a few weeks, once I’ve got my strength back and can get out of the county!
<*))))))><
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The catch up continues - another county I know very wel!
I’ve visited Shropshire perhaps a dozen times - my wife grew up in Porthill in Shrewsbury. Shropshire is a beautiful county of rolling hills and some proper peaks. I’m sure of great interest to a Geography teacher (my mother in law). And the birth place of the Industrial Revolution so plenty for historians too.
Shrewsbury is a lovely town and the snaking of the Severn through the middle gives it a really unusual layout. There is a great pub scene and there’s a general feeling of affluence. I’ve probably knocked back most pints at the Boathouse Inn.
In our most recent visit (October 2020) we stayed near Ludlow. I have to say that Ludlow was not as exciting as Shrewsbury. It might’ve been because everything was still partially locked down, but I didn’t get that Ludlow was such a foodie centre, at all. Will have to return.
Shropshire was the first county in England where I managed to reach the top 50 list. That is probably around 8 or 9 years ago and I seem to remember that it required less than 20 ratings back then. I eventually dipped into the top 10 temporarily. I currently sit in 12th position with 113 ratings. In terms of total ratings, Shropshire sits at 19th of the 46 counties for me.
In terms of scores, I’ve deemed two beers in Shropshire to be worthy of a 4.0 score. These are,
Three Tuns Old Scrooge
Salopian Caligo
My top ratings for Shropshire like most other commentators above, are dominated by Salopian, who are a really great example of a brewery making traditional beer, who have moved with the new evolving styles of the last 20 years.
Favourite shop/cafe Chez Sophie ( @minutemat is the first Ratebeerian I met outside of Edinburgh).
Highest Rated Pub - not sure if this has already been mentioned or not, but I’ve gone for The White Horse Inn (Clun Brewery). I’ve a feeling that this might’ve been after a walk on the Stiperstones or I may be confusing some different trips.
Best Shop For Shropshire Ratings - I haven’t rated this yet, but the Ludlow Food Market at Bromfield has a really large selection of local beers and ciders. One visit could be enough to get you into the top 50 in Shropshire. It also carries quite a few for neighbouring Herefordshire and Worcestershire!
A question for @minutemat and @BlackHaddock ! I’d heard or read somewhere that Shropshire has the highest proportion of free houses of all the counties of England. Is there, or has there ever been truth in this? I love the country pubs in Shropshire, even though sometimes they’re punting out 3 cask beers at slightly different strengths that taste very similar indeed.
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It comes up now and again that Shrewsbury has the largest percentage of pubs per square mile for a UK town centre, but then I’ve also heard people all over the UK say that about their hometown. Whether Shropshire specifically has the largest number of ‘free-houses’ I couldn’t say, but not sure theres any truth to it. Surely there are more populous counties with cities that have more free-houses?
Ah, but to be more precise, it’s ‘‘proportion’’ rather than ‘‘absolute numbers’’.
Are they including Spoons and other chain pubs.
I would’ve said by definition, no, it wouldn’t include them.
Is a tied pub one that has a tenant who is tied into selling the range of beers that their landlord supplies/produces, for example Punch Taverns. I’d say that although Spoons are probably the biggest pub chain, they are all owned (and presumably run) centrally. So by my definition a Spoons would be a free house, I suppose?
We need a third category here, methinks!
