Church End Brewery Tap

This evening I went for a drive with the sole purpose of visiting the Church End Brewery Tap.  Situated the other side of Coventry near Nuneaton it can be found in the village of Ridge Lane.  Ridge Lane is not your picturesque country idyll.  Within five miles of a working colliery it appears a bit rough around the edges but welcoming nonetheless.  Finding the Church End Brewery Tap would be difficult without a satnav and I was also thankful for the billboard on the road pointing me down a track between a row of houses.  The track opened up into a large car park.  To the left was the pub which looks more like a social club.  A lovely large garden would be popular on a nice sunny evening but tonight it was looking like rain. 

The inside of the pub contains a large cavernous lounge and beyond is an entrance to a further bar.  You are immediately aware of the brewery.  The smell is delightful and one wall of the large lounge has a window to the actual brewery.  It appears to be very popular with locals but it has a warm, friendly atmosphere for visitors like myself.  I was offered a beer menu (8 to choose from) and I chose a pint of Gravediggers Ale at 3.8%.  It did not say on the menu, but it looked like a mild with a colour that was very black and just asking to be sampled.  The notes described it as being black and red in colour but this was a beer so black that even the red bits were black !!  It turned out to be an absolutely delicious mild.  Plenty of dark chocolate malt and highly recommended. 

The brewery was founded in 1994 in an old coffin shop and coffins are still a current theme.  You can order a coffin (a 1/3 pint sampler of all 8 beers available) and as well as the Gravediggers Ale you can order a Stout Coffin (a 4.6% stout).  Sadly I was driving so there was no more for me tonight but I will return in a few weeks.