Tonight I decided to take a drive out to Rugby, home of the Atomic Brewery. I had a choice of two pubs. The first is the Alexandra Arms with the brewery to the rear and the second is the Victoria Inn, described as the brewery tap. I chose the latter as I wanted to choose from the full range of Atomic's beers. That plan was thwarted because the pub was holding a Champion Beers of Britain Festival and the fantastic range of handpumps, well in excess of ten, only had one Atomic beer. It was certainly a mouth-watering selection but I was here to try something from Atomic so I chose the Atomic Strike (3.7% ABV). The beer is reasonably well balanced with a nice light brown colour and it has an immediate bitter taste before giving way to a subtle malty aftertaste.
The pub itself is a traditional backstreet Victorian local on the outskirts of town. It was awarded the local CAMRA Pub of the Year 2011 and it is easy to see why it has won this award. The traditional bar is spartan with a pool table and is entered from the street by a separate door. The other entrance led into a comfortable lounge. This room has high ceilings with a traditional decor. There is an excellent display of CAMRA Good Beer Guides to browse and there are two large TV screens to watch a wide variety of sport no doubt.
In summary, the Victoria Inn is a fine traditional pub bustling with locals enjoying the tremendous range of cask ales. It has a couple of bars to suit all types of customer along with a snug containing a real fire and dartboard.
With a couple of excellent pubs being supplied with their own beers to complement the superb range of guest ales, the Atomic Brewery is worth checking out.
Happy drinking.
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