Olde Royal Oak, Burton On Trent Town, Burton on Trent

This is clearly a building with some history in a prime location to one side of the Market Place Square. I believe it’s had a bit of a chequered history and has opened and closed on several occasions over recent years and has been in danger of being closed for good on more than one occasion. Fortunately at the moment it seems to be enjoying a spell of rude health as it is now the Brewery tap for Fownes Brewing and has benefitted from an internal makeover well described by the other reviewers below. The only thing to add to the descriptions below is the back section by the toilets which houses a well tucked away dart board. The bar supports eight real ale hand pumps on the first section and a large keg tap dispensing unit on the second bar section which had a good range of the breweries products available in both cask and keg, the former probably being largely responsible for the Royal Oak being awarded the CAMRA Burton and South Derbyshire Branch Pub of the Year for 2022.
On our visit the Fownes ales on offer were Royal Oak Bitter, Elephant Riders Big Hopped Pale Ale, King Korvaks Saga Porter, Troll Brew Pale Ale, Frost Hammer Grapefruit Pale Ale and Holy Roller West Coast IPA. I went for the Grapefruit Pale Ale and it was one of the best beers of the day.
Good to find this pub functioning well and would also add it to the list of establishments not to be missed on any real ale crawl around the town of Burton.

The rear of the pub dates back to around 1640 when it was just the Royal Oak and today is the tap house for Fownes Brewing Co, with their barley legible name to the pump clips. I went for their The Elephant Riders and found it to be in great nick. This is a good pub and I too agree that it’s better than the Dog across the square, with its shrieking baby.

A slightly peculiar old pub on the old marketplace, with a decor combining bits from many different decades over the ages, a welcome change from the typical corporate makeover. The beers from the Fownes brewery were good too.

Clearly an old pub and you can feel that once inside, B F describes the layout below along with the beers, I had a couple in here as the main group of crawlers reassembled, both the Elephant Riders and Holy Roller were in fine fettle. I liked this pub more so than the Dog down the road.

Brewery tap for Fownes Brewing,this traditional pub is to one side of the large Market Place.Inside there are two front sections either side of the front door with banquette seating and a log burner to the right.The bar is to the left ,the pub extends to a mid section with dining type tables.The interior is pleasing but without noteable heritage features. .The barmaid was chatty and friendly and also works at The Dog very close by and so a great double header for ale lovers. On my trip the Fownes ales on offer were Royal Oak Bitter,Elephant Riders,King Korvaks Saga (NBSS 4.5),Troll Brewer,Frost Hammer and Holy Roller. One not to miss on any real ale crawl around town.