George's Meeting House (JD Wetherspoon), Exeter

Housed in an old Chapel, George’s Meeting House is a Wetherspoons that has kept some of the buildings previous fixtures including balcony seating to the left and right and the pulpit at the rear with authentic stained glass chapel windows either side. The serving counter up the left supports two banks of five hand pumps that were drawing Maxim Brewery’s Samson, Portobello Brewing’s Spa, Jaipur and Elgood’s Patron Saint plus the usual three. The friendly barman was very informative about the pub’s history, but this was my last visit of the day so no idea what he said. This is an interesting Spoons that is worth a look.

Three of us were stood across the road wondering where this JDW actually was located. As there were no tables and chairs out front and no smokers loitering around the main door entrance. Once we spotted JD Wetherspoon under George's Meeting House we were ok. This Spoons outlet does have an impressive interior, worth a visit just for that. Ten handpumps with Doom Bar, GK IPA and Abbot doubled up. The guests were Dartmoor Jail Ale, Portobello Market Porter, Exeter Brewery 'fraid Not and Fall's Over. We went for the 'fraid Not at £2.74, which was in excellent condition.

George's Meeting House was my final stop in a tour around some of Exeter's pubs that I hadn't previously been to. This is a branch of Wetherspoon's in an old chapel. As usual with these kind of restorations, Wetherspoon's have done an impressive job of keeping the character of the building. Features include galleries (with seating overlooking the space below), the pulpit and stained glass windows. In addition, there is a separate quiet room to the rear and an outdoor garden area to the right-hand side. On my Thursday evening visit, it was unusually quiet inside. Although I noticed that there were quite a few large groups sitting outside. The 3 regular cask ales here are Greene King Abbot & IPA & Sharp's Doom Bar. Guest beers were Keltek The Heart of Kernow, Summerskills Devon Dew & First Light & Hanlon's Citra IPA. Ciders and tasting notes were listed on the bar, but the list was out-of-date, with only one of the four being physically available. The Wetherspoon's app was also out-of-date. The actual selection was Broadoak Moonshine, Snail's Bank Raspberry Ripple, Sandford Orchards Devon Red & Three Little Pigs Elderflower Cider. Keg beers included Leffe Blonde, Marston's Shipyard, Brewdog Punk IPA & Worthington's. Keg ciders were Strongbow Dark Fruits, Thatcher's Haze, Kopparberg & Stowford Press. Whilst this branch does not match the excellent Imperial near St Davids railway station, the impressive architecture and decent beer and cider selection makes it a good central option.

Nice old chapel conversion with some original features, open plan seating with smaller ground floor area and balconies. Nice real ale