Buxton Brewery Tap House, Buxton

Further to my previous review, I have been a couple of times since and noticed that the hand pulls are not always clipped, though there is a chalk board next to the pumps listing what is on. There is also a bigger chalk board above the bar that lists both cask and keg ales available. There is also apparently a cellar bar, to add yet more choice, though this is not open during the day. They also do growler fills and the prices for these are available on the beer menus at the tables.

Visited last Monday afternoon. Two cask pumps at the bar and 16 keg lines split over two fonts. Only one of the cask pumps was clipped at the time of my visit, offering Myrcia which was an IPA by Buxton. Of the keg selection, 11 were by Buxton with four guests, of which three were by Wylam in collaboration with other breweries. The final keg guest was by Omnipollo. A menu on the table lists today's beers. They do bottles and cans in addition to the cask and keg offerings. I had the Myrcia on cask at £3.60 a pint (£1.80 for a half) followed by Enkel on keg at £4.50 a pint (£2.25 for a half). Both were excellent. I normally lean towards cask ales but with the great selection available on keg I had no reason to complain about only one being available on cask. There were a few customers in at the time of my Monday afternoon visit which helped create a bit of atmosphere. There was also music playing which was quiet and not intrusive. Service was pleasant. As well as the inside seating there is some seating outside to the front. I have never had any of the Buxton beers anywhere before, but I look forward to coming back here when I get chance and trying some more.

Occupying a semi-basement level, or lower ground floor (careful of the ramp inside the front door), the Buxton Tap is surprisingly spacious and airy, having been well-designed and showing the benefits of quality materials throughout. Decorated with dried hop bines, there's no mistaking this for anything other than a pub, though there's a strong food element too. The bar counter is prominent on entering, with just two hand pumps and a gantry with keg taps dominating. All the beers, as far as I could see, were from Buxton Brewery and were listed in that way that those of us of a certain age find confusing, priced variously by the pint, by two-thirds, by the half and by a third (see photos of beer lists). Apart from the cask Buxton SPA 4.1% £3.40, all the beers worked out at more than £4 a pint, in some cases a lot more. The Axe Edge IPA 6.8% was £4.50 on cask but £4.95 on keg; this beer has been highly praised elsewhere, but I find it rather crude, tasting of reconstituted orange juice with a smidgen of passion fruit thrown in at the end. It pummels the taste buds in a way that suggests that subtlety is for wusses; so OK, I'm a wuss - where do I sign up? The beer aside, it was quite pleasant to sit here while waiting for my train out of Buxton - better than sitting on the railway station anyway! The staff were all very efficient and attractive, and one of them even managed a genuine giggle when I suggested that the beer was so expensive because it came from a long way away: you don't get service like that every day of the week.