Horse & Groom, Newport

Blue Scrumpy left this review about Horse & Groom

Being a glutton for punishment, I travelled across the island from one Greene King pub to another serving a Greene King beer (but possibly not part of the chain). This one is a new entrant to the 2027 Good Beer Guide and was probably just about worth the entry.

The pub is one long room with the bar to the left end, where there is exposed brickwork and a central fireplace. At the other end is pale grey wainscotting and white painted walls. There are plenty of pictures. Food appears to be popular and some were arriving for an early dinner. Dogs are allowed in and I'm sure that kids are also welcomed given the profusion of sweet machines near the entrance from the car park. There is a garden to the rear of the car park.

The young barmaids were friendly and helpful. The two regular cask ales here are Otter Bitter & Butcombe Original. A third handpull had a clip featuring a beer called Stay IPA. There was no sign of a brewery being mentioned and to all intents and purposes, this looked like some kind of promotional pumpclip. But the barmaids confirmed that it was indeed a beer and it was brewed by Greene King. It didn't look or taste much like an IPA. It was a typical insipid Greene King bitter, which I've probably had several times before in a different guise. Sharp's Doom Bar was available on keg.

Despite the poor beer, I'd gladly give this place another try.

On 25^th September 2026 - rating: 6
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