Between September 2008 and July 2011, Chester was home away from home for Dave and I. We both studied at the University of Chester and as a result, we spent a lot of time exploring the masses of pubs in and around the famous city walls. We may not have been as fussy then when it came to beer, but we certainly rated Chester as a real ale destination and even had our first taste of BrewDog beers (on cask!) at The Pied Bull.
Six years on, our tastes have expanded a lot and so has the beer scene in Chester. A number of pubs and bars with great craft-centric beer lists have sprung up in the last few years, our favourite of which is The Cellar. Just a couple of minutes walking distance from the train station, it’s the perfect first point of call for any beer lover arriving in Chester. Popular with locals and students, the place has a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and there’s plenty of choice on keg, cask and in the fridges, whatever your preferred tipple.
On the second weekend of November, we were back in our old Uni city for a bit of a reunion, meeting up with a group of friends for the first time in a couple of years. We parked up before we could check into our hotel so we headed straight to The Cellar. We decided on 2/3rds of Buxton/Dugges Ramberget to get us started for the day and settled down amongst the locals, sipping on juicy, amber IPA; passing the time until check in time.
Just after 2pm, we crossed the road to our hotel to check in and drop off our bags. Bumping into some of our friends at reception, we quickly made plans to meet at The Cellar to wait for everyone else to roll in one-by-one. A few pints later, we were all reacquainted and ready to turn our focus to the rest of the evening ahead.
