Inns in the Spotlight...

Coach & Horses at Weatheroak Hill
by Toby Jugg

As regular readers of this column will be aware, I have a particular affection for public houses which either produce their own beers or promote those of other breweries. On Saturday, I had the immense pleasure of visiting one hostelry which does both.

Whilst it did require me to slip across the border into Worcester, the Coach & Horses at Weatheroak Hill is the kind of pub every true ale enthusiast yearns to have on their doorstep. Taken over in 1968 by Phil and Sheila Meads, this ancient inn – first stop on the historic stagecoach route from Birmingham to London– was finally wrested from the Bournville Village Trust in 1999, a year after the Meads family converted the inn's former stables into the Weatheroak microbrewery (walking across the car park and catching gusts of the hop-drenched steam was a delicious surprise).

After battling through the multitude of menus on offer (cheap freezer-to-microwave fare through to the resident chef's personal favourites), I settled upon a sirloin steak (a real treat), whilst Mrs Jugg went for a leg of lamb on a garlic-infused potato base. Both of us were highly impressed, and the accompanying beverages – the envigoratingly fresh Weatheroak Light Oak (3.6%) and the fuller-bodied Keystone Hops (5.0%) – proved ideal in clearing the palate before indulging in a pleasingly generous homemade apple pie.

The bar was positively heaving with real ales: in addition to those from their own brewery – which also offers Weatheroak Ale (4.1%) and Redwood (4.7%) – the Coach & Horses has the cream of fellow breweries Purity and Hook Norton as standard.

Personally, I'm already planning my return visit.

You can find previously featured hostelries in the Spotlight Inns archive.

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