The Witch's Brew, Shirley

New pub in Shirley (as of 2017). Used to be a hippy shop, run by the same woman who, when asked,  coyly admits she is a witch. The Hells Angel pub, The Stile, is nearby - some of them have dropped in to check it out, so there seems to be a calm relationship between the two pubs. 

I've seen The Witch's Brew being called a micropub, though it didn't immediately fit my understanding of that term which was that it should be a single room. There are three rooms, unlike The Stile which only has one. However, according to Martyn of The Butchers Arms in Herne, who created the term the micropub, it doesn't have to be a single room, just as long as it's small, serves cask beer, and encourages conversation. Well OK, but that also, to a degree, fits The Stile. I think micropubs are like craft beer or punk rock, there isn't really a scientific definition that works, because most definitions of micropub would work for many existing small pubs. What seems to be the case for each micropub I have visited is that they are recent conversions to pubs, they are independently run, and they are not huge. They may be smaller or larger than many existing traditional pubs, so the name micropub is perhaps not the most appropriate. It was used by Martyn to make an association with microbreweries (which are now called craft breweries). I suspect if Martyn were starting up today, he might have called himself a craft pub rather than a micro pub. Anyway, I think that, as with punk rock, it's more about the attitude than the format. And on that basis Witch's Brew fits right in with other micropubs I've visited. 

Beer selection

There are four gravity cask beers on offer from local small breweries, and  some crisps and pork scratchings. There's space on the front pavement, which has been fenced off, to sit and watch the world go by, and there are three rooms inside, the last one of which holds the bar counter.

Ambiance

I like the place, and it serves as an ideal link between the pubs in central Southampton, and Overdraft and the traditional scooping pubs of the Waterloo Arms and Wellington Arms. The owner, Mary Thornton-Smith, and the barmaid were friendly, chatty folk, and Mary's two border collies are fun and friendly, and love pork scratchings.

I had a dark beer, Arthur Brown, by a Bournemouth brewery Way Outback, and a pale hoppy beer, Tessellate, by Broken Bridge, a brewery in Upper Swanmore near Bishops Watham. I enjoyed both, and both were served in good condition. I had met the Broken Bridge brewer just a few minutes earlier when I was in Unity, as he is friends with the Unity brewer, and had popped in for a drink and a chat. I had not heard of Broken Bridge before then, and the next pub I walk into, has a beer by them! I love it when that happens!

Date: Aug 2017    Score: 6


 

Nov 2021

This is just a note that the place still exists. It wasn't open when I was walking around Shirley looking for a pub that served food, but it's still there.  

Date: Nov 2021   Score: N/A 

Ind/craft bar

220 Shirley Road
Southampton
SO15 3FL

Hours:
Wed-Sun: 5pm to 11pm

No food, and I don't think children are welcome (which, for me, limits the score)


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• Pubs in Shirley