11 Taprooms & Distillery Bars

There’s no better place to enjoy beer, cider or gin than in the precise location where they’re made – the smell of malt and hops in the air, the apple press close at hand, the copper still glinting next door.

Leicestershire is home to some magnificent taprooms, the largest being Everards’ gleaming new Beer Hall in Blaby, Leicester, where you can enjoy a pint of Tiger (named after the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, known as ‘The Tigers’) or Beacon Hill (labelled in honour of one of Leicestershire’s highest points) while gazing in wonder at the massive tanks that produced them.

For somewhere more intimate, head to Round Corner Brewing in the heart of the Rural Capital of Food – The Stockyard, Melton Mowbray. In this modern-yet-rural church to craft beer, grab a schooner of Frisby lager, titled after the Leicestershire village.

Fancy a traditional pub? Try The Swan in Mountsorrel, home to the Soar Brewing Co., or The Mash & Press Brewery Tap & Cider House in Anstey. And beer lovers won’t want to leave Leicestershire without visiting the home of the UK’s only Trappist Ale, Tynt Meadow, brewed by Mount Saint Bernard Abbey’s monks and on sale in the abbey shop.

But there’s even more to lift the spirits! The county has some spectacular distillery bars, too. At Stoughton Grange near Oadby, you’ll find The Cow and Plough pub with its gin distillery next door (try the ‘Goat’ G&T). In Melton Mowbray, discover Brentingby Gin’s Fur & Feather Bar & Distillery, possibly the world’s only cocktail bar in a cattle market! And in Hinckley, relax at the stylish Bond Street Distillery & Social.