I went to Ship Aground on Saturday evening. A decent choice of beers and can selection, however I'm not sure about the decor or which market it is trying to aim for. It has a sort of student vibe, however the beer prices don't suit their budgets.
A good addition to Stafford, however I'm not sure it's done enough for me to be a regular.
Agree about the selection of beers. They have a really good selection of craft beers, two real ales and two ciders. They update the menu regularly on Facebook and Instagram.
I really want to like this place because of the beer selection but am underwhelmed by the lack of atmosphere. I just find it a bit soulless. I don’t think the bright halogen strip lighting helps. It feels like going for a drink in Matalan.
The staff have had lots of love and attention spent on their tattoo sleeves (the tattoos are stunning). It’s a shame that the same amount of love and attention doesn’t appear to have been spent on decorating the place. Unfortunately, some of the customer service can be lacklustre. The tinny sounding Bluetooth speaker also isn’t making the most of the decent selection of music being played.
It makes me miss the days of The Floodgate even more. There are some great pubs locally that manage to cater for a younger audience and a more mature crowd that have a warm and welcoming atmosphere with eclectic music (The Bridge Street Ale house in Newcastle under Lyme, The Wren in Stone, The Artisan Tap and The Sanctuary in Hartshill, The Arcade and Newhall Arms in Cannock, the Whippet and Beerbohm in Lichfield, The Tamworth Tap, BottleCraft in Stoke, Tap and Can In Shrewsbury).
I will visit for the beer selection and to support an independent micropub but will probably not spend a whole evening there unless they make it a little more inviting.
Maybe I am just becoming more bitter and twisted as I get older (there is probably a beer reference in there somewhere).