10 Delph Road
Brierley Hill
West Midlands
DY5 2TN
01384 78293
Traditional Town Pub, 2* Heritage Pub
The Vine is the brewery tap of well known Black Country brewer, Bathams of Brierley Hill, and the brewery is right next door. The sign at the top of the pub says “Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale”, a quote from Shakepeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona (photo 1).
Going into the Vine (or the Bull & Bladder as its also called) is like stepping back in time in more ways than one. At almost any time of day it’s full of locals, the way many urban pubs were twenty or so years ago. On the bar there is a simple choice of mild or bitter (and XXX in December). And the pub itself is quite unchanged, still with several rooms and original fittings. The public bar at the front has its original 1912 bar counter, bar back, fixed seating and terrazzo floor (photos 2 & 3). The old stained glass window in the front left room promotes Batham’s Brewery (photo 4).
The brewery, like the pub, is traditional and old fashioned, and it only owns 12 pubs, despite being in business for over 140 years. Their bitter has been held in awe by beer drinkers for generations, and my first pint in the Plough at Shenstone many years ago was a revelation. It’s pale, lightly hopped, quite sweet and very moreish (right in photo 5). Apparently top craft brewer Beavertown based their Neck Oil on Bathams’s Bitter.
The Vine serves full meals at lunchtimes and cobs and pork pies all day.
Click or tap photo to enlarge. Scroll down for photo downloads.
