September - Petersgate Tap
Petersgate Tap
19a St Petersgate, Stockport SK1 1EB
The Stockport & South Manchester Pub of the Month for September is the Petersgate Tap on St Petersgate in Stockport town centre. Dave Pennington tells you why.
A most welcome addition to the town centre's real ale scene, the Petersgate Tap, run by Alan and Chris Gent (pictured below), opened late September last year in the premises of an old betting shop and has been dispensing a wide variety of well-kept beers and ciders ever since.
Set on two floors, downstairs is a modern, minimalist, continental-style room with the bar on the left-hand side and recycled oak-topped tables amongst the seating. A growing display of artwork adds to the atmosphere and a variety of beer magazines is available to browse as you drink. Upstairs is a function room with table seating and comfortable settees.
Six handpumps are on the bar with Hawkshead's Windermere Pale being the house beer. A further five ever-changing beers from local, regional and national micro-breweries are available (regulars are from the premier league of modern cask breweries such as Titanic, Dark Star, Thornbridge and Abbeydale) with one or two pumps usually reserved for a stout or porter. In addition, there are four keg fonts including one dedicated for Hawkshead Lakeland lager. A recently introduced loyalty card scheme rewards nine purchased pints with a free tenth - this applies to both cask and keg beers.
A cider fridge containing three or four ciders and perries on rotation sits alongside an excellent selection of bottled and canned beers from around the world. A wide range of gins and wines is also available.
Recent successful innovations have been "pop-up" kitchens and live music including "open mic" nights.
The Petersgate Tap has been a welcome addition to the "Stockport Old Town" beer and pub scene bringing even more choice and variety to the area. We hope that you will be able to join us on Thursday 21 September from 8pm when we present this well-deserved award to Alan and Chris. The pub is on Petersgate at the junction with Etchells Street in the town centre.