Pup & Duckling, Solihull

The Pup and Duckling is a family-run three-room micropub, serving up to eight real ales and two craft beers. Set up in a long-closed shop on the corner of Old Lode Lane and Hatchford Brook Road, the main room looks more like a coffee shop, apart from the bar and the bottle store installed along one wall, the middle room could be a lounge in a house, and the extended back room provides extra seating. A garden area allows for smoking, and further developments are planned. Bar snacks are available, and customers are welcome to bring their own food - Chinese and Indian takeaways and a fish and chip shop are all within 100 yards, Local independent breweries are often featured - Fixed Wheel, Shiny and Byatts among them, but the landlord has a knack of obtaining interesting beers from national independents as well. Regular updates of what is on offer can be found on realalefinder.com although some ales last only a single day. A Thursday quiz raises money for local charities, and there is an annual beer festival around 5th February to celebrate its opening. 2023 Branch pub of the year.