New look for Rhymney Beers

A trip up the valleys last week gave me an excuse to visit Merthyr Tydfil's best pub, the Winchester, brewery tap for the current Champion Beer of Wales winners, Rhymney Brewery.

The Rhymney Brewery guys have been busy, along with the now completed move to Blaenavon from Dowlais, they have also redesigned their pumpclips with the Hobby Horse trademark taking a prominent place on the pumpclip, together with the original slogans of 'Best around here' and 'An easy winner' on them.
The Hobby Horse was the original symbol of the old Rhymney Brewery, taken over and closed by Whitbread, but originated at Pritchard's Brewery of Crumlin in the 1920s. For more information on the old Rhymney Brewery here is a link about a 1963 film of the brewery.

Merthyr Pub Transformed

The award-winning Rhymney Brewery have completed their transformation of their brewery tap, the Winchester, into the pub in the above photo. Etched glass windows, a fireplace, a mosiac floor on the entrance etc have all gone into what looks like a stunning pub.
This is what looked like before:

Not yet visited the new pub yet but looking forward to it.
Have previously written about the pub here. and below is what I wrote about the proposed refurbishment:

The Castle Street pub is situated between the Castle Hotel and the 1930s former Water Board Offices (Social Services now) and was converted to the Rhymney Brewery's first pub and Brewery Tap back in 2006, the premises before then had been a commercial unit, even used as a tanning saloon. Originally on this site, there stood a pub called the Beehive which dated from the 1840s but this was demolished when the next door Castle Hotel was built in 1967.

The planned refurbishment for the Winchester will see a Welsh slate roof installed, replacing the 1970s flat roof and the frontage will be opened out and improved with large etched glass windows allowing natural light to illuminate the interior of the pub. A Victorian style door will be installed to the side of the etched windows and the entrance floor will be tiled with a 'Rhymney Brewery' mosiac.

The pub sign will be hand-painted and a Rhymney Hobby Horse sign will be embedded into the outside wall. A chimney stack will also be built on the side to enable a real fire to be put into the pub! Smokers will be catered for with a smoking solution to the rear of the building.

The Winchester was a breath of fresh air when it opened in Merthyr, the first pub in a generation to regularly have a dark mild on cask in the town – the former Champion Beer of Wales, Rhymney Dark as well. Having been impressed with the Winchester since it first opened and seen the plans for this refurbishment, well hardly a refurbishment, more of a de-refubishment and recreation of a Victorian beerhouse.

Winchester, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8BG
Open 12-12 Monday- Saturday, 12-10.30 Sunday
Google Map:

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Happy third birthday for the Winchester

From Brew Wales

The Rhymney Brewery Tap, the Winchester celebrated its third birthday in November.

The Winchester is situated between the 1930s built former Water Board offices, now home to Social Services, and the Castle Hotel. Only three years old, the Winchester is the brewery tap for the local Rhymney Brewery, based at the Pant Industrial Estate at Dowlais. The new Rhymney Brewery was established in 2005, using the name of a brewery that was once famous throughout South Wales before being closed by Whitbread in 1978. The Winchester is a modern two-story building but is built on the site of the Beehive pub that dated back to the 1840s but was demolished in 1967.
The new Rhymney brewery logo is prominently displayed on the outside of the pub and the doors leading into the pub feature the trademark of the new brewer – a red fire-breathing dragon. The pub was named after the Winchester Club in the television series Minder as Rhymney Brewery founders Steve and Marc Evans are both fans of the show.
On the inside, the Winchester features plenty of seating with low seats and tables along one side of the pub and high bar stools along the other. No food is sold, the Winchester is purely a drinkers pub, with 4 real ales served, all from the local Rhymney brewery. The brewery regularly brews around 7 different beers so the selection does vary but the award-winning Rhymney Export at 5%ABV is always to be found alongside Hobby Horse, a light, hoppy ale at 3.8% ABV. Other ales such as Dark, a former CAMRA Champion Beer of Wales, Bevan's Bitter and the seasonal brew Scrum V also feature on the bar. Rhymney Brewery even brew their own lager and this is a permanent feature on the bar. All the real ales are served in Rhymney Brewery branded glasses. Bottled beers from the brewery are also available in the Winchester.
The walls of the Winchester are decorated with old photos of Merthyr and souvenirs of the old Rhymney Brewery, including the famous 'Hobby Horse' signs. Steve Evans has purchased the old hobby horse trademark and it is once again roaming the valleys of South Wales as it is used on a label for their Hobby Horse beer, in fact their label won an award from the Labelogists Society for the best bottle label and the colourful certificate is proudly displayed on the bar, alongside awards from CAMRA.
The Winchester also features flat-screen televisions, showing sports but the pub also features a piano for more traditional pub entertainment, with free beer on offer for anyone playing it.
Behind the bar, a coat of arms of the Whitbread empire is proudly displayed, as if it were a hunting trophy, Whitbread may have closed down the old Rhymney Brewery but the new brewery is proudly brewing local beers once more, much to the enjoyment of the locals and those from further afield.

Winchester, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8BG
Open 12-12 Monday- Saturday, 12-10.30 Sunday

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Hobby Horse Rides Again!

Merthyr Tydfil- based Rhymney Brewery have won an award for the "Commemorative Label of the Year", issued by the Labologists Society, for their Hobby Horse logo. Okay the competition was in 2008 but this has only just come to the attention of Brew Wales after spotting the award certificate in the Winchester in Merthyr. The certificate takes pride of place between a couple of certificates from CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, awarded to Rhymney Brewery for winning beer of the festival at a couple of local beer festivals.

The Hobby Horse was the old trademark of the old Rhymney Brewery, closed by Whitebread in the 1970s and was bought by Steve Evans of the new Rhymney Brewery a few years back. Originally the logo came from Pritchard's Brewery of Crumlin and the area where the Rhymney beers were sold was known as "the land where the Hobby Horse roams".

With the new Rhymney Brewery going from strength to strength and about to about to open a second pub, the Patriot in Taff Street, Pontypridd, it looks like the Hobby Horse is once again set to roam the hills and valleys of South Wales.

Winchester, Merthyr Tydfil

Alongside Rhymney Brewery Dark and 3 other real ales in this Oasis of Good beer set in the keg desert of Merthyr, the Winchester has now installed a piano for the use of customers. With the immortal words "free beer if you can play" above the piano, the Winchester can only attract the Top peeanists of the valleys!

Budget Price rise in Merthyr!

Seen on the wall of the Winchester pub in Merthyr Tydfil. 4 real ales on and the best place to drink for miles.




I've seen some souvenirs in pubs including the odd stags head but the coat of arms from the company that closed down the original Rhymney Brewery, now that's just being sarcastic.