Richmond Jazz & Holt's Beers

I went last night to the Richmond pub on Scarisbrick New Road for the weekly jazz night, which on this occasion featured the The Savannah Jazz Band. The old Richmond was demolished a few years ago and a modern pub built on the site; it was taken over a year or so ago by Joseph Holt's of Manchester and remains the only outlet for Holt's beers in the area. The beers on were Holt's bitter, mild and Humdinger, a honey beer. I've always regarded Holt's beers as acceptable rather than exciting, and last night was no different. My first thought was that the beers were a bit too cold for real ale. The Humdinger is a honey beer that I found more bitter and hoppy than honey-flavoured, although in bottled form it won the Tesco beer challenge. I actually preferred the ordinary bitter. At £2.36 and £2.32 per pint respectively, Holt's seemed to have adopted the local average price, rather than applying their own legendarily cheap prices. I may be mistaken, but I thought I remembered paying well under £2 three months ago. I don't think you'd go out of your way for this beer, but it is perfectly acceptable if that's all there is.

The Savannah Jazz Band played well in a New Orleans jazz style, and are therefore traditional, as are all the jazz bands that play every week at the Richmond. I quite often enjoy jazz without knowing as much about it as perhaps I should. If you think you'll enjoy an evening of jazz in a pleasant modern pub which has an open café style, then you'll enjoy Wednesday nights at the Richmond. They also do reasonable food until 8.00 p.m. there, so you can make a evening of it. To find out what bands are on, click on Jazz at the Richmond. Worth looking in on.