Long before craft beer was cool The Ship and Mitre was flying the flag for a tipple with taste. It’s a place that’s charted its own course for decades and has just cruised into the Guardian list of 50 Best Pubs in the country. Here’s what makes it so special.

There was a time when anything other than commercial lager conjured images of bellied and bearded men creating shed brews even the underage would reject. When beer festivals meant queuing outside the cathedral at 6am on a freezing Saturday morning to secure a ticket to CAMRA’s annual keg frenzy in the crypt. Through this dark and heavily carbonated time sailed one pub determined to buck the trend. Serving cask ales, substantial stouts and beers with a bite to a faithful crowd.

They’re spending the whole of June shouting local breweries from the rooftops. We caught up with them to find out more about their mission:

Here at the Ship&Mitre we are known for our range of beers. With up to 40 draught beers available at full capacity and 100s of bottles. With beers far and wide Tokyo to Chile and New Zealand to Norway. We pride ourselves on having something for everyone.

We have been hit with COVID financially as everyone else has in the sector. After the initial 2 week boom of reopening and Bank Holiday sales have slowed right down. Speaking to other pubs and breweries they are all in the same boat. Owners Ben Garner and Steve Dobby are now looking closer to home.  “The idea came from our Shipmates Beer Club, each month we feature local beers so why not go one step further”

For the rest of June all our Real Ales and guest Craft Beers will be featuring local beers, including:

Liverpool Brewing Co

Melwood

Rock The Boat

Stamps

Flagship Beer

Brimstage

Peerless

Love Lane

Neptune

Big Bog

BlackLodge

Southport

Parker

Chapter

Glen Affric

Top Rope

Carnival

We have a great selection of local breweries and we all need to get behind them and your local pubs. Use it or lose it! Supermarkets have massively increased their range of beers in recent years and they are a real threat to our industry. If everyone just spent an extra £10 per week at the pub it would make a huge difference to our local economy. Liverpool relies heavily on tourism in recent years and with the travel ban that income stream has been cut off. So let’s all support your locals and come and have a pint.