WITH its cool music and brilliant selection of real ales, as well as non or low-alcoholic beverages, the Victoria Inn pub deserves its excellent reputation.

Although I have heard many good things about North Station Road's historic watering hole, I was surprised – or more so delighted – to see a packed pub at 7.30pm on a Wednesday.

With live music starting a short while after my arrival and people of various ages sat in small groups around the double-sided bar, the Victoria Inn is clearly a great asset to the community. 

At one side of the bar, the unusual-looking selection of guest real ales immediately caught my eye before I went for a shandy - the ‘copper best bitter’ from Colchester Brewery.

Gazette: Bitter - Colchester Brewery's 'copper best bitter' real aleBitter - Colchester Brewery's 'copper best bitter' real ale (Image: Newsquest)
Even with the lemonade, I could tell the bitter ale was high quality and would be lovely on its own another time.

As it was the middle of a working week and still the month of 'Dry January', I did not want to drink much, so for my next drink I enquired about the best non-alcoholic beverages.

Gazette: Charm - One of the bars in The Victoria InnCharm - One of the bars in The Victoria Inn (Image: Newsquest)

Around the other side of the bar, I was shown a very decent collection of non and low-alcoholic beers and I eventually chose the only glass-bottled option.

With a 0.5 per cent alcohol level, the ‘Adnams Ghost Ship Citrus Pale Ale’ was a wonderful discovery, with even its small amount of alcohol somehow being instantly recognisable.

Slightly sweet and with a good amount of thickness – think Madris – it would be good to see this specific low-alcohol beer become very popular as it does seem like a smart way to experience beer while consuming fewer units.

Gazette: Low - At 0.5 per cent alcohol beer has about 10 per cent the alcohol of a normal beer Low - At 0.5 per cent alcohol beer has about 10 per cent the alcohol of a normal beer (Image: Newsquest)

While I listened to charming covers of classic music which travelled well from the other side of the bar, I chose my next beer from the low-to-no alcohol section – one of the three ‘Big Drop Brewing Co.’ cans on offer.

The pine trail alcohol-free pale ale, however, had two downsides which I did not fully realise.

Firstly, as a 330ml can, it was just more than a half-pint, and secondly it was gluten-free meaning overall I found it too light and too watery.

Gazette: Light - The Big Drop Brewing Co. pine trail pale ale was a very light drinkLight - The Big Drop Brewing Co. pine trail pale ale was a very light drink (Image: Newsquest)
However, I would be interested in seeing if a stronger flavour like citrus or milk stout, or any other discernible flavour, would help make this type of 0 per cent alcohol beer both more realistic and appealing.

The Victoria Inn should be applauded for its use of an incredible range of local, independent breweries and its increasingly inclusive selection of low to no alcohol beverages - showing other pubs how to provide a good time for all.