With a perfect online rating and plans to expand, Black Cloak Brewery seems to be on the up-and-up. The Colwyn Bay boozer has proven a popular site since opening in 2018.
The site, towards the end of the town's high street, keeps things simple, and it seems to work. The business was recently granted permission to open up a new site in Conwy town centre.
As such, we thought it might be worth popping down to see what this 5* rated and award winning pub is all about. Operating roughly between 2pm and 10pm every day means there's plenty of opportunity to pop down to this popular pub - or should I say taproom as it is called.
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A taproom is not just a bar, but a place to discover craft made by the brewery. Fortunately I'm a big craft fan, always looking for the next new flavour to try and, as it turns out, Black Cloak was the perfect place for it.
While it is not uncommon to see a drinks menu at an eatery, or at least a pub-focused bar, finding a 10 page menu exclusively filled with drinks was not what I expected to find. Admittedly, I'd gone in as default and walked up to the bar to order my drink without really stopping to think about it, picking a Suspended in Simcoe Pale ale up on tap.
I was happy to find this was still an exemplary choice even after looking at the menu, as it was light, refreshing and fruity, while not heavy despite being an ale - which I typically avoid in the summer. Even if you are not an ale fan though, with the extensive and well chosen menu on offer here, you are bound to find some kind of drink you'll like.
I could have easily spent a good afternoon working through all the excellent options available here. Often with real ale bars you'll get a handful of good options, backed up with old reliable lagers, but Black Cloak bucks this trend to focus solely on unique and interesting options.
Feeling a little peckish I decided to pick up a snack with my pint, and even here the choices were beyond the normal. While the offerings were still traditional bar snacks in principle, they were clearly chosen for a particular reason. The snacks even came with suggestions as to what drinks they were best paired with.
I opted for a pack of mini pickles, which I have never seen in bar before, and I'm sure many people will think me mad for choosing, but I love them. It was quite the novelty to snack on pint-sized pickles while I enjoyed my regular sized pint.
One thing in particular about Black Cloak is it doesn't have the setting or the vibe of a typical bar, instead on first glance it looks more like a café with a menu full of booze. Personally, I quite enjoyed the setting. It was light and welcoming, with some great artwork on the walls, and you can easily see it being a great social space for people.
Frankly speaking I got a little too comfortable at the venue a little too quickly, and I couldn't convince myself to leave. Had I come with company it would probably have taken a small miracle to pull me out of there. Black Cloak is a great taproom, well worth a visit for any fans of a solid pint, or even just a refreshing venue - I'm only sorry it has taken me this long to visit.
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