Walking down Bala High Street you're not short of places to go for a drink. Within less than a quarter-of-a-mile there's about half a dozen places to choose from. But among those long-running pubs and inns is a place that offers something completely different.
Owner Neil and Fiona opened Stori back in 2015. The bottle shop and tap room appears to have gone from strength to strength since then and comes highly recommended with a perfect online rating from hundreds of reviews.
On their website, they claim to stock "the widest selection of Welsh beers in North Wales" - a big claim, but after paying a visi8t it's hard to think of anywhere else that comes close. There are rows upon rows of different beers and ales from all over the country, in bottle-form and on tap.
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When I visited, there were beers from every corner of North Wales, from Pen Llŷn to Yr Wyddgrug - and that's before I even got to the bar which had 12 different beer options on tap - as well as cider, wine and cocktails. Whether you want a mosaic pale ale or a nice crisp lager, there'll be something for you.
If something has taken your fancy on one of the shelves in the shop you can just grab a bottle and take a seat for a £1 cover charge, which is great value. Taprooms can often be a bit pricy - after all, you're paying for the good stuff - but the prices at Stori are as good as it gets when it comes to local beers.
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You don't get these options in many places, and normally there's a bit of a premium with some of the lesser-known local options, which is fine. But the tap menu here starts at £3 for two thirds of a pint and £5.50 for a litre to takeaway - which are almost Wetherspoon prices.
I recognised the names of about half of the breweries on the menu, but of the ones I knew, I hadn't tried any of the specific crafts that were on offer. You can get a pint of Llandudno's Wildhorse - normally a Nokota or Buckskin - all over North Wales, but Stori were serving 'Y Ddolen Fawr' which I'd never seen on tap before.
A pint of Nokota can range anywhere from £4.50 to £6, depending on where you go. A two-thirds of 'Y Ddolen Fawr' at Stori was £4 - or £8 as a litre to takeaway - and being a fan of the popular Llandudno brewery, I ordered a glass and took a seat.
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Trying a new beer is always exciting and novelty in and of itself, but there's something even more enjoyable when you're doing it in somewhere like Stori. The seating area behind the bar is compact but has a really nice, relaxed vibe. There's about five tables to choose from with an old chapel pew with scattered cushions made from old coffee sacks along the wall.
It's a very appealing place to sit with a beer, especially with the quarry tile floor beneath, and is a great spot to go with a small group of friends. Briefly on the beer itself - it was a floral pale ale with a nice bitter finish, a slightly heavier and stronger option than the brewery's flagship Nokota, but still session-able - definitely another winner from Wildhorse.
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If you're going with someone who's not really into ales, there's a good-looking cocktail menu as well which, like the beer menu, is reasonably priced with the different drinks priced between £5 and £6. As I was leaving they were setting up mics at the front for live music which they have regularly in the evenings/
Sadly I couldn't stick around for longer, but I'll definitely be coming back the next time I'm in Bala. If you're a fan of local Welsh beer then it doesn't get any better than this - just make sure to leave enough time for your visit as once you've seen the selection in Stori, you won't want to leave.
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