A popular craft beer shop in Southport has made a comeback under new management.
The Beer Inn has opened its doors at 657 Lord Street, in the bustling ‘Northern Quarter’, in the site of the former Inn Beer Shop. The new venue has been revamped and offers the most comprehensive selection of beers and lagers from across Europe in Southport.
The Beer Inn is owned by Nik Weatherby, who opened the successful Forty Seven café and bar in Kew last year. Nik and his team have carried renovated the premises and will soon be serving food of a similar standard to Forty Seven, with its famous cheese platters, charcuterie platters and more.
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Nik was a huge fan of the original Inn Beer Shop when it first opened, owned by well-known local couple Peter and Pam Bardsley. He is determined to build on its reputation for a huge choice of beers, carefully sourced and selected from all corners of the world.
The business owner is also keen to support local brands too, with an array of beers on offer from the likes of Southport Brewery. Outside, the bar provides an ideal setting for a relaxing beverage in the sun as the warmer months roll in, with tables and chairs set up on the historic Lord Street boulevard.
Nik said: "This area of Lord Street, this part of the ‘Northern Quarter’ is really busy now, with us here, along with other places such as House Of Ivy, Lords, Ra Bar and others. It's quite a nice little area. It's a good group of places that you don’t get anywhere else.
"It’s nice and relaxing, we get a really good crowd here. The Great Himalayas restaurant is very popular too, we get people coming in here for drinks before or after their meal. When we open the doors, the smell from there is amazing."
Nik has been working hard on the character of the Beer Inn, taking the best of the past and adding his own new ideas. He continued: "We really wanted to go back a little to how this bar was when it was the Inn Beer Shop. I used to enjoy coming in when Peter and Pam ran the bar. This was Southport’s first micropub. It was brilliant at its peak.
"It was always a place I loved drinking in - it was a real shame when it shut. I was really pleased to be able to open it again. We have got lots of IPAs on sale, with more coming in every week. We have got the biggest selection of European beers in Southport with beers from Germany, France, Belgium and elsewhere.
"We want to be able to offer people as much choice as possible - we have around 30-40 different IPAs, German pils, Weiss beers, Belgian lager, stouts, and much more [and] we are increasing the range of draught beers we have on offer.
"We are looking forward to being able to offer food here soon, like we do at Forty Seven. We are going to create a new area where we can prepare food and will be offering things like bratwurst, currywurst, cheese platters, meat platters, and strong cheese platters to complement our IPAs.
“We have lots planned for the future. As well as food options, expect to see quiz nights, and real celebrations of events including The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June and Oktoberfest in October. For the Jubilee, we are going to get some tables to put out at the front of the bar, with lots of Union Jack bunting, and a real selection of English lager and ale.
“For Oktoberfest, I am getting a Bavarian Oompah band in, staff will be dressed in lederhosen, it will be lots of fun. We want to host quiz nights here soon, whisky tasting nights, and to invite a brewery or two down here to do tasting nights. We would love people to interact and to get involved, and to build a real community feeling here like we have at Forty Seven."
The Beer Inn is based at 657 Lord Street, Southport, PR9 0AW.
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