Rat And Ratchet

Brewery, Bar, Eatery

40 Chapel Hill (A616 Below Ring Road)
Huddersfield, England
United Kingdom

+44 (0)1484 516734 | map
ratandratchet.co.uk
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Ratings by TheLongBeachBum:
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Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

4.13/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
As you arrive at Huddersfield Railway Station, it is impossible not to work up a thirst, for there are now 2 bars in the Station. We elected to make the 10 minute walk to the Rat & Ratchet for our first beer here.

Formerly the Grey Horse Inn, a bunch of local CAMRA enthusiasts formed ‘Rodent Inns’ & purchased the Pub in 1996. It opened with the sole intention of serving an unequalled range of Real Ale. It did just that. In '98 it was sold to the present owners, who subsequently increased the range, & added a 3.5 barrel micro-brewery in the basement.

I have been coming to the Rat & Ratchet since 1987, & it has always been a ‘solid’ Real Ale house that sold a great range of Guest Beers in top form. I was glad to see that nothing had changed on my recent trip back to England.

The wooden bar is set back to your left hand side as you enter the establishment. Wooden floorboards are in the area in front of the bar. It has been opened out from memory to make more room & a seating area that incorporates one of the front windows. There is a more intimate raised seating area to the right, & a well furnished back room. Brewery memorabilia adorns the walls; most of it is pre-60’s & original.

The row of shiny brass & black handled 14 Beer Engines, each with its own colorful Pump-Clip advertising its wares – was a sight to behold for someone who had not been in the UK for over a year. Regular beers are Green King Abbot, Pictish Brewers Gold, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Ram Tam & Dark Mild. The rest of the Pumps are free for Guest Beers. I chose to start with a Taylor’s Dark Mild, a favorite style of mine & a very rarely seen offering from the Keighley based brewery, it is also an excellent tasty Dark Mild at 3.5%. My 2nd was from the guest beer list; Durham Magus, a 3.8% golden summer ale that was extremely quaffable. I finished with the Rats own beer; Church Mouse – which was OK, but did not live up to the quality of the previous brace of beers.

Food is local home-made fare & excellent value. Lunches are served Wed. through Sat. Wednesdays is also Curry Night, which is extremely popular, Real Ale & Indian food go well together.

As the local song goes;
“I used to know a woman, who always liked her Udders-feeled”.

Well I like Huddersfield as well; it has several great Real Ale bars that make it well worth a visit. The Rat & Ratchet was, and still is, the best of these.

Last Visit: 15th April 2003
May 24, 2003
Rat And Ratchet in Huddersfield, GB2, United Kingdom
Place rating: 0 out of 5 with 1 ratings