Right now at The Blackfriars Tavern, we have a small wooden cask from Ampersand Brewery filled with their Whisky Barrel Aged Stout · 5.4% ABV. This is proper “beer from the wood” — traditional real ale served on gravity direct from the barrel, straight out of the cellar.

The whisky barrel ageing gives this stout a depth and character you just don’t get from a standard cask. There’s something about the wood that softens and enriches the beer, adding gentle oak notes and a whisper of the spirit that came before it. It’s a slow, patient sort of drink — something worth taking your time over.

It’s available now, while stocks last. And with a small cask like this, stocks really won’t last long.

Ask at the bar, find a quiet corner, and enjoy a proper pint of something a little different.

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It’s back. The Mr Winters Creme-Bru-Latte — the Coffee Caramel & Vanilla Milk Stout originally created to help us celebrate becoming East Anglia CAMRA Pub of the Year 2025— has arrived on the bar at Blackfriars Tavern.

Brewed by Mr Winters Brewery in Norwich, this is the same beer that combines two favourites: their Vanilla Latte Milk Stout (2025 silver medalist in the speciality flavoured category) with the caramel warmth of the ever-popular Caramel Mild. The result is a smooth, indulgent stout with coffee, caramel and vanilla notes that work together rather better than they have any right to.

Available while stocks last.

Available now at The Blackfriars Tavern. Ask at the bar. A proper pint of something worth taking your time over.

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New on the bar and well worth seeking out: Skipper from Moon Gazer – The Norfolk Brewhouse. Brewed by Rachel and David Holliday on their family farm in Hindringham, North Norfolk, this is a proper local pint with a story behind it.

First brewed back in 2019, Skipper sits somewhere between a pale ale and an IPA — balanced, with body and bite. It’s crafted using Maris Otter barley and a blend of four hop varieties, delivering layers of fruity flavour balanced by a smooth malt backbone and a clean, crisp finish. At 4.4%, it’s the sort of beer you can settle into for the evening.

The name Moon Gazer comes from the hares that roam Norfolk’s moonlit fields — a fitting name for a brewery that started life as Norfolk Brewhouse before rebranding in 2019. The Hollidays brew out of a converted barn on their farm, and their beers have picked up plenty of awards along the way.

Available now at The Blackfriars Tavern. Ask at the bar, find a seat, and enjoy a proper Norfolk pint.

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The resulting video, titled I visited the UK’s OFFICIAL BEST cider pub, is a proper look at what makes this place tick. Rose called it “the dream British pub” — and we’re inclined to agree.

Robbie and Rose spent time in the bar sampling the ciders (including a rather good rhubarb number), took in the bar billiards, tucked into some pies, and soaked up the atmosphere that makes Blackfriars what it is: homely, community-driven, a hidden gem, and very much a real local neighbourhood pub.

Watch the feature

Video: I visited the UK’s OFFICIAL BEST cider pub
Channel: Robbie Knox on YouTube
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch/D-klzZhikPg

We’re proud to have had Robbie and Rose visit, and grateful for the kind words about the pub, the ciders, and the atmosphere. It’s a lovely reminder of what happens when people who care about good drink and good company find their way to Great Yarmouth.

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Juicy, soft and tropical -bursting with peach, passionfruit and tropical fruit, smooth, hazy and well-balanced with vibrant hop aroma and flavours with a clean fruity punch. Using locally grown barley, oats and wheat with Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra, Azacca and Nectaron hops.

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Available now, while stocks last at the Blackfriars Tavern, recently judged to be the National CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain

Christine Cryne, Champion Beer of Britain Judging Coordinator described Independence as:

“A pale strong beer. Strong enticing citrus nose, with piney hops. Caramelised citrus, tangerines, grapefruit and digestive biscuits lead to dry peppery bittersweet finish, which lingers. Refreshing full flavoured, fruity and smooth.”

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Vibrant and zesty, this cloudy wheat beer is packed with flavour and backs it up with a full mouthfeel. Soft on bitterness this is a very quaffable spring treat. Vegan friendly!

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There’s a particular kind of joy that arrives with the first proper sunshine of the year — and we’ve timed our latest draught addition perfectly. Meet Nirvana by Tricky Cider: a sparkling medium cider from the Somerset Levels that more than earns its name.

What Is Nirvana?

Nirvana is a 5% ABV sparkling medium cider made by Tricky Cider at Netherham Farm, Low Ham, near Langport in Somerset. It arrived on the bar here at Blackfriars on 24 April 2026 — and if you’ve been putting up with industrial keg cider, this is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed.

Clean and crisp on the pour, it has that characteristic Somerset snap: a blend of bittersweet and bittersharp apples giving it genuine tannin structure and balanced acidity. Medium-sweet without ever becoming cloying. Full-flavoured, with a crisp, refreshing finish. This is the glass of cider you actually want to sit in the sun with.

Real Cider. Properly Made.

This matters: Nirvana is the real thing.

It’s made entirely from 100% real apple juice — no concentrate, no shortcuts. The draught version is unfiltered and unfined, meaning it carries all the raw character of the farm directly into your glass. Fermentation happens naturally, using airborne wild yeasts — the kind that drift across the orchards of the Somerset Levels and settle where they please. Sweetness is balanced with cane sugar only; not a single artificial sweetener in sight.

The result is a cider with genuine structure: proper tannins from proper bittersweet apples, real acidity from bittersharp varieties, and the kind of depth that comes from twenty years of doing it right.

This isn’t a fruit drink dressed up in a cider glass. It’s the real thing.

The Story Behind the Glass

Tricky Cider has been making real Somerset cider since 2004, when it was founded by Steve Watkins and Alistair Brice — the name itself a nod to the historic ‘Trickey Warren’ on the Somerset Levels. Today the business is in the sole hands of Matt Gillett, who took ownership in 2019 and moved production to Netherham Farm in 2023, establishing proper on-site pressing for the first time.

What makes Matt’s story worth telling — and what makes Tricky Cider worth seeking out — is this: he doesn’t just press cider from the orchards. He maintains them. Every year, Matt personally prunes and cares for the heritage apple trees on the Somerset Levels. That’s not a marketing line. That’s conservation work that most people never see and few cider drinkers ever think about.

Without people like Matt tending traditional orchards, the biodiversity disappears. The apple varieties disappear. And the flavour that makes real Somerset cider what it is — that deep, tannic, complex character you can’t fake with concentrate — disappears with them.

Tricky Cider also holds a connection to the legendary Hecks Cider of Street, Somerset, where the apples were previously pressed before establishing independent production. It’s a heritage lineage worth respecting.

Why Now?

Because the beer garden is calling.

Because the sun is — finally — out.

Because you deserve something better than the fizzy beige stuff from a multinational tap.

Nirvana is the ideal sunshine pour: refreshing enough for your first pint on a warm afternoon, complex enough to reward proper attention. It’s a genuine alternative to industrial cider, and it’s here on draught, cold and ready.

The name says it all. Bliss in a glass. The summer feeling.

Come and Find Yours

Nirvana by Tricky Cider is on draught at The Blackfriars Tavern now.

Ask at the bar. Sit outside. Find yours.

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Listen Up! is a Czech-style lager with a malt base of pilsner, torrefied wheat and rice and hopped with a fresh crop of Czech saaz hops. Fermented low and slow, giving you a super crisp lager with big grassy aromas. 

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Presentation will be from 13:00 on 1st October 2025, this is an open event and all are welcome!

CAMRA’s overall Cider and Perry Pub of the Year 2025 has been won by the Blackfriars Tavern in Great Yarmouth.

The competition recognises the best pub or social club that champions real cider and perry across the UK. Judges are looking for great atmosphere, décor, welcome, service, inclusivity, overall impression and, most importantly, quality cider and perry.

The Blackfriars Tavern is a Victorian corner pub, which has quickly become a must visit destination for cider and perry lovers. With more than 20 locally sourced real ciders available, and some from further afield, it is easy to see why!

Next to the historic 13th century town walls, the pub offers a warm welcome to families, dogs and cyclists, serving renowned home-cooked pies and hearty meals.

Not only has it won this top accolade, but it is also in the running to win CAMRA’s overall Pub of the Year title, after being announced as one of the UK’s top 16 pubs in August.

Along with East Anglian ciders and perries, the pub stocks eight ever-changing cask beers with two permanently on the bar from the on-site Blackfriars Tavern brewery, plus a wide choice of bottled Belgian beers.

Blackfriars Tavern landlord and freeholder Pharez Smith said:

“Oh my word, oh my word! We are overjoyed to be named CAMRA’s Cider and Perry Pub of the Year 2025. This award is a tribute to our wonderful customers who create the welcoming atmosphere that makes our pub special. We also thank the incredible producers, whose skill and dedication fill our cellars with variety and quality. 

“Five and a half years ago we began major renovations on this disused pub, and what a journey it has been. We’ve loved connecting with our customers through a shared passion for real cider and perry. Finally, we are hugely grateful to CAMRA for their tireless work in championing these traditional drinks, and we are proud to be part of that story.”

Cider and Perry Pub of the Year coordinator Sarah Newson said:

“Congratulations to the team at the Blackfriars Tavern – it is a real gem of a pub and well worth seeking out. With the pub winning CAMRA’s ultimate cider and perry accolade, and also in contention for winning overall Pub of the Year, this is an exciting time for pubgoers in Great Yarmouth and East Anglia.

“Along with the Blackfriars Tavern, our three finalists and all the regional and national winners in this competition show just how wonderfully varied the UK cider and perry scene is today. If your knowledge of cider or perry is limited to the large commercial brands sold cheaply in supermarkets, I urge you to seek out these pubs to see just how amazing and varied these traditional drinks really are.”

The other finalists in the Cider and Perry Pub of the Year 2025 are: Carpenters Arms in Westrip, Gloucestershire; That Beer Place (last year’s winner) in Chester, Cheshire; and Bull and Dragon in Meeth, Devon. 

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