please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
At last, I got in! Alan, the previous and decidedly strange landlord has finally gone, and the pub has been taken over by a young couple who recently ran The Pilot in Upper Stone Street. What has changed? Almost nothing, its still brown and cream but the atmosphere is so much much better. And its clean! The friendliness is refreshing and the landlord and his wife are chatty. Excellent well kept Goachers beers and freshly made to order rolls. Its now what it should have been all along, a lovely friendly old fashioned local with good beer. 10/10.
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My 3rd pub of the day heading back into town. The Rifle Volunteer is a Goacher's tied pub that is left back in the 70's....which is quality in my book, the landlord looks like he hasn't seen daylight for many a year.
3 good Goacher's beers on tap as well as Hurliman's lager.
No music, no television and no fruit machines just good honest conversation.
This really is a decent old fashioned back street local that has to be visited during a Maidstone trip, you will not be disappointed if you like ale and conversation.
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My God, visiting this pub was like going back forty years. Just me, one other customer and the distinctly strange landlord on a wet Wednesday evening. Even the beer Goacher's Mild had that distinctive just going off favour I remember all too much from my student days.
Why is it so empty for a pub in the GBG and the local CAMRA branch's Pub of the Year 2012. Perhaps it is some internal CAMRA joke.
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I think all the posters make valid points. It IS quirky, it is quiet, the beer is good and it's just plain different to any other pub in Maidstone. I think it's worth a visit so you can make your own mind up if you love it or hate it. Personally I very much like it for what it is, a a quiet, old fashioned, beer-focussed pub.
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I think Paul Rochdale's right, but also quite wrong. It IS a decidedly odd place; it can be a bit like drinking in a morgue.But it's eccentricity is one of the best reasons for loving this place, and others like it (if any such exist!).
As for its opening hours, I believe the landlord is Maidstone's longest serving, and personally, being of a generation whose drinking habits were formed when EVERY pub was shut at 3 in the afternoon, I don't begrudge him a bit of time to put his feet up.
I don't visit the place often, but I'm very glad to know that it's there when its idiosyncratic atmosphere happens to suit my mood.
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It's been many years since I visited the Rifle Volunteer, one of the strangest and oddest of Maidstone's pubs. It was like drinking in a mortuary, utterly utterly silent with no customers and a very odd scruffy landlord. Goachers has only two tied houses and both deserve sorting out. I visited the Rifle Volunteers yesterday afternoon at 3pm and (surprise, surprise) found it shut. So it was off to the Society Rooms followed by a 'real pub', the Flower Pot. I'll reserve my score until such time I can get through the door!
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This is a vintage pub and a credit to the town - great beer no frills
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If you like your pubs of an old fashioned style then this is a must visit if in Maidstone. No telly, no machines, no other associated garbage just a straightforward old style pub selling proper beer (Goachers in ths case). The pint of pale was drinkable if not top notch but the pub makes up for that. Not only do you feel like stepping back in time but the price of a pint was a clear 10/- less than what the nearest equivalent place charged for something similar. The previous duck related persons comment was about 20 years off the mark as I would say it's more like trip back to 1962.
anonymous - 12 Mar 2011 23:14 |
A fantastic pub with great Goachers beer. This is how a pub should be: no music, no TV and no chrome! Just great beer and chat with locals and the Landlord.
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There are old-school pubs; and then there's this place, which feels like it's come straight out of Life on Mars. If that sounds like a place you'd like to visit, then come here; if not, you may find the ambience unsettling. The Goachers beer was excellent.
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This is a great retreat. Whenever you walk in you feel incredibly self concious that perhaps you aren't quite good enough for such a exclusive pub. The fact there is very often no one there is a blessing and I hope it somehow stays liek this whilst staying in business. The goachers, whilst not my favourite of ales, is kept well and complements the interior nicely. 'Alan' reminds me of Uma Thurmans trainer in Kill Bill. Rarely does he speak or move but quite clearly he is a master of the old game.
OhMyE - 29 May 2010 15:41 |
Excellent beer and a landlord who knows how to keep his beers in tip-top condition. He takes a while getting to know, but when you have he has a good sense of humour. A pub that is from the past and well worth finding.
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Fabulous trip back to 1982 today in this time capsule boozer. The landlord isn't exactly the life and soul but I rather enjoyed his understated grumpiness. Goachers was good quality and the lack of music a plus. On the downside, it's about -2 outside today but this hadn't prompted them to turn the heating on - us and the other two customers all kept our coats on to survive. While tidy, the wooden chairs were rickety and felt in danger of collapse if one leaned back overenthusiastically - a dab of glue on the joints would be in order. The approach of Christmas has clearly made no impression here, with not a bauble in sight! Enjoyed my visit - I didn't think places like this still existed but am delighted to find this one.
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I suggest that Alehead starts engaging with Alan. He really is quite affable and I also suggest he tries and visit the Rifle in the evening. Like many other pubs Alan has lost a lot of lunchtime trade. Try and go on a Thursday night when Maidstome Rowing club are there.
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Made a trip here while my wife had business in town. Alehead1 says it's strange and that's true but in a way that I like. There was one other customer, whom I engaged in conversation, along with Alan. I had Goachers Fine Ale for the first time. it was a good pint and so was the conversation. I learnt more about Maidstone in 40min than I could have anywhere else. Fantastic!
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I do worry about this little pub, Everytime I come to Maidstone i make a point of coming in here because it is so unique, but as I walk to the door each time I often wonder If it will be open, as I grasp the latch i would never be surprised for the door to be locked! and to find out that the pub had closed for good!
But luckily that is not the case today, I enter and as usual am the only customer, 'it often feels like the film Groundhog Day', as nothing changes, Ever!!!!
Alan nods (that's quite a good welcoming for him) I have fine Light.
I sit and read my paper and drink my lovely pint pf Goachers, as Alan walks round the bar and stares out the window. I admit that I have never really in all my times of using this pub have I really engaged in a deep conservation with Alan but, Surly that is his job????
I do love this pub the way it is but can it really continue?
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In Maidstone again so hunting out my usual drinking haunts.
I have been slightly disappointed on my last few visits to this wonderful pub but i love the pub so much i have to pay it a visit.
As i open the door the landlord (I now know him to be called Alan) looks at me with daggers, he explains that he needs to take food to the elderly across the road so was going to shut but decides to serve me first then carry out his delivery!!
only 2 beers on Mild and Fine Light, Alan explains that he has dropped Silver Star as its too dry and not popular, but judging by the sheer lack of customers only 2 ales on is probably a good idea!!
I decide to have the Fine Light, OK! but still not up to the quality it use to be when i have visited this pub, condition wise it was fine but seemed sweeter than usual and far too warm.
Alan leaves the pub for what seems like ages to deliver his food parcel, I'm left waiting with an empty glass, I wait for him to return then leave!
such a strange way to run a pub but then that sums this pub up really, STRANGE!!!!
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have used this pub many times when i come to maidstone,I love the pub as it is what it is, an old basic pub that has not been ruined.
I must say though the last few times I've been in the beer has not been up to scratch, the real mild was tart, the silver star was very hazy and the fine light although tasted OK it lacked condition, all 3 were also very warm.
I think the sever lack of customers does not help matters as my last 4 visits,all of them lunch times, I've been the only customer in there.
I dont think the landlord helps matters, it is if he does not really want you in there!
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Like drinking in your Nan's front room...but thats the charm!
Superb Goacher's on offer,Silver Star/Fine Light and Mild plus Hooolies for you Lager boys! Nothing else....
If you can 'enjoy' the ambience you possibly won't find a better pint in town...try for yourselves and keep this establishment alive!
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No distractions here. Just civilised conversation and an opportunity to savour what must be some of the finest beer in Kent. Three Goacher's beers that are all exceptionally good and served in perfect condition at a remarkably reasonable price. (Curiously there is a lager available. Why would you?)
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A great little pub with great beer. Long may it continue
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Thoroughly depressing and for old men. If you're a young professional (ie you're under 60 and you have a job), don't bother. Woeful and unpleasant.
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great little boozer, beer excellent,this and "FIRST AND LAST" have to be the smallest and best pubs in maidstone.
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This pub is a time warp - but great beer, love the crocheted seat cushions - not the place to go wild, but to sit and chat, contemplate and enjoy the quieter things of life over a pint of goachers.
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This was the second pub (after the Queen Anne!) I walked into in Maidstone when I was based there nearly 7 years ago. It is heartening to know it remains almost unchanged since that time. Upon my entry striking up a conversation with the laconic landlord, he warned (tongue-in-cheek) that bringing the 'Daily Telegraph' in again would result in a life ban.
Joking aside, pub is a small one bar local serving beers from the small Goachers brewery based across the river in Maidstone. One of only two tied houses, conversation is key here and the landlord and landlady are almost a throwback to a different era. Amazing the place survives given the proximity of the town centre, but it does have an 'ace in the hole', in that the beer (Goachers Fine Light and Dark Mild, as well as periodic appearances of the sublime Crown Imperial Stout) both tastes magnificent, is reasonably proced and exceptionally well-kept.
If Theme pubs or loud music are your tastes, avoid. Otherwise, thoroughly recommended.
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I'm all for quiet pubs where you can have a decent conversation, but the Rifle Volunteer takes this to extremes. In fairness I've only ever been there early on weekday evenings when it was next to empty, but the funereal silence was a bit off-putting. It was a bit like drinking in your old aunt's house, right down to the hand kintted seat cushions.
That said, I've always found the place perfectly welcoming and the Goacher's beers are excellent (especially the Imperial Stout) and surprisingly cheap. I find it quite comforting that in this day and age a strange little pub like this can survive without showing any apparent intentions to change with the times. Good on you Rifle Volunteer.
(As an after-thought, I should warn any potential female customers (a long-shot I know) to be careful when you're in the loo. As my long-suffering wife discovered there's something wrong with the door latch and its easy to get locked in.)
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Is this pub a p**s take!?!? You need to be about 80 to feel at home here!
Leebs - 16 Feb 2007 21:21 |
Step back in time to the 19??s, but enjoy one or two of Goacher's excellent local brews in this, one of only two, tied houses.
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Having walked the 250 yards from The Style & Winch, you encounter this gem - it's a Goacher's pub!
Three Goacher's ales on hand pump, all in splendid condition - the Stout was particularly good - once you'ver tried it, you'd not want to try Guinness/Beamish/Murphy's again.
No junk-box, no fruit machine, just a good old fashioned back street boozer where you can drink superb ale, and have a sensible conversation. As a result of my visit, I had to severely curtail my planed crawl. Ho hum, always another occasion, I suppose.
9/10
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Small and curiously bland old man's one room pub with a quiet atmosphere. Feels a bit like an old British Rail waiting room. There's a small collection of old beer bottles behind the bar to provide some interest. Despite the unpromising appearance this is a good place to drink Goacher's beers in perfect condition, and to have a decent conversation.
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Myself and some friends came into this (empty) pub on a friday night and were greeted with the words 'are you sure you are in the right place?'. Not the best welcome ever. I guess they think young people don't like good beer. Anyway the imperial stout was tasty but we left soon after the first drink.
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A gem! This pub is a very small and intimate relic of the 1960s, affording all the excellent qualities of how a basic boozer used to (and ought to) be. The range of Goachers beers on hanpump are in perfect condition and you are guaranteed a warm friendly welcome. It is easily the best beer pub in Maidstone due to the Pilot having sadly changed hands - and character last year. Visit this pub - you'll be glad you did!
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