We visited a Market Drayton pub which is a rich mixture of local pub and food hub and has got some exciting plans for more opportunies

The Stag in Market Drayton is exactly that type of pub, having become the temporary base of Joule's Brewery's taphouse as its existing pub The Red Lion is undergoing significant refurbishment into the Autumn.

The pub on Great Hales Street was acquired by the neighbouring brewery in 2024 and opened to the pub at the end of April, with Joule's saying that it had wanted to enhance its brewery operations, as well as use the entire courtyard around it as part of its concept.

As the Red Lion reopens, the Stag will transition into a special event for hire, where people can hire the whole pub, including the massive events hall, and only have to pay for the cost of food and drink.

For the time being, the Stag is currently operating as a pub and taproom for the brewery and has a feeling of appearing small on the outside, but then opening up into a huge venue once you pass through the doors, with unique architecture and features present in all the different parts of the pub.

General manager Chris Turner said he had been part of the process to get the pub ready to open and said that while it had been a baptism of fire, it had also been a very rewarding experience due to the popularity of the pub.

He said: "I've been with the company since December, so it's been a baptism of fire for me coming into Joule's, not just by learning about the brand and the pubs, but also about opening a new one.

"The Stag was its own pub and has been a long-standing part of the Market Drayton pub scene with a huge history and lots of loyal drinkers and we've had a lot of people coming in and saying that they've loved the Red Lion, but want to come here as well.

"There's definitely a lot of noise around the place and while the Red Lion is the main place and will be when it reopens, the Stag fits in nicely and doesn't feel like a spare part and has its own kind of identity."

The pub is a place for all people, with Mr Taylor saying that every type of demographic had had a nice time there, from the older people playing dominoes in the club room to younger people sitting in the smoke room and on the terrace, while the games room is full of all kinds of activities, from darts to shuffleboard to skittles.

He said the pub was also a nice mixture of wet-led and dry-led, saying that the demand for either could vary depending on the day.

He said: "I think if you break it down, we're slight more wet-led, maybe a 70/30 split, but for example, when we cashed up on Sunday, it felt like 50/50 because we sold that many Sunday roasts.

"There's been a huge growth in that and we're seeing a huge upturn in our Sunday roasts, but when we opened this pub, we always wanted the bar and the drinks to take centre stage.

"That meant the shiniest brass, cleanest bar towels and perfect pint glasses to pour the beer into, and we let the beer speak for itself, so our Green Monkey Lager sells the most, with five to eight barrels a week of that selling.

"After that, the most popular are the Blonde and the Pale, which sell really well in their own right and it's a testament to how well the beer is made and kept that people are buying cask ale on a hot and sunny day."

Mr Turner said the pub's location in the town also made it a haven for tourists, with plenty keen to try the different beers, and said he remembered a group of Lithuanians coming into the pub and asking about lager and while initially apprehensive about the Green Monkey, ended up buying 30 pints between them.

The beer is one of the top parts of the Stag, but the food makes a strong statement as well, with items like beef stir fry, Korean Barbecue pork and a special pepperoni and pork burger among the showstoppers, as well as the famous Sunday roasts.

He said the pub had become very much part of his life and he loved being part of the running of it and the life of it.

He said: "It's a relatively new thing in my life, but I got married last year and my wife Isabelle and I moved back over this way as I grew up here and, since being back, it's just fallen into my life.

"It's become a real safe space for me and when I go on holiday, I look forward to coming back and seeing the staff and regulars and it's almost like a home away from home."