Housed in a former parsonage adjacent to St Michael’s and All Saints Church, Cloisters has been a magnet for students, tourists and discerning beer heads since it opened in the late 1990s. Inside,
it has an open fire, the odd pew, big tables, mirrors and boardgames, although the stars of the show are behind the bar. There are normally nine real ales on tap from small indie breweries (no big
generic names here) – perhaps Cairngorm, Highland, Stewart’s, Suffolk’s Green Jack or Oakham. A 70-strong list of single malts chalked up on a blackboard, and there are some decent rums and bottled
beers too. Booze is something of a religion here, and beer even creeps into the basic bar menu (lunch and midweek evenings) – think roasted pork belly on mash with black pudding and Brewdog Punk
IPA sauce.