This modern-refurbished Laine chain pub gives a nod to England's traditional Gin palaces
110 Church Road
Hove
BN3 2EB
01273 772929
HELLO@OLDALBION.PUB
When Laine took over The Albion in 2017 they lost the ‘The’ from the name (as they tend to do with most of their pubs) and added the word ‘Old’, which is kind of ironic considering they then made the pub look as modern as it’s probably ever looked.
Football fans might be interested to know that the word Albion is tied to local sports history. A local blog suggests that Brighton & Hove Albion FC could owe its 1901 re-naming – from United to Albion – to the fact that a club board member owned this pub at the time, then called the Albion Inn.
Albion, by the way, is an ancient word for our humble white-cliffed island, and Laine Pub Co. tell me that adding ‘Old’ to the name was a nod to the traditional English gin palaces of a few hundred years ago, something this pub is trying up to emulate.
PUB DESCRIPTION
Prior to its re-fit the pub had a reputation for being a dingy and dated, but loveable escape-the-trouble-and-strife type of place. Alas this pub blogger never did visit this now lost iteration in order to compare, but that crowd must have moved on because I discovered a bright, kid-friendly, modernised, open plan, hipster focused establishment.
The front facade of the pub is clean and inviting, with the original front windows looking incredible against the Tamplins green tiles. Entering the pub there is a vast expanse of open floor space with a long bar along the right wall, and lots of seating to the left. Banquette seating snakes along the front window and down the left wall, with a few tables along it until you reach the far corner where a big leather sofa creates a more intimate area.
The inside colour scheme works well with the period ceiling features. Sleek wood and eye-catching tiles are featured, and there’s a bit of a ‘ruin bar’ vibe where a doorway to what once must have been a walled-off section has been knocked through – but the doorway remains.
In the other front corner, four gold-painted casks dangle above a couple of small tables. There’s also a bit of ols distillery equipment sitting in the corner, which provides perhaps the only reference to anything truly ‘Old’ in this pub, but this jars with a random chicken fairground ride and traffic lights across the way… Sometimes pubs can be guilty of throwing token tut into the mix in an attempt to inject some humour for younger clientele; personally I just don’t get why it’s there when it adds nothing to the key theme of the pub.
The back room down the stairs is different, decorated with plastic hanging flowers and fairly lights; it’s nice but the decorative budget was clearly focused on the main space. From this room you can access a little faux-grass covered back garden with space for a five or six small benches. I don’t think you’ll ever get much sun here, but it is an outdoor space.
BEER OPTIONS
The chalk-written beer wall nicely highlights the beer options above a neat row of taps, however just because it’s written in chalk I kind of doubt that the options rotate much at all. Half of the list is dedicated to major brands and three of them to Laine’s own beers. Then there’s US import Lagunitas (Heineken owned) and Irish option Chieftain from Franciscan Wells (Molson Coors); this is usually the cheap option at Indigo pubs but here it’s one of the most expensive on offer (it is simply an awful beer which is good for nothing but hangovers).
So by my guess the only truly craft taps are the bottom two, which today were Gosnells Honey Mead (random) and a Cloak and Dagger DDH pale – thankfully this happens to be one of my favourites from C&D. I didn’t see any cask pumps, and if there was a craft fridge I didn’t spot it; and the ladies behind the bar, who were incredibly nice and chatty, didn’t point me to cans as alternatives.
If beer’s not your thing then the pub is now ‘gin obsessed’, according to their website, with more than 20 gins available. Well it is Hove after all.
CONCLUSION
I really like the main space of this pub. With some great tunes playing in the background this seemed to hit the modern yet shabby-trad vibe you feel this bar is going for. Despite being a huge and empty space when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon, it didn’t feel lifeless or dull. My one-year-old daughter and dog were both very welcome, as were a couple of other families with babies who arrived after us. As long as there’s a decent local craft beer on the list I’d definitely spend time here again.
Old Albion is a nice pub, absolutely great space. However I think the space in the pub stands out even more when there is limited number of customers and a emphasis on being seated.
As for the old crowd have moved on, The Albion pub was arguably one of the most popular with a local fee, for many it was a good staring/meeting point. Friday and Saturday always very busy with great atmosphere and sport teamed up with live music.
I have up on roughly my third or fourth attempt with Old Albion as I felt there was absolutely no atmosphere and at times smelling of strong cleaning products, particularly in the afternoon (put me off ordering food).
Unsure if the pub has developed some atmosphere since I was last in there, I hope so.