The Malt Shovel Tavern in Northampton

Run by females now who know nothing about beer. Very snoppy service. Had a Belgian beer which was cloudy and tasted sour but her Highness wouldn't have it. Went down in my estimation from 4 star to 1. Used to be my favourite real ale pub in town, no more. Pity, won't go again. Reply to your response. If your staff is so educated in beers why did they have to ask another customer of his opinion about my complaint. As regards to to the description of the beer I had, I don't seem to recall it mentioning the beer to be cloudy. If you are more than happy to provide a taster then could you please explain to me how you do that with bottled beer. I had a taster and found the beer to be off, but your member of staff with her hoity-toity attitude wouldn't have it. You are however correct in point, you have failed in your customer service.

If you like real ales, or Belgian beer or even just beer in general you will like this pub, looking forward to next visit cheers guys!

Great real ale pub, nice choice of nice beers. I have not tried the food so I can't comment on that

There is a new bar snacks menu. Haven't been in to try yet. It has new management, popped in for a quick look. Still has a huge range of drinks and gust drinks.

Rubbish attitude from the staff very rude to the customers have there own little click. Poor food not actually quality.

Great beer, friendly and staff. No fuss or gaudiness, a proper pub. Looks even better after the makeover. Keep up the good work team.

Great pub to have a drink. Well recommended 👌.

Very traditional pub, a proper local type pub.

Not sure about the food. This is the best real ale drinking establishment in Northampton and the surrounding area.

Always friendly staff and a great real ales and other beers. Never eaten here though

Great place for a pint. Excellent selection of beers.

Fantastic little pub with all your traditional beers

Great real ale pub. Good dart board. Real pubs like this are becoming a rarity. This one is a gem!

Excellent, well kept, beer selection. Friendly bar staff.

Great pub, small and friendly. Excellent choice of ales, good live music, lovely atmosphere.

Brilliant local bar, staff and customers are friendly. Have a good selection of drinks.

A really lovely pub, we visited to meet up with my boyfriend’s friends and the staff were really warm and welcoming. It was a really lovely night out.

Pub I class as traditional. Staff are welcoming, friendly and atmosphere is good.

Great choice of real cask ales which appear to be kept very well

Public bar at the front with a nice restaurant at the rear, quite a broad choice of food of decent quantity and quality, the staff are great and add to the experience, idea place for a family to go for lunch or dinner. Reasonable prices for both food and drinks.

Lovely little pub.. Nice and welcoming. Fantastic atmosphere. Met up with work colleagues for a few drinks before moving on to get a curry. Friendly service. Highly recommended pub.

Came all the way from America to have a pint here, this is one of the all time classics, and the staff is so friendly, a must stop for real ale fans.

Lots of different beers which is perfect for me. The locals seemed friendly.

Just popped in for a quick drink on New Years Eve. Did their quiz for the time we were in there. Real Ale Pub and music venue and well known in Northampton for its old world hospitality. Always feel at home in there.

Called in for a drink as they have a good selection of Belgium beers & craft ales.

Great ale and European beers selection. Hot cornish pasties available when we visited (late aftermoon).

Nice place with a good selection of beers, lager and cider. Go middle shelf for the Jura!

Good Pints and great Dartboard!!

An absolute gem in Northampton and well worth searching out if you're new to the town. Always a great selection of ales and beers (including a cheeky Belgian range in the fridge), hosted by friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming staff. What's not to love!

Fantastic range of ales and friendly staff

I love this pub, probably the most beautiful pub in town. A real gem, full of pub culture artifacts, from bygone breweries. A good selection of ale with a limited selection of lager, balanced as all things should be. 10/10.

Excellent pub. Really close to the river so great if you are travelling by boat. Comfortable, clean and with well kept decent beer. The barman on the nights we were in was excellent - friendly and professional. The best pub we visited when in Northampton.

Only a quick pint ,unfortunately. Nice pub , both inside and outside. Friendly service. I sat outside with a very nice pint of Oakham JHB. I wish I'd had time to sample more ales.

Real ale old skool pub, loads of memorabilia in the walls good little beer garden out the back, bar staff really friendly and helpful

Staff are very friendly, nice atmosphere. Nice pint at reasonable prices.

Amazing place! Dedicated bar staff. Don’t try taking a glass because that bar staff is on it. Lovely crowed would return

Great pub, cider and staff. And pasties from the bar are great to.

Lovely litte pub, with great service. There are plenty of beers to try along with a lot of Gin. If you enjoy a nice quaint little pub, this is one to try.

Another good old fashioned English boozer. Lots and lots of different beers & ales, and generally a nice all round pub. 👍

Lovely old pub with excellent, friendly service and a great range of craft beers and ales.

Always a pub, but the last time I turned up it also has a beer and cider vertical! Excellent.

Very traditional pub. Good selection of ales. Friendly. Great atmosphere.

Always a good atmosphere, polite friendly staff, regular live bands plus guest real ales and ciders. Try it, you may just enjoy yourself.

I visited this excellent real ale and real cider pub 3 minutes away from the Albion / Phipps real ale house on Saturday 9th April 2022 This pub is a great real ale house, and i was so impressed with the staff clientelle and propper pub feeling to the place Lyndsay behind the batmr was so helpful today in ordering me a taxi to northamptons football ground. Saturday 29th April 2023 I again visited this fantastic real ale pub wow it had a beer festival on today an how great it was see a picture of outside festival beer on pubs site This pub is, in my opinion, Northamptons' best real ale by far in Northampton

Excellent selection or real ales and good music on the night as well

Always a great selection of beer; unusual midweek opening hours, in that pub doesn't open until 4.00 p.m. so no lunchtime drinking.

Good beers and helpfull bar staff.

Good selection of beers and lager live music see calendar live screen showing sports

A proper pub, decent selection of ale/beer (that change regularly), knowledgeable/friendly staff

Great, friendly pub. Good staff, clean, nice garden/smoking area and a good selection of alcohol 👌

Lovely and welcoming, went on a blues night and watched the amazing Bearcat blues band. Good selection of craft and Belgian beers. Nice

Real pub,Real people and Real ale.

Good range of beers and spirits

This is honestly the best real ale House I have visited for years ! Absolutely brilliant ambience amazing choice of real ales beers and European larger fantastic staff and management absolutely lovely and extremely welcoming. We'll done everyone involved a breath of fresh air. A must visit if in the area.

A great place for friendly service and wide choice of beer

What a fantastic pub… great beer, some of the best kept real ales I’ve encountered, great staff and good company. Highly recommended!

One of the classic pubs in town. Well worth a visit, staff are great and the selection of beers is awesome

Great pub, recommended by a friend as best in Northampton and I agree. Great beers for a cold November evening, friendly bar staff and a proper pub. Won't be the last time I visit.

Came here for a drink with friends! Nice atmosphere,average priced drinks,cannot park out front of place.

Max score for a great pub with great beer. Outstanding breweriana collection!

Very friendly staff. Excellent pint off ale. Definitely will return

Best beer I've had in Northampton by far !!

Darts match. Friendly team. Decent pint for a reasonable price. Covered smoking area.

Great local pub, so glad that I renewed my relationship after years away from the area.

Proper traditional pub, with a good choice of ales. Service was good as was the phipps ipa. Interesting history of the pub and the brewing of beers in Northampton

Great pub with beautiful friendly staff dog friendly with good real ale it has a small secluded out side area

Good pub. Decent selection of ales and a warm atmosphere.

An absolute gem of a pub! A superb selection of drinks served by friendly and knowledgeable staff. Always a warm and friendly welcome from the bar staff and locals alike. Keep an eye out for their upcoming events, as the recent gin, cider & rum festival was great! Big thanks to Megan, Steve and the team at The Malt Shovel. Cheers

A fantastic, relaxed, welcoming pub and perfect for the lover of real ales. A small but tasty food menu (loved the Steak and Stilton pie) and i was very impressed with the bar staff's knowledge of the extensive range of beers on offer. Many thanks

For the beer lover. Great service and usually a varied selection of beers you probably won't find elsewhere in Northampton.

My favourite pub locally. My friend comes from London for a drink with me a few times a year and he's made it his go to place in Northampton as well

Great pub, good choice of ales including a dark ale.

Great pub with a variety of local ales served on the cooler end of the cellar temperature. Knowledgeable staff and a friendly crowd. A Northampton real ale institution.

Enjoyed my visit. Good selection of beers and friendly staff.

Real ale, guest beers, relaxed, mature atmosphere and a nice little pub garden. What more could you ask for?

Friendly as ever, lovely place to have a chill and a pint.

Lived in Northampton for years and never popped in until last week following a show at the Derngate. A really lovely pub with a warm atmosphere and decently priced drinks as well. Great staff too. Nice rear garden too.

Lovely atmosphere and it was a dog friendly pub so that was a nice suprise

Fantastic pub. By far the best in Northampton.

Warm atmosphere and a great real ale pub

Just about the perfect traditional pub, a must visit when in town.

Great Yorkshire Beer Festival this weekend, cheers🍻

A great pub, fantastic range of ales and gin and the pizzas are amazing!

Come on Malt Shovel get the cherry beer back on and tidy up. You are letting a good pub go down hill.

Very good range of Cask Beer including local, in good condition

Having abit of lunch , food great, staff great good choice of beers , sound would reccomend

Cosy and interesting pub with lots of breweriana on display excellent real ales and blues music nights, friendly and attentive bar staff.

Super range of ales and craft beers, probably the best in town. Great good to boot as well

Really pleasant pub. Great selection of beers and really pleasant staff

Super super cosy; absolute gem of a pub. Free darts playing and even has an outdoor seating area for smokers. Nice selection of beers and friendly staff, nicest pub we found in town.

Great proper pub. Good selection of real ale. Not many like this left. Enjoy 👍🍻

A real pub serving good ales in a traditional establishment, friendly staff and good atmosphere.

Always my goto when in Northampton. Lovely cosy place, customer's and staff, very friendly and helpful. Some great music nights. First class selection of real ale, very large selection of Wisky and Gin. And a host of other drinks. Well worth a visit or two.

Such a lovely place for locally brewed ales and the food is fantastic.. really friendly helpful staff also

Great pub, well worth a visit. Excellent selection of ales, large selection of non alcoholic drinks and a good atmosphere. Very accommodating and friendly staff.

Tryed the real ale there on a number of occasions and the beer isnot what I call in good condition poor.

I love this place Low ceilings, an open fire, and a cozy welcoming environment. It's also the pub closest to the carlsberg brewery (across the road) so if that's your favourite, you can't go wrong.

Cracking pub, with a top notch selection of real ales

Best real ale pub in Northamptonshire

An excellent beer list also beer festival it is quite pricey though