North West

Sun Hotel & Bar

Lancaster, Lancashire

Manager Dominic Kiziuk and his team at the Sun Hotel & Bar firmly believe that variety is the spice of life. In common with all other drinks served from the bar of the award-

winning town-centre pub, when it comes to cask beer, customers can be assured they will always get a fantastic choice.

Eight real ales are always on tap in the pub and two of these are constantly rotated to ensure drinkers can always choose something different.

Three other beers come from the local Lancaster Brewery, partly-owned by the Sun's owner C2i, with two Thwaites ales and one from Jennings in Cumbria making up the numbers.

Meticulous approach

Beer lines are cleaned in meticulous style and a modern cellar cooling system guarantees cask ale is always served at the correct temperature. Cask breathers are banned at the Sun, where managers insist they will only serve beer if throughput and sales justify stocking each brand.

Dominic comments: "We operate almost religious cleaning and maintenance procedures with the constant aim of ensuring our beers are served up in tip-top condition. There are no short cuts and we hang our reputation on the flavour and the condition of our ales."

Attracting customers

The Sun has enjoyed a growing reputation for its food, drink and quality accommodation in the university city since first opening its doors in 2003 after a major refurbishment by new owner C2i, which purchased the pub from a north-west brewer.

The pub is a favourite with Camra members and is listed in the Good Beer Guide. It has also won rave reviews in regional publications.

The Sun teams up with the local Round Table once a year to take part in the association's popular beer festival to flag up further publicity for the pub.

"We believe in listening to our customers and we take on board their views and their suggestions and requests," Dominic says.