The Delight of a pub with a fire

 Understandably, a lot of the places we've been drinking beer over this visit to the Shire have a been a little bit on the chilly side.

The Barley Mow has a fire but, for some reason, the warmth from it doesn't always penetrate the space.  Even so, there's a delight to it when you step through the door, the pub isn't too busy and you see the fire on...even more so if there's an adjacent seat.

Tap rooms and other non-pub places really suit themselves better to 3-season (spring, summer, autumn) enjoyment - but that doesn't stop us going there.  But if the weather is cold and/or wet (like it has been the whole time we've been here) they don't present the soul-lifting experience that a cosy be-fired pub has.

We've been to a few different places this break - Barley Mow, Moor, LHG, Kings Head, Newtown Park, Marthas, Swan with Two Necks, King Street Brewhouse, Llandogger Trow, Oxford but yesterday we struck out a little further.

We were thinking about walking to Easton to pick up spice supplies but other things intervened and so it was about 4.15pm when we were ready to go and that would have been a bit of a stretch for running errands and going to the pub.  So, instead, we just walked to the Duke of York.

It wasn't particularly a cold walk but it was pretty damp so when we got to the pub and realised there were a pair of chairs right next to the small, but perfectly formed fire I leapt on the chance.

The DoY is a lovely, cosy, little pub.  Never a large range of beers but enough to keep us happy for a couple of hours.  Getting into conversation with a chap after his family had a falling out was an interesting experience but that's part of what the pub is about...the odd occasion to get chatting.

Today is promising to be nasty and wet all day - so if we go out, it'll be local.  Will it have a fire?  Hmmm it's about a 50/50 chance.

New Places, and Old

 The weather was really cold and then really wet so it hadn't felt like trekking weather.

I'd had quite a lot of work to do and there are train strikes so all these things have dictated against going anywhere too far away.

We'd been to the Barleymow a couple of times - always quite busy, we'd been to Moor twice (because, you know, Moor) and Martha's once.

So the boy said "shall we try somewhere new?" so we decided to amble down Old Market Street.

We started at the Stag and Hounds which is a 13th Century building - although very few features remain recognisable.

They had a Bristol Beer Factory Seasonal Beer plus a Butcombe beer on cask but nothing interesting on keg.  Naturally we opted for the BBF which was cool and decently kept.  The pub is a really nice set of interlocking spaces so, whilst being quite big, feels like it has plenty of corners to cosy up in.  They also do pizzas which look really nice, so that's worth remembering.

Not wanting a second pint of the BBF, we decided to continue strolling. Next venue was Elmers Arms.  An odd little place but with a decent range of keg beers and a friendly person on the bar.  The music was streamed but good and we looked enviously at a juke box which is, sadly, non-functional.  Apparently, whilst opening in the afternoon, it's really a late-night venue so it's relatively unlikely we'll see it in its pomp.

Our final venue was just around the corner from Elmers, and in the general direction of home.  "To the Moon" has always seemed a bit of a strange place and has probably been through a few different hands of late.  Most noticeable when we stepped inside was a pungent smell of limes being squeezed - looks like they were expecting to be making a LOT of Margaritas.  They had two or three local good keg beers on so we picked the strongest (not at all strong, to be honest) and found a little cost seat to sit in.  I'm forced to observe that it isn't a pub, of course, but it is a really nice little place that some of our friends would really like.

Oddly - none of these places sold beer in 2/3rd measures which we found a bit odd and although they'll not be regular haunts - we'll almost certainly be back.

We've also returned to Marthas and, yesterday, reprised LHG brewpub after running an errand.

Today we're heading up to Moor partly because - y'know, Moor - but also we need to pop a bit more beer in the fridge because nowhere will be open tomorrow and there's only so much tea we'll want to drink whilst doing our traditional "playing board games on Christmas Day".

Finding somewhere open on Monday (Boxing Day) will likely be a challenge too...but come 27th I'm pretty sure we'll be out and looking for somewhere to support.

January is going to be REALLY hard for lots of venues.  I've already heard of a couple of places who are writing off the first week or two and taking the opportunity to have holidays, etc.  We'll have a new extension/kitchen to attend to when we get back to Sussex but I'm pretty sure we'll still venture out when we can and I'm also pretty sure we'll be doing a fair bit of buying cans from breweries to try and support people in that way.

Another revisit

 We got the good news, a few weeks ago, that the team behind Good Chemistry brewery had taken over the old Kings Head in Victoria street.  It's the only pub in Bristol which merits a listing i CAMRA's historic interiors and so it's been really sad that it was closed for so long.

I occasionally used to go there at lunchtime to have a half of something and a VERY basic roll/sandwich. I also remember having a FlickrMeet there once and it feeling both strange and wonderful being in the snug.

Last time I went in it was a bit tired and the beer was OK but not great.  Still, it was nice to show it off to the BBB who also, appreciated its uniqueness.

So, when I learned it opened on a Monday I thought it might be quite quiet and rather nice to go and sit in the snug and see what they had to offer.

They haven't changed much - a lick of paint on the ceiling and some rather nice wall paper but other than that it feels unchanged.

A fairly small but rather nice list of beers were available - including a few keg ones.

So much for quiet, though.

There were a few people in the front bar and four in the snug when we arrive around 4.45.  Within 20 minutes, though, people were streaming in and by the time we left, around 7pm we had to squeeze our way out.

It might not be an "everyday" venue for us but I'm pretty confident we'll be back there before too long.

A Place Changed

 After the chap in the Moor Tap said he'd be in the Swan With Two Necks on Sunday, we decided to give it ago.

The pub has been a little bit mixed for us:  sometimes friendly, interesting staff and pleasant atmosphere, sometimes a bit cheerless.  We always like the beer so we do try to make an effort to go there but it's never been on our list of "definitely" or "relaxing" to go to.

It was bloody chilly but when it was time to do the "shall we go somewhere?" musing, we decided wrapping up and getting some fresh air would be a good idea.

So we struck out.  The snow had melted and not yet refrozen so it was a pleasant enough - and we took a bit of a diversion through streets that had undergone development since the last time we went that way.

As we arrived at the pub we were really quite surprised at the number of people.  Nevertheless we found a couple of stools at the bar and had a cheery exchange with the barman.

We've never seen the pub this busy or with such a mix of people.

Good beers, excellent bar service and a lively atmosphere - it feels like the pub has found its feet.

Uncommon Skill

 Bar staffing is seriously underrated in terms of skill level.

Like any service industry job, when done well you barely notice the skill involved it appears effortless and normal.  How many times, however, have you been to a pub or bar you don't know well (or at all) and felt largely ignored by the staff and served rather carelessly.  Worse, as a beer drinker, if served with a cask beer that's past its best being told it's fine to drink and, even with insistence, only grudginly given a replacement.

Thankfully it's been a good few years since that latter thing happened - I'm happy to challenge it, but it always makes for a poor experience even if the subsequent pint is the most superb thing ever.

So, whilst I always say that the beer is the main thing in my choice of venue - given the choice it'll be the place with the good staff I'll aim for.

On Friday when we went to the BM I had over 5 hours travel on me after a pretty trying week and I was just relieved to be at Bristol home, reunited with the Best Beer Buddy, and a proper pint in my hand.  Even then, when I went to the bar for the second pint, forgetting (once again) that jugs are the default cask vessel at the pub these days, the defining moment was when the guy behind the bar waved two straight glasses and said "these?" with a smile.  When I expressed delight, the other barman who was perched on a stool on the other side of the bar said "I remembered too!" - and it's moments like this when you feel the transaction is a shared one.

Yesterday, we went to Moor both to enjoy the beer and grab some fridge-beer as they won't be open again for drinking-in until Thursday.

Remembering again that it's the first time we've been there for a couple of months I'm still stunned that the guy behind the bar launched straight into a conversations about Harvey's Bitter and how he thinks that the Nano Cask that was the cask offering is like it, but for the yeast.

This is no random observation - most of the drinkers in the tap room would have no idea what Harvey's is (or where, or that it has a pseudo-legendary status amongst certain sorts of cask drinkers).  Conversation with him is always about the beer.  He knows his stuff and delights in people who know theirs.

This is the very antithesis to the odd drinking experience I've had when a member of bar staff (sadly, always a young chap) tries to tell me what I should drink or what I should drink it out of.  I'm pretty lucky - my age and experience (and general bossiness) means that I'm no longer intimidated by that sort of attitude and an often minded to call it out.  But this is what I mean about bar service done well is almost unnoticeable and we're more likely to remember the negative experiences, then it could appear that job as a whole is unskilled.

So - remember the places where staff make you feel welcome and valued. Remember that bar-work especially in December is really hard work, on low pay and having to deal with lots of people who only go to pubs around Christmas and have no idea how it's done.

Say thank you, as you leave the pub (especially if it's quiet)...and for goodness sake, take your empty glasses back to the bar if you can.  It's a small thing but I can guarantee it'll be appreciated by the good staff behind the bar.

At Last

 So, by the time I'd "coaxed" the builders into shape it was Friday

 Meanwhile, we'd realised that open return tickets now expire after a month (always used to be 3 months) so there was some required shenanigans with already purchased train tickets.  Thursday afternoon was spent at distance trying to work out the logistics of the most cost-effective way to sort journeys out whilst navigating strike days (of which I'm fully supportive).  As a result, I made the journey up via Salisbury to take advantage of my Network Rail card.

Fortunately, the little bit of journey-stopping building work was completed by about 9.30am on Friday so I struck out to make my journey.  The Salisbury route takes about an hour longer than the London route but it was not at all unpleasant.

I arrived at Temple Meads a little before 4pm, met by the BBB and pretty soon after we were in the Barleymow (of course).  It was busy with work Christmas party-goers but pleasant, and we easily found a seat.  

It allowed me to start to relax and the Arbor Zero Zero on cask (first time I've ever had it other than in a can) was tremendous.  For all the world it felt like we'd been in the BM every week, despite it being a couple of months (they even remember straight glasses).  

I read a blog post by a beer blogger who said that he doesn't really like non-pub drinking venues.  Me?  I like lots of different places to drink my beer - indeed this evening we're odd-on for the Moor brewery tap which I identified very early on as "absolutely not a pub" but the beer, and the people make up for it and a week in Bristol would be far the worse for not going there.

However, I'm pretty determined we're going to try more than the "old favourites" this trip.  We've a month in residence (well, actually one month and 2 days hence the train ticket problems) so there's really no excuse, is there?

All Upside Down

 Work on our house continues and it's partly lovely to see and partly very scary and frustrating.

At the flat, a bust water heater needed attention and so a plumber needed to be found.

Ultimately the boy had to travel up to Bristol to plumber sit, whilst I do some builder "coaxing" down here.

So the louge is now full of all the stuff which was in the kitchen.

 The kitchen is largely unusable for, well, obvious reasons.

So I'm mostly confined to the office for reasons of sanity.

For all that I say I like to drink beer, and the beer is the "payoff" in its own right, it has to be said that drinking a lone can of "Dancing with Spectres" just isn't the same.

I even took a colleague to Beerama this evening for a catch up out of the office and as much as the beer was great, and the company was delightful...and catching up with J&J the owners was really nice, it's just not the same.

Even the BBB hasn't ventured out to the pub on his own.  He's made do with World Cup football on the TV and whatever beer and wine is in the flat.

It kind of reminds me of when we weren't living together all the time but having a sort of itinerant life between, at one point, three homes and doing weird triangular train journeys between the various places and making the first "meet up" in the nearest pub to the train station. 

Originally, I was going to head to Bristol tomorrow but the building work is running behind so now it's looking like a Thursday journey.  I'm gutted, even though we'll probably be in Bristol until the New Year so it's not like we're not going to get a chance to go to all the places.

It's just that, something's missing - it's just short of 6' and carrying a beer for me.

 

 

Follow that Star

 The second pub I ever went to in Brighton was the Evening Star.

It was my first trip to Brighton and I'm pretty sure it was a match day at Withdean.  It might have been the day that Brighton and Hove Albion (BHAFC) secured its promotion to the Championship from League 1 but I can't be sure.

What I do remember is  a heaving pub, thronging with football supporters and incredibly efficient staff either with preternatural hearing or just really good at understanding various bits of sign language and pointing.  Whilst there was always a queue after a match, it never felt like a hard job to get served in a fair manner.  The pub was run by two people who, coincidentally, moved to our favourite beer city...yeah, yeah...Bristol.

It was explained to me that the ES had been a brewpub but that the brewery had expanded and moved out to a dedicated site.  Oddly, I've since learned that they took on their large site around about the time I first went to the pub.

So, of course, it was this pub that I first drank Hophead.  Almost more memorably, I also had APA there for the first time and for a long while, I would have called it one of my favourite ever beers.

When Dark Star was sold to Fullers I was sad.  But, I thought, like 'em or loathe 'em Fuller do brew good beer and as long as the production site doesn't change then maybe Dark Star beers will retain their distinctive flavour, style and "craft"-ness.

Our local pub, The Crown, had Hophead as one of their regular beers which delighted us - and sealed the deal for it being our local.  But after the takeover, Hophead started to lose its brightness (flavour, not clarity) and not long after, our landlord said he couldn't stock it any more because it had become too inconsistent.  By then, production had moved to Chiswick.

The sell-off of Fullers to Asahi, I guess, was probably inevitable.  Fullers is such a mainstay of the "traditional" brewing scene that I suppose it was very attractive to a  multinational volume-brewer. Let's put it this way, in a round of "names of cask brown bitters" London Pride is never going to be a Pointless answer.

And so, now, the Dark Star brewery at Partridge Green - which, I understand, was not some rustic plant but a standard industrial unit set up like the ones I adore in Bristol - is being closed at the end of the year. Production will be moved to the Meantime Brewery and the usual "economic" arguments have been trotted out.  

I haven't drunk much Fullers or Dark Star since the original sell-off happened so it's not like I'm going to notice other changes from here on in but the closure still makes me a little sad.

When you're introduced to a place or thing (in this case beer) by or with a loved-one and then it's irrevokably changed you definitely take it personally even if you've moved on from the place or thing.

Thank goodness that Mark Tranter still brews locally (8 miles up the road), running Burning Sky and that the Evening Star is back to being a mainstay of our beer excursions (if anything, even better than the day of my first trip there) otherwise it would really feel that something had been stolen.

Getting Old

 I've never liked Old ales - tried a few, includng those that people say epitomise the style but they really didn't do it for me so I've avoided them.

And then, a month or so back we went to The Victoria which is now under new management.  They only had Old and Best on so I went with a pint of Best - which was in tip-top condition.

I also tried himself's pint and it was lovely.

Next round I had one myself and thought it was delicious.

A few days later there was Longman Old Man on as the guest at the Crown.  So I went for it.  Not as good as Harveys but nice, nonetheless.

This Sunday (yesterday) we had a short stroll through the woods and repaired to The Lamb (as usual).  The beers on offer were Best, Old and Bonfire Boy and although I like the seasonal beer it's a little bit sweet for me so I went with Old and was very happy with my choice.

It seems that maybe strong dark beers have been a gateway drug leading me towards dark less strong beers.

Or maybe I'm just getting old.

Back to the Shire

 What with the busy work, the building work going on in the house and other time-drive seasonal things (like an MOT), it's getting quite tricky to slot a leisurely trip to Bristol in.

However, the call of the Orchids, together with the prospect that a new credit card will probably have arrived there, and just the need to be in a slightly more homely space (our house is really anything but, at the moment) drove our decision to do an evening journey.

I had a full day at work - including two longish meetings to attend - so we decided to aim at a 5.30pm departure from Eastbourne.

It's a very different experience than our usual late morning start but spending the evening travelling, rather than the middle of the day makes it feel a bit more useful day.

We were due to arrive at 9.30pm but the journey was delayed by faulty points and we got into the flat a little after 10pm.  Oddly, whilst we could easily have popped around the corner for lasties - we never do when we make this journey.  We go through the "arrival" ritual of preparing the place for our residency, sit down an chill with some TV and a glass of wine and then go to bed.  To be honest, I was so shattered when we arrived I'm not sure I would have been able to drag myself out to the pub.

There is something really nice about waking on on the first day here without really having to contemplate travel - even though we both like the train, and our journey had been pretty untraumatic.

I'd picked up bread, cheese, wine and milk at the Sainsbury's across the road so all the essentials are in place, and I've a grocery delivery arriving shortly.  

We work when we're here so it's not a holiday but it definitely feels like a break in the offing.  The only thing now is to decide where we're beering later...

Sharing an Enthusiasm

 Almost every time I go to St Leonards for work, my colleague there, and I take time to go out to lunch.

It's quite odd for me because I'm a hasty-sandwich-grabber for lunch as a rule.

But it started when the colleague's boss instructed her to take the Best Beer Buddy and I to lunch after we'd helped them with some stuff.  In fact, it was the first time we'd all met face to face and the rapport between us all was really noticeable.  As a result we gratefully accepted the invitation and we went to a Persian cafe which was absolutely lovely.  The second time it was just me, and it was in the middle of summer so we went to "Goat Ledge" on the seafront for fish in a bun and a soft drink.

Then I learned of Heist.

We've never been anywhere since.  The beer is fab, the food is delicious (and small portions are available for lunch) and it's jolly and friendly.

Last week, I had to go to St Leonards and the colleague wasn't going to be there, so I suggested the BBB met me and we planned a walk between St Leonards and Hastings ending the walk at the Imperial to enjoy lovely Brewing Brothers beer and pizza.

The weather, however, had other ideas.

BBB decided he'd accompany me to the appointment and do a few chores there and then we could go for walk.  But, instead, it absolutely hurled it down meaning any walk would be pretty miserable.

Once we'd finished our work there (just updating some laptops for clients who don't have them) we decided just to go straight to Heist.  I've always been wary of introducing people - even the BBB - to places I love.

I needn't really have worried.  He immediately got the place and was suitably impressed with the available beer.  We'd had a late lunch of substantial sandwiches so we weren't eating.

The only slight fly in the ointment was that doors and windows were open (steamy inside) so there wasn't really a cosy place to sit.  To be honest, I'd never really noticed it wasn't cosy - mostly because I think I've only been there in warm weather.  "We can find somewhere warmer?", I offered but he was pretty keen to stay and try the beer which pleased me greatly.

He said it was a bit more basic than he'd anticipated but he definitely liked it and it wouldn't be hard to entice him back, I think.

Since then, I've learned (from one of the builders wrecking our house at the moment) that Brewing Brothers have now added a taproom and a place on Hastings Seafront to their premises.  Definitely on the visit list!

Things as Usual

 
A couple of days after we got back from Bristol, there was a Saturday home match at Brighton.

We hadn't seen our pal, M, since his birthday in May so we suggested meeting him in Brighton before and after lunch.

Of course we did "the usual" and so had Fullers beer and lunch at The Basketmakers.  It was a lot less busy than we had expected but it was buzzing with activity and we played "upgrade your seat" until we were happy with our spot.

Chatter, beer and lunch but without the pressure on us to leave at a specific time made for a really good time.  We took a couple of old film cameras to fill the time when we were not in the pub and to help us resist the impulse of just pub-hopping all afternoon.

The beach was heaving but I could see the attraction of being there, I guess.

Eventually we headed inland and made a half-hearted attempt to find the Hole in the Wall - but failed and so we strolled through back lanes and thence back to the Evening Star.

M arrived a lot quicker than he had expected after a good result for the local team and we spent a happy couple of hours nattering about football, ecology, tech and nonsense.  For all the world, it was like there was never a gap in Saturday attendance.

The only slight blight on the evening was that, when we were back in Eastbourne events conspired to prevent the traditional purchase of special fried rice for late night beer-soaking-up.  Still, friend egg on fried bread did the job almost as well.

Since then we've not excurted for beer beyond my work-related lunches in St Leonards and Lewes - the latter reminding me that people still seem to find my real ale habit somewhat unusual - when presented with an order for one lemonade, one coffee and a half of real ale I was the last person the beer was offered to.  Sigh.

Whilst there's nothing new on the Eastbourne scene, our "usual suspects" of watering holes continue to supply beer and a bit of interaction with staff/owners.

I'm feeling the need to find somewhere new to go (or old to revisit) to ring the changes, though.

Back to Sussex

 It had to happen...we needed to get back to Eastbourne for work and builders and...well, you know because we mostly live here.

We decided on the route that avoided London but have Brighton options. Travelling on Mondays always seems a little bit strange.

A last minute leap onto a train (sorry everyone, yes, that was me dithering) at Gatwick saw us in Brighton quite early.

Frankly, whilst there are lots of lovely places in Brighton and we really must reprise a few, the interregnum between train and home will always be the Evening Star.

It went through a bit of a "phase" when Dark Star were bought out by Fullers and then Asahi and the DS beer turned shit but the last few times we've visited it has regained its status as the pub that has...well, everything.

It's like an old git's local (in that when we arrive there are loads of old gits in...and we just added to them) but with beer to die for.

6 cask beers from a variety of breweries (think Thornbridge, Downlands, Vibrant forest...) plus 12 or so keg taps covering all known (and some unknown) styles.

A bunch of loudish old gits arrived (causing me to roll my eyes) and they amused us with their confused perusal of one of the cask beers which was genuinely (and supposed to be) murky. There was quite a lot of "I'm not sure I like the look of this" and "I like my beer to be clear" but eventually, the beer was declared "alright".

The service has never been effusive but is unfailingly polite.  Trying to engage the bar staff usually gets a bit of a non-plussed look.

Now they have a kitchen serving Sri Lankan Street food.

So we stayed and drank and then checked out the train times, realising there's still only one train from Brighton to Eastbourne an hour (WTF?) and then stayed for more and some food.

Our timings could have been better so we had to leave a bit of beer and shift some to get to the train but it didn't dent the pleasantness of the afternoon/evening.

Yesterday I was working quite late (for me) so came straight home and decided maybe a rest from beer would be a good thing - so I had some apple juice that looked uncannily like an NEIPA. 

The Evening Star is probably in equal position for favourite pub along with the Barley Mow - it's just that getting home from the Barley Mow will never involve a dash for the train...

Old Friends

 It was the last chance we'd have to go to Moor.  

It was amazingly busy - then we'd learned that there'd been a brewery tour and that accounted for the extra folk.  Clearly, a considerable number of them were not seasoned beer drinkers but I love the way the bar staff served.

They even helped to curate the order in which they drank their beers:  "you're going to try the stout and the imperial stout? - have the stout first and save the imperial for your last drink".  This is the sort of bar-keeping that can really make a difference to how you perceive your time at a bar.  It was an excellent lesson in how to serve people who need some help choosing.

This is in stark contrast to some of the experiences you hear about in bars and taprooms from social media. Tales of smug thirty-something blokes mocking customers for not knowing their NEIPA from their Pilsner are not uncommon and I can't for the life of me understand why, if your job is to sell something to a customer, you wouldn't want them to feel as happy as possible about their purchase and the experience around it.

Anyhow - apart from the top notch staff, we also love the fact that Moor's beer has recognisable, and distinct styles.

So many modern craft breweries seem to riff on a basic recipe meaning there's a lot of very samey beer available in their taproom.  It's great and everything, and the beer is typically VERY good, but sometimes you might want to vary the style of what's on offer.

Yesterday there were the following:

3 Lagers:  One straight, one smoked, one Italian Pils

Then there was:

Cask light-colour bitter (4%)

1 low alcohol table beer (2.5%)

1 golden ale (4%)

1 light IPA (4.7%)

1 collaboration mid  light beer (5%)

1 "mountain" IPA (6%)

1 standard stout (5%)

1 porter (7.3%)

1 imperial stout (11%?)

1 barrel-aged sour stout (11%?)

1 cherry sour gueze 

1 cider

Not only does this mean you're pretty much guaranteed to find a beer style that you'll enjoy, your stay can lead you through a whole range of styles and strengths.  This is what makes Moor pretty much the ultimate taproom experience.

Just occasionally, I wish they had a wood-fired pizza oven with a short list of available pizzas.  Nothing fancy...ham & mushroom, red pepper and courgette, Chorizo and...well, anything really.

If they had that, I really think we might be tempted never to go anywhere else...

 

 

 

 

Further exploration

 Since our last trip to Bristol was dogged by the damnable c-plague and recovery took a little while, we hadn't really ventured very far for beer for a while.

So, Thursday had me planning a trip on the newly restored full ferry timetable.  It was lovely to be on the water.  We landed at the Cottage (no, we didn't go there) and planned to walk to the BBF taproom.  The city is really trying to encourage use of public transport and active transport like cycling but, it seems, it's forgotten the wayfinding elements for pedestrians.  So we got a tiny bit - well, not lost but not quite going the way we wanted to.

Anyhow, we arrive and settled into the taproom.  We've observed before that this is the taproom most like a pub. We had a lovely chat to the ex-bar manager of the Barley Mow who was enjoying his new role on the sales side of the business.  The place was full by the time we left and it's nice to see such a lovely venue thriving.

We decided we'd try the Old Bookshop as this has been a Christmas Day favourite.  I knew it had changed hands and the beer list is now vastly different.

There are no beer names on the pumps which means buying the first round is difficult and makes you look like a ditherer (neither of us like that, especially in the busy place) and whilst the choice of beer was interesting - it wasn't quite what we wanted.  However, with a beer in hand and a chance to read the full (VERY full) beer list we decided it might be worth another visit another day for something really different.  We also took the opportunity to try their small plates of indian food (or, chickpeas 27 ways) which had promise.

We also mused over revisiting The Strawberry Thief in town and in doing a short crawl between the Grain Barge, Bag of Cats, Three Tuns and the Lime Kiln.

A fairly painful bus journey back had us bickering about the various merits of buses. But it was a small thing.

Friday had already been planned because we needed to run some errands in town.  So after the chores we strolled up to "Basement Beer" who have been in place for a year or so.  It's a one-man band and we had a good chat to him.  Beer was tasty and we picked up a few cans, to boot.

After that a stroll around the corner to New Bristol Brewery.  There were a few people outside but it was pleasantly quiet inside.  NBB has a very homespun feel to it and I find that particularly lovely.  We had a little chat with Noel following a minor incident with leaking coolant.  He outlined his plans for the space now that he has acquired some extra storage space nearby.  I was struck by the fact that part of his decision not to pick the whole brewery up and move it to another site was largely motivated by his loyalty to his existing landlord.  I hope the local residents see it as an asset to the their neighbourhood.  I like the fact the space is an old industrial space but he's making it a place for people to want to visit.  Really looking forward to seeing his plans for the new-style taproom coming to fruition.

Our last beer of the day was a 7.4% IPA - delicious but far, far too drinkable!

We strolled home on a fuzzy high.

The beer culture in Bristol doesn't seem to have any indication of slowing.  I love it.

Recovery Phase

 Tuesday promised rain on-and-off and most of the day there was some desultory drizzle that wouldn't wet anything.

However, by mid afternoon there had been a couple of decent showers and "acuweather" was insistent that by 4pm or so there would be a deluge.

Eventually it homed in on 4.15pm as being the time of biblical precipitation.

So, we grabbed a few things to do a bit of work and a potential game.  Picked up waterproof coats and played brinksmanship on a trip to the Barley Mow.

When we were 4 mins away we reckoned that the chances were either we'd get drenched on the remainder of the walk, or it wouldn't rain at all.

We grabbed a couple of pints and took a seat.  No sooner had we settled when the heavens opened and continued doing so for about 40 minutes.

Lots of soaked customers arrived. We were smug.

It was still a bit drippy as we strolled back home but the air was a bit cooler and cleaner.

Yesterday, I wanted to make a trip to Wiper & True's new taproom but I didn't want to go the direct route.  So I made a plan to take in a bit of greenery via the cycle track and walk a way we hadn't before.

I didn't tell the Boy where we were going and, despite getting a tiny bit lost myself, managed to complete disorient him by the time we arrived at the industrial estate where the taproom is.  It was only when he say "Wiper & True" in giant letters on the rear of the building that he realised what was going on. Result.

There was an initial worry when the first thing we saw as we walked in was a bunch of middle-aged blokes seemingly forming a queue at the bar.  We needn't have worried - it was just middle-aged blokes doing the taproom equivalent of sitting at the bar (sigh).

The place is enormous with well over 100 seats inside and out (not sure I'd want to be there with 199 other people but...) with some really nice design details.

I've always like Wiper and True but never absolutely loved it. But I'm prepared to have my mind changed.

We had a cask pint to start which worked really well (even my brother might like it) and then a range of nice keg beers.

Staff were friendly.  Loos are inclusive.

The space feels airy and well thought out.

Almost best of all is the Wednesday opening - which is a rarity.

All in all, an excellent afternoon out and we'll definitely go back there.

Holding at Hot

 We were well-prepared for another sweltering day.

I went out early to pick up a new desk fan to try and give us a bit of respite and we drank lots of water and juice all day.

Nevertheless, as the sun came round to fully illuminate the flat we ran for the hills.  Well, a nearby railway arch.

We knew Martha's would be relatively quiet and there was a decent chance of a coolish space. We took a game, books and bottle of cold water, just in case.

Therein we spent a very pleasant few hours with good beer, comfy seats and not too much noise.

Today there's lots of cloud, there's been some rain (not a huge amount) and the temperature is around 8-deg cooler than the last few days.  It's not actually cool but it's sooooo much nicer.

I've just made the first piece of cooked "food" since we arrived:  a bacon sandwich.  Since Thursday we have exclusively been eating a dinner of bread, cheese, meat, tomatoes.  You never know, I might cook something exciting this evening...

Hot Again

 Seriously, this summer can do one.

I'm never a huge fan of hot weather and, right now, I've never wanted a chill wind and downpour more.

Yesterday the temperature in the flat was definitely a tiny bit cooler so it was 4pm before we desperately needed to escape.

We'd arranged to meet friends in a taproom as they'd only ever been to one (Martha's) and they like the vibe.

Difficult to tell which ones will be busy so we made a bid for Newtown Park/LHG area and were happy with our choices.

We arrived first and there were the usual exchanges with staff about the temperature.  Still, once you've sat somewhere that's not-too-hot for a few minutes after you've stopped walking, it doesn't take too long to recover, especially if you've got a beer in your hand.

It was lovely to catch up with our pals and share our love of a taproom.

We got home really quite late and, once again, bread and cheese were dinner.

I'd bought a couple of insulated bottle and filled them with chilled water to drink overnight.  It definitely helped.  Today I picked up a new fan and although the walk to the locker was warm, having the extra fan is a bonus.

Probably Martha's later, I think.

...and another prayer for a thunderstorm.

Still Hot

 By 2pm yesterday, the flat was unbearable.

There's a tiny local park halfway between here and the Moor Brewery Tap so we grabbed our books, called in at the pasty shop to grab a lunch and went and sat amongst the trees.

Definitely the right decision.  We were entertained by a small, but winning mutt who dropped a ball at our feet and turned big puppy eyes on us as we tried to ignore him.  When one of us finally caved and kicked the ball, the dog did a twirl of excitement before running madly to catch it.

Other than this, the park was quiet and, whilst the benches weren't the most comfortable in the world, it was an infinitely better way to spend 90mins than in the flat.

Around 3.30pm and after a little bit of a Twitter exchange, we strolled up to the tap.  The first thing the bar manager asked was "before you order anything else, can I get you some water?"

We'd already drunk a bottle with our lunch so we were fine, but what a brilliant way to be greeted.  A lot of the customers were taking him up on the offer.

This is another one of our favourite places to drink superb beer.  The staff know their stuff.  Even though we're not there each week, they know who we are.  Every beer style they make is distinct and, even if you don't like that style, you know it's a good version of the style.  That's quite a feat.

Eventually, we decided to risk the "garden" in the hope there might be a bit of moving air.  Actually, it was starting to cool a little and we even had an extra one to prolong the stay.

Today we're meeting friends at a taproom and there's, obviously, a good choice around.  But even so, I don't think they'll be quite as perfect as Moor.

Hot

 Trying to schedule a trip to Bristol at the moment is a bit like threading a needle.  Most of my work now revolves around cat-herding and meetings which requires me to appear in person.

Coupled with that, our building work at the house continues so we need to make sure we don't just go away if the builder needs us to be there.

The final piece of the puzzle is rail strikes.

Anyhow, the optimum time for us to come up was yesterday. In a heatwave.

We'd been monitoring the temperature in the flat and it had been pretty grim so we knew that the poor old orchids would be suffering.  We also knew that as the flat has an entirely glass curtain wall that it would be unbearable to sit in when we arrived.

All predictions were true (40-deg in the flat when we arrived) but we also have a practiced routine:  open all the windows, flush the loos, check the fridge, turn the immersion on and leg it to the pub.

The pub had LOADS of punters but, thankfully, relatively few wanted to sit inside.

Bar was crowded but himself grabbed a seat and I grabbed a couple of pints (cask, natch).  Clearly the poor ol' cellar was struggling a little and the beer was a degree or two warmer than ideal. Nevertheless it was lovely to sit in the pub with decent cask beer and be out of the heat of the flat.

We switched to keg which had line chilling in place and so was a much better temperature. This remains our favour proper pub - anywhere.

We couldn't face any form of cooking so on the way back we slid into Sainsbury's and picked up bread, meat, cheese and tomatoes and that was dinner.

It was still 27-deg at midnight but so much better than when we'd arrived.

It's marginally better this morning but there are 2 more days of heat to deal with and it's highly unlikely we'll be able to do anything terribly energetic.  I predict an early exit to Moor this afternoon.

Actually, given I often suffer from being too hot (being a middle aged woman can really suck) I seem to be weathering it slightly better than the boy who is usually cold.  

Thank goodness for the availability of the sheer amount of excellent beer we'll be able to find without too much exertion.

It's Friday

 It's warm and it's Friday.

We've been reasonably busy with work this week and negotiating builders around the house.

A walk through the woods was followed by a visit to the Crown.

It was the usual "Friday Post Work" crowd of tradesmen, together with the older regulars.  As such it was quite noisy but no so much that we didn't want to sit in the main bar and watch a little bit of sport as we drank our Kent Pale Ale.

We both agree that, unlike other Kent beers (Prohibition being the best example) - we didn't want to come back for any more of it this weekend, no matter how much we might have enjoyed the 2 pints we drank.

Earlier in the week we met beer-loving (and making) friends who live in Surrey but were cycling along the south coast for a few days.  P is one of Best Beer Buddy's oldest friends and a beer fanatic.  We said that most of the pubs in town were a bit lack lustre and would they consider one of the craft/bottle/can/tap rooms to meet.  They gladly agreed and we came from work to meet them at Beerarama.

I was extremely relieved to find that they liked the beer there as much as we do, I'd feared that they might find it a bit too fizzy for their tastes.

After dinner at the Thai restaurant at the station we had lasties at Ninkaci and realised we should probably do that more often.

Today we're in work again and I want to spend some time wrangling printers - a job I've been meaning to do for a good while.  After that I'm pretty sure I'm going to demand beer...the only question is:  where?

Harveys: discuss

 Most of the time we live in Harveys country.

This brewery, beloved by real ale folk and held in almost mythical esteem permeates East Sussex like an elderly grandparent daring you to drink anything else.

People who don't live in Sussex genuflect as you tell them you live not-that-far-from Lewes, that you have 2 Harveys pubs within easy walking distance from home and a further 2 an easy bus ride away.

We don't even bother to mention that pretty much EVERY pub in town stocks "Best" anyway since, apparently, old fellas around town won't drink anything else.

My brother, who had never even heard of them until he visited us down here (but who likes his beer brown and around 4%) was smitten from the first swig.

Me?  I like a well-kept pint of Best from time to time (usually from a Harveys pub) but prefer Olympia, Armada and the stronger, seasonal beers (Wharf, Star of Eastbourne, Bonfire Boy and Prince of Denmark) - but I rarely find it exciting, as such.

Sadly, their beers are not very tolerant of cack-handed cellaring and dispense and so it's quite easy to find a pretty grim pint of it, too.  As such, I'm very wary of it.

On Saturday, we were working at HQ and after that, we'd often seek a pint in one of the local tap/bottle shops.  This week, I suggested we make the effort to go around to the Victoria.  They're a safe pair of hands and the pub itself is a proper Victoria corner boozer.

It was one of the most enjoyable real pub visits we've had recently.  Quiet and relaxing, with a fairly low loud and bollock-talking quotient and so we stayed for 3 pints.

Next week we're heading to a revampe of a Greene King Pub from a landlady who keeps her beer really well, but that's not much consolation if you really hate GK beers.

I may drink...errr...something else.

On and ON

 We spent a pleasant weekend in Bristol after our brush with the COVIDs to regroup and take the opportunity of some more beer before we return to the south coast.

 Wednesday was the Barleymow, Thursday Moor Tap.

We went to Newtown Park brewery tap on Friday afternoon - which was great.  It was quiet, the tables in the sun were fab and the beer very good.  The cask stout we had was a pleasant change in a tap room but we could only buy pints and halves so we bought two pints -  and it was a tiny bit sweet.  We found oursleves thinking that it would have been more to our taste as a keg beer (how times have changed, huh?).

 Saturday afternoon we managed a short (but tiring) stroll along the Feeder and past the Propyard (which needs to be visited but I doubt it'll be a regular haunt) over the bridge (which we noted has had the deck replaced) and onto the Cider Box.  It was relatively quiet and we found a nice seat in the semi-sun.  Cider offering was a little bit depleted but we found a few things to our liking and had a couple of pint.  We mused again that it's an odd little place to have a bar.  Quite a run-down street which is a mix of derelict buildings and railway arches but somehow has the power to make us smile and relax.

After a couple of pints I needed beer so we went around the corner to Martha's which was pleasantly quiet.  A couple of drinks and then stroll back to the flat - seriously tired but content.

Sunday we decided that LHG might be an option - Google maps had been monitoring it and said it was very busy so we built in other options...when we arrived it was just about perfect in terms of numbers of people.  We even had a pizza (Shroom, since you ask) which went down very well especially given our appetites had not yet returned to normal.

It makes us smile that there are such a plethora of options near the flat.  Some places we might take friends and family, other places that most folk wouldn't get so we keep them for ourselves. I think, if we ever move again, we'd be a lot more demanding in the proximity of good places to go...

Now we're back in Eastbourne.  Because it was warm, the boy wasn't keen on going to Ninkasi after the train so we walked up to the Crown. We had been missed.

On Tuesday we went to Beerarama, Saturday to Bottle Grove - once again our absence had been noted.  This made us smile.

This week we were mostly working at home so Wednesday, we took a little stroll up to the Hurst.  Sitting in the garden, next to a main road, in the sun, drinking really good Armada - Made me renew my resolution to try and work at HQ less and leave the rest of the staff to get on with it.

I'm hopeful that Eastbourne might creep into the beer scene a little more because it would be lovely to ring the changes like we can in Bristol...fingers crossed

Back in the Pub

 Well, 10 days after our first symptoms we decided to venture back to the pub.

We're still both quite fatigued and struggling with concentration but we thought that a return to normality as much as we could would definitely be a good way to ease back into things.

Naturally, we strolled around to the Barley Mow.

It was nice and quiet, initially, and we settled into the corner with a couple of cask pints.

For me, my tastebuds haven't quite returned to normal yet - so things taste much more bitter than usual but nevertheless, it was such a lovely feeling to be drinking beer in the pub again.

Highlight was our first taste of the output from a new brewery -  OnPoint - definitely one we'll hope to try again.

It's so good to be out of the flat for a few hours - and it's so good to be back in the pub!

Dratted Red Line

 So we're resigned to staying in the flat for a good chunk of this week.  This morning the boy took a test - still positive. (we are at Symptoms+9days).

I've ordered some more so that we can take daily tests if we feel we need to.

I've also done an Ocado order to replenish the essentials (milk, biscuits, veg, beer...)

When we first moved here neither Ocado nor Waitrose delivered here.  The nearest place to buy anything was the newsagent/convenience shop or the awful Tesco near the Cornubia.

Now both of our chosen grocery vendors comfortably deliver, there's a Sainsbury's directly across Avon Street and just around the corner is the weird and inefficient but, as is turned out, quite useful Deliveroo Hop.

So we're reaping the benefits of being an early adopter in our chosen place to live -  of course, the downside of a place with more amenities...is more people.

Actually, even though we still can't go to the pub, there's a lot of benefit to living here.  The whole area is starting to mature a little bit.  The "street" trees have filled out a lot and provide a lovely avenue of shade over there, on the other side of the water.  There's more street furniture around so when we managed a short walk because we were craving the outdoors, we could find a pleasant place to sit when I was too tired to walk any further.

We've watched the gull and peregrine families going about their business and right now with the windows open I can hear a robin singing its heart out.

This is is definitely not our idea of an "only" home (for lots of reasons) but there have definitely been worse places to be unwell (so much easier to get up in the middle of the night to top up your water glass when you don't have to manage the stairs) so, once again, we're counting our blessings.

Gagging for a Beer

 Still tested strongly positive yesterday so had to arrange for a drop of emergency groceries from Deliveroo despite the fact that I could have walked across the road and bought them far more quickly (and with much less irritation as it happens).

The boy set up the new little shredder (of which he approves) and shredded all the confidential waste that was lurking in a pile.  This wiped him out.

I half-heartedly picked at some work but concentration really isn't great.

We decided to attack the fridge beer - what remains. Moor PMA stood up well to  post-COVID tastebuds, the Wildbeer NZ pale was pretty good too.

For me, wine isn't great - it's really interesting what viruses do to your taste.

Today we've taken out all the rubbish and read the electric meter.  Only one trip in the lift but by the time we had done the deed, we were both knackered again.

This is the most frustrating time of these sorts of bugs - a bit like, many years ago, when the boy had flu that lasted for weeks.

For quite a lot of the day you feel not too bad - no gross symptoms of anything in particular - your appetite returns and you feel like you ought to be able to do things.

In fact, you really can't.

We're at that point now - we've managed a 10 minute amble around the block and now I'm done-for.

What I want - what I really, really want is to GO TO THE PUB.

Thankfully there are still a couple of cans left in the fridge so I'm going to have to make do with this can of Porter for now.

And then maybe have a bit of a lie-down

Keeping Positive

 Yesterday we decided that we needed to go and pick up our parcels from the Amazon locker.

We were both feeling a bit better and given the Locker is in a large hotel foyer we thought that it would make sense to get some fresh air whilst avoiding as many people as possible.

It felt strange to mask-up to get in the list again (and in the hotel foyer) - but obviously entirely necessary and appropriate.

Thankfully we saw relatively few people and we were grateful to be out in the sunshine.

When we got back we felt better for having stretched legs, and having collected a themometer (horse very much bolted, admittedly but there will be a next time) and a paper shredder (ordered before we felt unwell) to do a job we've been planning to do for ages.

I also actually started to feel like eating a real meal for the first time since Monday.

The boy had come back to a glass of red of an evening and offered one to me.  I realised I just didn't fancy it...maybe it was the sore throat, I don't know.  I did however think that a cool beer would be nice - as much to relieve the boredom of drinking fizzy water.

Unfortunately, the only beer in the fridge was some quite strong IPA, ESB or a porter or...a Big Drop Citra beer.

I declined the Big Drop and anything stronger or blacker so...another glass of water.

Once I'd cooked dinner I looked again at the beer offer and decided maybe I'd try the Big Drop after all. I know some people really like some of the 0% offerings out there but this is my fourth try (Harveys, Becks Blue, Nanny State precede it) but the best things I can say is that it does taste less sweet than others and so a bit more "grown up" but other than that, it is better than the others.

Ah well, it's hardly a serious problem - but I guess it's just a shame. I genuinely think that maybe you can't get an authentic brewed taste unless there's enough alcohol in there to produce it.

One of the very best things about where we live in Bristol is our immediate proximity to some of the best breweries and pubs you can imagine.  They're all even closer than the Amazon locker but it's just not appropriate to venture there.

More tea, vicar?

Inevitability

 We've been saying it was inevitable - whist also being concerned we were uniquely rubbish at taking lateral flow tests.

Apart from a nasty virus when the pandemic first hit, just before the initial lockdown, for which there were no test, we've been pretty healthy.

Yeah, the usual quota of sniffly "not feeling very well" spells notwithstanding we seemed to have escaped getting the C-bug.

When the boy succumbed on Sunday we had a slight suspicion.  He was shivery, headachy and under the weather - he also willingly took paracetamol.

The tests we had in the flat didn't seem to be working so I had planned to pop out to the chemist to buy some new ones.  Before I had a chance to do that, I started with similar symptons.  Instead, I bought some for next-day delivery.

By the time they arrived I was in full flat-out mode.

Test results confirmed.  We had finally caught it.

It's Thursday now and we're both just starting to recover.  He's about 36 hours further along the journey than me.  We're both gutted that we haven't been able to do our usual ambling and beering here but we've been feeling so unwell, that we're not exactly gagging for beer right now - and we know that from all viruses you need to give yourself a bit of recovery time.

Mostly, I'm grateful for our genes which seem to have to delivered us relatively robust defence of the disease, more so for the vaccination programme which has almost certainly made our symptoms more manageable - and the personal circumstances which mean we felt confident that taking to our bed for a few days wouldn't affect our ability to pay our bills.

Also firmly remining myself that it's not the same for everyone...but it should be.

Not about beer at all

 ...not even tangentally.

Fact is, the boy and I are unlikely to even venture out today since he's currently lying on the sofa with a temperature and a cough. We're both hopeful it's not the C thing.

With that rather unfortunate start to the day, it could have been a bit of a bust.

And then, I looked out of the window (remembering we're on the 10th floor) and saw a cloud of...wait...what was that? White butterflies?  Blossom? ...

...then check again...

and see a pair of peregrine falcons at about the same level as I'm standing, across on the building opposite. One of them is plucking a bird - probably a pigeon/dove...hence the cloud of white feathers.

They've been there on and off all day - sometimes relocating to other eyries.  Sometime spooking the other birds around as they take flight.

I missed the second kill of the day, too - but caught sight of one of them plucking his unlucky grey victim (probably a feral pigeon, at a guess).

I knew there were some peregrines in residence nearby...but we've never seen them so close.

Lets hope they're regular residents.

Makes up for the lack of a beer outing today.

Just Like it Was

 It was time to come back up to the Western Homelands.

Orchids needed a bit of TLC, I needed some time away from TRHQ and we're giving our staff more chance to show what they can do in running the place. There are beer reasons too, obviously, but they're more incidental than purposeful.

We reverted to the EBN-VIC-PAD-BRI route, having visited London last week to meet up with a friend (beer venues fine but not really worthy of revisiting) and finding it pretty much OK.

As it turned out, we ended up in Bristol on the same train as if we'd gone the more circuitous route - but, as the boy said, it's nice to have the last leg of the journey start earlier - and at the train's starting place.

Train was busy, station was busy, Temple Quay was busy so our flat was a little oasis of calm.

Nevertheless, being Thursday we knew it would get busy at all the good drinking venues so we didn't dither.

We arrived at the pub shortly before 5pm and watched (quite smugly) as the after-workers arrived en masse.

There are some vestiges of behavioural change in this pub - there are fewer chairs and tables to ensure people can space out; the door to the courtyard stays open to ensure good ventillation and, generally speaking, people weren't standing and drinking inside.  Other than that, it all feels much like it did - and that's all to the good.

Pretty certain we'll be heading up to Moor this afternoon because there's a reasonable chance they'll have a cask beer on and it's quite rare to find that.  Also, it's usually a bit quieter and less frenetic than other venues on a Friday evening.

I know we should strike out, and ring the changes a bit but, d'you know what? sometimes familiarity and routine is calming.

On the mend

 Soooo...whilst my knee is still not back up to speed, the rest of me is fine.

Last Monday, me and the Boy decided it was high-time we tried the new incarnation of Ninkasi.

I arrived from work and was greeted by two blokes and Jo saying "crikey! we were just talking about you". That was a bit weird.  I'm not used to people know who I am and I find it a bit disconcerting - but it is what it is, I guess.

I settled down with a drink and marvelled at the new space which looks almost exactly like the old space but with an extension. It's got a cool, grown-up feel and yet feels like somewhere I'd like to be (I don't tend to like "cool" places much).

I reprised the visit on Thursday with a couple of ladies we'd been working with. It felt nice to share the place with new people - and they seemed to love it too.

 Friday, we were at the Crown (new cask usually comes on then - and it was Prohibition.  Result!)

On Saturday I had to work at HQ and the boy joined me later but said he didn't feel very well.  He suggested getting a beer so we went to Beerarama.  We sat down with beer but the boy's heart really wasn't in it.  He struggled to finish his 2/3rd of a rye IPA so I shared it with him.

The guys who run the place looked a little concerned when we left after one, but they had plenty of other customers to take care of.

By the time we got home, the boy didn't want more beer - clearly unwell.

After a few days, he's starting to pick up and is already planning to go somewhere after our board meeting on Tuesday so things are definitely looking up.

I guess it heartens me to see that, for both of us, when the chips are down and we're not well - we don't drink. It puts alcohol firmly in its place for us:  an activity of pleasure and enjoyment - not a physical or mental necessity. 

In Praise of the Landlord

 The first pub landlord I knew the name of was John Landsdel.  He was the landlord of my accidentally-found local when I moved to a new house in Bristol.

He was, outwardly at least, curmudgeonly and didn't suffer fools AT ALL.  I once saw him tell someone off for ringing the "time" bell.

He was well known in Bristol Beer circles for being fanatical about the condition of his beer.  He was definitely that.

He once berated my friend for accepting a mistakenly-given cauliflower cheese lunch when he'd asked for chilli.  Pretty much any time we went in after that, he'd make a joke at P's expense.  To P it got a little bit tired.  To John, it never did.

He was a director of Bath Ales and, over time, his duties changed so they appointed another landlord.

John was a superb landlord - he knew his customers, he knew his beer and he didn't take shit from anyone.

The landlord of my current local is Andy.  Altogether a different kind of a guy.  Seemingly more gentle but, again, you absolutely wouldn't mess with him.

He is also fanatical about the beer he sells - so when he came up to us yesterday and said did you have the L***** beer, what did you think?  I still marvelled that he'd remembered we'd bought a couple of pints.  Not only that but he broke off the "Sunday Meat Raffle" to serve us and then had a frenetic 15 minutes of play your cards right to offload a £200 jackpot to a crowded pub. 

He wouldn't truck any argument.  He said he wasn't happy with the beer (we'd put it down to just not being our taste) - its taste and condition so he was taking it off and immediately replaced it with a couple of pints of Gun Extra Pale - even though we'd almost finished our pints. 

Our local is an interesting place.  A broad range of clients - from plasterers and welders, to those working in Arts administration and well - us in Tech Ed.

The Sunday meet raffle brings the punters in.  It's a loud and raucous time and Andy fronts the show us like a veritable Bruce Forsyth.

But in his other place - the craft beer, whisky and cigar bar near the train station he's like a different man.  (he's also like that when the Crown's quiet).  Passionate about beer - both the serviing and the drinking - and always up for a chat about it but much quieter.

We don't see the other driving force of the business quite as much in the Crown - Jo.   She does make her presence felt, though - from the styling of the place (there are always flowers), to the occasional food bits offered.  We tend to see her more in the other place.

It's hard to imagine two drinking establishments, run by the same team which are more different.

I love both places for what they are and they are that because of the couple that are driving it.

A rare skill indeed.

Nervous Days

 So I've had a weird few days.

I either picked up a bug, or ate something that disagreed with me - or something else because for 5 or 6 days my digestive system was in turmoil.

This is highly unusual for me because generally I have the constitution of the proverbial horse and pretty much nothing disrupts my errrr regularity, shall we say.

For a couple of days I couldn't face drinking any alcohol - I pretty much stuck to water.  When it went on for more than 2 days and beer was tolerable but not much enjoyed I have to admit I got a little nervous.  Was this the thing I didn't "get over" and it just became something that older me had to learn to tolerate?

Beer is such a big part of my enjoyment of down-time.  No, I'm not dependent on it in any real sense, but it greases the wheels of being sociable because usually, I'm quite retiring other than when I have my professional head on.  If I didn't drink beer, I probably would socialise considerably less because I find it so incredibly hard to relax around people in a social sense.

Thankfully, the worst seems to have passed and I managed a pint and maybe 2/3rds of a lovely cask beer at the Crown last night (I topped the boy up with the rest).  I'm still being cautious, though because alcohol is an irritant so it would be stupid to hit the beer too hard until I'm sure everything is back in balance.

I've also had a problem with my knee and I had to lay off the Ibuprofen just to make sure that wasn't aggravating things but today I'm determined to try and make a short walk in the woods and then I think we're going to settle down in the garden with some fridge-beer that arrived earlier in the week.

I seem to be on the mend (in all the senses) - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Persisting

 So it's the weekend again.

Friday saw us risk the "Cornubia". By risk, I mean that we don't always fall in love with their beer but we like that they always have plenty of cask beer.

We hadn't been there since last summer with the sitting outside.

It was too chilly to do that and as we arrived we saw it was reasonably busy outside and in but could see a little space next to the window so we popped in.

This pub remains steadfastly old-fashioned and tends to serve beer which are less expensive we tend to drink these days.

I saw that a couple of Yeovil beers were on the bar - both sounding interesting.  Even though I didn't have much hope, I chose the pale beer - I've never been a fan of their beers but there wasn't a lot else I fancied.  He chose a porter.

We inveigled ourselves on the spare space in the window and I took a first mouthful.  It was really, really nice.  He approved of his porter, too so we both relaxed and watched the pub.  They've had a bit of a spruce-up and it feels a brighter and more widely-welcoming space.

The pub was very busy with the after-work crowd and unlike some of the other places we go we sat bang in the middle of age demographic.

We ended up in conversation with a fellow table-dweller - not exactly willingly but sometimes you know it has to be done.

I had a second pint of the pale and he switched to cider.

Still people rolled in and we watched people negotating the tricky door whilst wrangling drinks. Definitely a proper pub.

The garden filled up, the pub remained busy and the staff managed the bar really well.  We finished with a shared pint of Yeovil's other beer - at 7.2% it wasn't for the faint-hearted and then we strolled home.

Saturday we decided to try the Newtown Park brewery tap.  When they first started, I thought their beers were fine but didn't knock my socks off.  Also we'd wrangled with their remote ordering and paying service last summer and so we weren't sure whether or not we'd stay long - or even go in if it was busy.

We combined it with a very short stroll and approached via the cycle path.  This meant you could see and hear how busy it was as you approach the end of the path.  It looked really busy and sounded noisy.  Best Beer Buddy wasn't sure he wanted to run the gamut but at the last minute we decided to give it a try.

It was busy outside but there were a couple of tables inside (and apparently upstairs, too) so I ordered a couple of pints and we settled in.

The beer was much more accomplished than I'd remembered and they had about 12 beers on offer - all in a range of styles and including lager and a no alcohol.  These folk have been busy!

The staff were an absolute delight - really friendly withouth being obsequious. The demographic were very young-professional with kids.  As a result there were a few kids running around but the music was as good as the beer.

All in all, a really nice few hours and relaxing (the seats could be a tiny bit more comfy but it's a small gripe) to boot.  I can foresee us heading there again next time we're up.  It's always worth trying beers you don't think you're impressed by just to check whether they've changed.  In this case it was a two-for-two.

Craving Quiet

 Now look, we've always like to go to pubs (and their like) when it's quiet - this was a choice well before the ugly bug took hold of the world.

Our typical time to do this is to arrive between 4.30pm and 5pm and stay for 2 - 3 hours.

Yes, yes we have had occasions when we go places at a more conventional time but when given the choice (and mostly we have choice, these days) we're early fillers.

Is it because of places getting busy, or is it something else?  To be honest, I really don't know but it's what we do.

Obviously we know that the week has different dynamics throughout and that early in the week places are likely to be less busy, in any case.

I've always liked to think of us as being welcomed by a place that knows it's going to get busy later, with a bar crammed full but who are pleased that the place is earning its keep for now.

So on Wednesday we tootled off to Martha's thinking we'd get there before the after-work crowd.  We arrived and there were about 10 people already in there - which was nice.  Then suddenly more, and more people arrived. Clearly it was some sort of after-work thing but it consisted of about 30 -40 people.  All of whom queued like sheep at the bar - and completely overwhelmed the bar staff.  Sadly, this coincided us finishing our first drinks.  We abandoned all hope of us getting a second beer in anything like a timely fashion and braved the rain and popped around the corner to reprise the Barley Mow (well, obviously we'd gone to the BM on Tuesday when we'd arrived).

It was busy in the BM but not unpleasantly so.

Yesterday, admittedly a Saturday, we went for a longish walk in a place with no pubs (I know!) but it was a train journey away and, being a subburban line , there were opportunities on the way home.  So we stopped off in Montpelier.  We went to the Cadbury house - arriving around 4.45pm and the place was already humming. Nice brown beer on cask but not much variety so we weren't minded to stay for a second.  Instead we struck out through the now very busy pub and headed to New Bristol Brewery Taproom.  We arrived around 5.30 but there wasn't a seat to be had - the inside and outside spaces rammed to the gunwhales with 30-something blokes.  My knees were in no condition to stand for any length of time so we sighed, and headed around the corner to Basement Beer.

It was reasonably busy but I managed to snag a seat in a corner - the boy returned with beer to say we had about 20 mins to drink it since they were closing for a party.

After an abortive attempt to try the Crofters Rights (closed, again) we decided to cut losses, walk across town and come home.  We did pass LHG on the way and, unsurprisingly, it was also rammed with 30-something blokes.

I know it was Saturday and it was spring-feeling day so maybe it's not so surprising that the place was so busy but we found ourselves quite disappointed that "our" time of day for beer is increasingly becoming more popular.

Of course I'm happy for the great places in the industry who have been so badly hit by the last couple of years' disproportionate effect on the business model but I'm really craving the unfound but brilliant places at quiet times of the day.

Cultivating Relationships

 Me and "the boy" are creatures of habit - but also creatures of guilt when it comes to drinking.

One day a week we go to the Belgian Bar after work (no more than 5 minutes from TRHQ) it's so much more about the place and the people than the beer.  Unlike any other place we go, we seldom taste lots of different beers - I tend to stick to IPA and he will try something different but usually comes back to IPA for a second.  Beer at the BB is usually followed by food a few doors down at Anema e Core which is a family run restaurant where the front of house is led by a woman with a prodigious memory for our orders.  Also, even with the new front of house staff we've rarely taken off our coats, let alone sat down before someone asks "Montepulciano?".

Our other places of regular pilgrimage are the Crown, Bottle Grove, and Ninkasi.

 We feel really bad if we don't visit them all at least every other week.

Last week our Thursday trip to BB and Anema we passed someone who called to the Boy and said "how are you"...the boy looked momentarily confused before he added  "I run the Hurst Arms".  We had a chuckle with him and then felt guilty we'd not been there for a while.

Today, I was reading an article about the landlord of the "Bag of Cats" (ok, nails) in Bristol and reading it I realise I'd drunk with him at every pub he's managed in Bristol (right back to the Smiles Brewery Tap).  He's a proper grumpy old landlord but with good reason - people often come and sit in his pub because it's a Bristol institution but they frequently don't drink - they just chat with friends who are drinking.

It makes you realise just how hard it is to be a publican because people want everything and there's a bit of a received wisdom that beer in a pub should be cheap.

We've become a lot less price sensitive in the last couple of years - he still does a calculation but is much less likely to grumble about the price, or not buy the beer than he used to be.

Watching Cloudwater go through financial difficulties - and this is a very well respected brewery which prices on the high side for their product - it's important to remember that small breweries and pubs/bars are not privatised utility companies who never seem to share the increased cost of their product (because people can't help but buy them) - these are people who seldom get very rich for years of investment and brutally hard work.

The independent breweries and bars/pubs need us to pay fair rates for their product - not only the production but the cost of running places we want to sit and drink and cultivate the culture that leads to "regulars" being greeted with "I've got this lovely new beer on - it's a Black IPA" knowing it's your favourite beer style.

Getting Better All the Time

 The new bar (Beerarama) was on the list of places to visit iminently.

So we did.

It's pretty close to our work HQ (5 - 10 mins walk) so when I was working one day we arranged to meet there.

I arrived first and the owners were friendly and keen to welcome me.

It was only a couple of days after their "official" opening and they said how pleased they were that people were already finding the place.

The bar was stocked with 5 or so keg lines and the fridges packed with cans - many of which were names new to me.  The keg beers on offer were all quite stong, but I coped.

Pleased to see they have adopted the "2/3rd" option on their board that's what I had, and I settled into a comfy chair and started to enjoy it.

We had a bit of general chit-chat about beer and Eastbourne-and-beer and a joke about whether they'd be offering Harveys (that one never seems to get old when talking to craft beer folk).

Then the best-beer-buddy arrived, did another meet/greet/how's it going conversation with the owners and then settled down next to me with a beer.

We loved the comfy chairs - although we're normally more keen on sitting in corners - and there isn't really one in this bar.  No matter.

Also, there are full-width bifold doors to the front of the place which will open in summer to make the whole place feel light, airy and an indoor-outdoor combo. What's not to like?

In fact I seem to remember that there's a nascent plan to pedestrianise this bit of the road and if that comes to fruition, Beerarama will really benefit, I think.

When I went to top up the beers, one of owners told me how pleased he was to see a woman come in on her own and that they were hoping to promote an atmosphere where women felt comfortable to sit and drink.  I like that they'd actually given this some thought.  I do feel like I'm quite atypical in women beer drinkers (at least in Eastbourne) - as I told him, these days I'm pretty happy to go into almost any beer-related pub on my own because I know how pubs work, and I know my beer so I'm never likely to be intimidated by the place.

All that said, I'd certainly be happy to take any female friends and colleagues into a place like this - so bravo.

We've been back once and we'll be doing a work thing next week there.  I definitely like the place, and the guys that run it.

 It almost feels like Eastbourne is finally starting to get the beer vibe - thank goodness!

Things Have Definitely Changed

 On Friday, we visited a nephew (F) who lives, literally, around the corner from us.

He is the Eastbourne family member most in tune with us:  football supporter, geek, board-game player, very left wing and enthusiastic (but not excessive) beer drinker.

We took some cans with us as it was a "beer and games" kinda thing because his partner is expecting so she's not drinking (otherwise we may have shared wine with her).

F has taken over beer buddy's season ticket for Brighton and attends with beer buddy's oldest school friend - himself also a good beer drinker.

"I think he's a bit disappointed that you two have gone all craft-beery", say F.

We defended our position of still absolutely loving cask beer but finding that the variety of styles in a single place isn't usually leaves a bit to be desired.  In a pub with many different styles and strengths of cask beer available, we'll typically go through most of the cask list but the recovery of the cask market isn't quite there yet, so it seems.

Then I remember writing about my dislike of keg beer none-too-long ago but it seems like an age.

It's true - the last time we went out with the old-skool cask drinkers of Beer Buddy's youth they were a little surprised that we switched to keg after a couple of cask beers.  Maybe, like me back then, they haven't quite kept up with the quality shift in available keg beers over the years.  Who knows?

We've realised it's definitely us - our tastes have shifted, well broadened I think.

A whole evening of 4% best bitter is no longer something we'll enjoy - even if the best bitter on hand is really good.  Maybe it's because we drink beer often - most days - but no more than 2 - 3 pints.  Others drink far less frequently, but tend to drink greater volume and for longer at any sitting.

I long to take these old friends to the sheer variety of establishments in Bristol, with their myriad styles and hope they'd see them like we do, a welcome addition to styles of beer available.  Mind you, I'm not sure what I'd feel if the still hated it...

Another Rail Less Travelled

 Generally we have an obsession with "efficiency" when we're travelling by train.

By far the most efficient route to Bristol from Eastbourne is Eastbourne - Victoria -Oxford Circus - Paddington - Bristol

We've practiced it for years and we know where to stand on the platform on the Underground to make each change pretty efficient in their own right.

However, at the moment we're still trying to avoid the germ-laded, unmasked, snot monsters on the Tube so we're accepting less efficiency.  We've done the "via Gatwick" route a couple of times and it's good but travelling back this time, on a Monday, I realised with some chagrin that Ninkaci wouldn't be open when we landed at Eastbourne.

For me, the arrival beer is a really good way to chill out after the journey and delay the inevitable thinking about the week of work which was going to be exceptionally busy.

So, instead I suggested we travelled back via Brighton. There's one train a day directly from Temple Meads and it arrives in Brighton at 4.15pm.

I didn't need to suggest to the boy that a trip to the Evening Star would be nice.  It's not something we need to discuss.

Since the FUBAR with Dark Star being taken over by Fullers and Asahi, successively, we no longer love the old beers that were groundbreaking at the time.  Regular beers are now brewed in Chiswick and they're just a shadow of their former selves.

Thankfully, though, the ES still brims with plenty of cask and now 12 keg lines.

We had a very relaxed couple of pints and enjoyed the largely unchanged atmosphere of the pub.  Then we got on the train for the last leg home. 

On Wednesday, I left work and headed around to Bottle Grove to meet the boy there.  On the way I noticed that the promised new taproom/craft bar was now open in Bolton Road.  I reckon that will get tried this week!

Taking it Easy

 When we don't want fuss or crowds, or to be disappointed, we tend to head to Moor.

Yesterday was the last chance we'd have for this trip.

It was cold and threatened rain so we bimbled around the flat doing some bits and pieces of work/fun, watched a bit of rugby and then strolled up.

It's not a cosy taproom, by any means, but there's a gentle familiarity that is reassuring.

The bar manager, despite being in the middle of an order for a few people, gave us a cheery hello.  This always makes me smile.

Resolution on Cask was a good start and I settled down and let the boy get served.  By the time he delivered the bill the score for Brighton was a 2-0 (well, 0-2) win.  A good start.

They had rugby on in a separate room and we toyed with the idea of watching but there was a stag group so we decided to stay put.

As is usual for us, we gradually increase the strength of the beer over successive rounds - I went from Resolution, to Stout to Double Stout - it worked perfectly and I considered how, once upon a time, I would never have willing drunk stout.

After 3 (well, 1 + 2/3rds + half = just over 2 pints) we braved the cold wind and walked home.

They have a slow burn rate of new beer release - unlike some breweries - but each beer is distinct in character and I like it for this.

I've been drinking their beer for as long as they've been making it (they took over in 2007 and moved to the site in 2014) and it remains one of my very favourites.

The Long Walk

 More exploration yesterday.  I promised the boy a walk with green stuff.

I'd realised it was possible to get to Purdown (the place with the big comms tower) very easily by bus.  I've never visited it before.

So we hopped on a bus and off again, ambled up the road in Lockleaze a bit and found ourselves on a big hill.  Pre-spring is never an exciting time for walking since it tends to be a bit underwhelming from the point of view of flora and fauna - but it was sunny and dry so it made for an interesting way to see the outside.

I'd planned the simplest possible walk of 3 miles to the south western end of the green space, and then through to St Werburghs.  However, we took a bit of a diversion and by the time we got to Mina Rd, my poor ol' knees were not having fun.

The boy suggested stopping earlier than our planned first stop of Wiper and True.

We haven't been there for ages and ages so it seemed a good time to reprise it.  100% Dawkins on the cask selection - and we've never loved their beers.  Still, we picked something 5% and IPA-ish, collapsed on the sofa in the quiet roome and were very pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed it.

The locals of this pub are mainly a very specific demographic - young professionals with a friendly  social and artistic air and kids called "Fern" and "Bark" (I'm really not sneering, it's a VERY specific family vibe).  I quite like the pub - I just wish the beer were more to my taste.

We always end up interacting with some of the many small kids who attend with parents.  There's definitely no population quite like this in Eastbourne and it's a shame because "coding in the pub" could really be a thing there.

Legs slightly recovered, we decided to head to our originally planned stop.  Wiper and True are not beers we drink all that often - again not totally to our taste on the whole, despite being of very high quality. We popped in, found it a bit chilly (the boy had got very cold on the walk) and the beers not being what we were after.  So we popped out again.

Just down the road is Fierce and Noble so we popped in there.  Their taproom is just like a traditional pub snug.  The boy settled into a seat by the radiatior to warm up as I collected the drinks.  This brewery is probably the least polished in terms of presentation and marketing - they probably have an even smaller marketing budget than most. Nevertheless - I really like the homespun feel to it all.  We got a genuinely friendly welcome and a bit of jolly interaction when another member of staff was wrestling a piece of furniture past our table.

After our drink we really needed to get back home to eat so we grabbed a couple of cans to go, and headed the final mile or so home.

We had an abortive attempt to grab a last one in the Barley Mow - with the possibility of trying their food but the bar was rammed with one (maybe two) group who are clearly pub amateurs (like the ones you see at Christmas).  The look of frustration on the bar manager's face was palpable as he tried to plough through the order.  We gave up and came home and cooked dinner instead.

I'm thinking we'll be a little more relaxed today - maybe an amble around the corner to Moor with their solid but eccelctic range of beer styles.  At least I hope we'll be more relaxed, I'm not sure my knees are ready for another 6 miler.

More exploration

 So we're trying to make the effort to get around the city a bit more on this trip.  The weather is tolerable, work pressures are allowing and the plague feels marginally less threatening.

After discovering the joys of Italian antipasto of meats and cheese, and having different cheeses over the Christmas break we decided that Licata, in Picton Street, was well overdue a visit.

After a bit of a grumble at the state of the pedestrian access around Newfoundland Road we walked up through St Pauls and the infamous Brigstocke Rd.  I quickly noticed that the area has become more multicultural than I'd ever seen.  Whereas the area was almost exclusively Afro-Caribbean 10 years ago (except during Carnival) - there was a much more diverse range of people walking and cycling.  This makes me smile.

For so long "St Pauls" has been a bit of a bogeyman area - mainly in people who don't know the City - it's nice to think that this reputation might be receding a bit.

In any event, it was lovely to arrive at Licata and be welcomed by lovely things.

We bought a trio of italian cheese (not mozzarella, burrata or parmesan), some Proscuito, some bread, pasta, Sicilian sausage (with fennel) and a couple of bottles of wine.  £40 or so in all.

We wanted to go to the Canteen and Crofters rights but discovered with some horror that the Canteen is no longer open all day and wasn't open until 5pm (it was just after 4pm).  Such a shame and I worry, a little, that the Canteen is no longer the chilled haven of everyone being welcome.

So the nearest open pub was the Hare on the Hill.  This meant an ascent of Nine Tree Hill - a hill I know well from when I lived in the area, and had to walk up on a near-daily basis.  Urgh.

Panting, we arrived at the Hare and settled in.  There was a decent range of cask and keg local beers and it was another "proper" pub.  After two pints we mused on a move.  We decided to get half way home for another pint and so we landed at the Swan with Two Necks.

Beer has always been exemplary but bar staff a bit hit and miss.  This visit we had the boss who is very engaging and likes to talk about beer.

Score another one for the "real" pub list for this visit and we promised ourselves we'd be back sooner than later.

Today we're heading out again to an open space I've never visited.  There'll be bus, some walking and then a visit to Fierce and Noble taproom.  Almost, very nearly pub-like.

Perfection in a Proper Pub

 I've rambled on at length about the sheer number of non-pubs we love. In fact, they far outweigh the number of real pubs we visit on a regular basis.

I needed to replace an orchid which didn't survive last summer and there's the rather lovely Riverside Garden Centre over in South Bristol that seemed like the ideal place to try and find one.  It's an employee-owned co-operative with a lovely cafe and everything the gardener needs.  Frankly, if it were walking distance from our house (with a garden) in Eastbourne, it's doubtful I'd ever leave.

We took the afternoon off and decided to make the most of the 2 mile walk there.

We followed the water and noted just how many people have discovered the floating harbour as somewhere to wander around and enjoy the ex-industrial landscape.  It was one of the first places I took the Best Beer Buddy on his inaugural trip to the city. 

Anyhow, we veered off just before the Great Britain and noted how quickly the footfall dropped off.  So it is still possible to find secret areas in the ctiy centre.

Naturally, visiting the Orchard was all in the plan.  The boy loves his cider and we love that they have rustic rolls and delightful pastry-based treats to have for lunch.  It's the first time we've had lunch "out" (other than in a business meeting) for years and years.

The pub was fairly empty with just a small gaggle of old boys in one corner.  I chose beer - a really nice BBF cask number he chose the house still cider.  We also had a pasty and a sausage roll to share.

It's always been a place we're fond of (following our first visit where we sort of crashed a sort of wedding party) but the new owner has pushed it up a notch.

The beer was cooler than before (yumsk) and everything was obviously clean and cared-for.

Overhearing the old boys chatting about a farm in the far south of the city (subject of a controversial thing at the moment) was like hearing the distant voice of my Dad.  He was from the area they were talking about (and probably were brought up there too).  It made me oddly nostalgic and yet, so delighted to hear an accent rarely heard in the main drag of the city.

I'm not having a go at the people who move here from elsewhere but sometimes it's a bit sad to see the accent that I hated when I was growning up, but now view more fondly, pushed to the peripheries.  The Orchard is, though, as ever a bastion of localness.

After a while another couple of blokes and their dog (Ernie) came in and sat next to us.  Still locals - but locals from the northern part of the city (think Ian Holloway, whereas the other chaps were more Fred Wedlock).

We struck up a casual conversation and they remarked that I was "...from Bristol, obviously..." (not sure what the giveaway was but these days happy there was one). It was all very jolly and relaxing.

At one point a very local phrase was overheard:

"Where's 'ee to, then?"

Yep, I was in my home city for sure.

Anyhow, we bade our farewells and struck out to the garden centre. 

We quickly found our new orchid (Julio, since you ask) and then ambled around to the Bristol Beer Factory tap room.

This taproom manages to feel more pub-like than all the others.  We had a couple of pints and decided that, in view of an impending 7.45 kick-off around the corner, it would be best to head home.

Fortunately, the bus service has improved and we could leave the taproom, leap on a bus 3 minutes later and get off just around the corner from the flat.  Perfect.

Yes, I planned the route and the activities - but you can't plan the encounters or the interest and that's the delight of it all.

Returning to a Railway Arch

 So we had particular plans yesterday - but a few things conspired to thwart them.

Instead, we watched the rugby (and football) at home with fridge beer and then decided to go and grab a quick one in Martha's between the end of one match, and the start of another.

What's delightful is how close it is and its place in a railway arch is such a great use of quirky space.  Yes, I know the Bermondsey Mile did it first and there are other great eating and drinking venues in railway arches in Newcastle but this one - can I just say it again - is within spitting distance of our flat.

Last time we visited, they'd only just opened and it wasn't terribly busy at any point when we'd visited (three times, I think).

When we'd passed by on Friday night it was rammed - just as well we were heading up to Moor (yes, it's on the way to the Moor tap).

So - on a Saturday at about 6.45?  Busy but not stupidly so.

He grabbed a beer and I grabbed a table.

We started with the only one of their brews on the bar.  It's not going to win any awards - at least not in Bristol - but it was a really nice West Coast IPA style.  Very drinkable indeed.

Originally, we were going to just have the one but resolution broke and we had a second. Runaway Porter for him and Newtown Park something or other for me.

 Chatting to the guy minding the bar, I learned that they had become more successful than they had expected.  Their guest beers all seeming to disappear very quickly indeed.  He also told me that they were starting to see "regulars" which makes them very happy.

This is your regular reminder that "districts" in cities have always been a thing. Having several venues selling the same thing in a small area is often a good thing since it's much more likely to get a reputation and pull more people in - especially where the thing you're selling is hand-made like musical instruments, jewelery or, in this case, beer. 

We chose out Bristol home partly on the basis of having a couple of really good pubs nearby - now it looks like we knew that this - previously unfashionable - corner of the city was at the beginning of a renaissance which suits us particularly well.

 

...and we're back!

 Yeah, back in the shire.

Exactly a month since we went back down south.

The trains were all really quiet yesterday - we reprised the Eastbourne-Gatwick-Reading-Bristol route and it felt even less stressful, simply because of the familiarity.  5 hours front door to front door.

Unsurprisingly, after a brief regather, we ambled around to the Barley Mow.  Home from home.

It was quite lively but seating was easy.  We noted there was a lot of "bitter" in the cask line-up and we weren't really in the mood for that.  So we had Notorious followed by some of the best Moor Distortion I've had.  I'm looking forward to comparing it when we head up to Moor shortly.

We toyed with the idea of the new food offering - but decided against it.  Then we saw the indian-inspired small plates come and and started to think we might have enjoyed (there are other days).

We finished off with Southville Hop which is still one of the best strong but not stupid beers you can get.

There's a comforting rhythm to our arrival.  No angsting about where to go, no polite tiptoeing about who wants to go where (yeah, we still do that).  We are very dull in our approach but it adds to the relaxation.

Moor this evening, and tomorrow there may be excurting...who knows.