Out with the Girls

 This is something I almost never do.

I do my drinking with the BBB, and sometimes with him and other people.

The only usual exception is lunchtime in St Leonards when I go to Heist with a colleague.

So my trip to Hastings last Wednesday, on a planned proper "Evening" out with a group of women (more than colleagues, too) was a real outlier...and I wasn't really sure whether I wanted to go or not.

As ever, it was combined with a working period.

We all went to the Seadog which is very close to Hastings station - it makes it a really good venue for a non-driver.

The range of beer was a bit quirky - strong pale beers, no cask and lower strength stouts so I had to adjust my usual drinking style.  That would be my only, very slight criticism, however.

Drop Project and Brewing brothers beers were delicious and my fellow beer drinkers at the table very much agreed.  They even had a really good no alcohol beer for the driver and she loved it.  I tried it and thought it was better than most.

The combination of good beer and really good Asian street food (think Bao, Rendang, Wings, etc) together with the excellent company made for a really enjoyable evening - and, after a spritely walk for a train, I was home for 9.15.

I'm pretty sure it'll be something I'll repeat from time to time (not too often, though...this introvert still finds peopling exhausting).

Black Lager - Seriously?

 On our return from my western homeland we did the thing that we always do - set about making sure there's a good range of fridge beer.

Our fridge beer is usually from Bristol breweries although sometimes I add others if we feel like a change.

This time, I was reminded that it was "Dancing With Spectres" season so I naturally went to Lost and Grounded's website to order some.

If you buy 2 cases (2 x 12 cans) direct from our lovely breweries you always get delivery by courier added free...so it seems rude not to.

12 cans of Spectres...but, what to choose next?

L&G are really specialist lager-and-related-styles kinda guys (and girls) and so often we don't want to drink loads of their beers (but our visit to their taproom a couple of years ago was wonderful) but it's daft not to give a few things a try.

So this time I added a black lager thinking that if I didn't like it - the boy probably would.  I added other things too but the black lager was very much the unknown quantity.

So we tried it last night.

Blimey!  It was lovely.  Like a tamer version of "Spectres" (officially a Baltic Porter).  

It reminds me of the first time I was offered a Black IPA (Arbor's sadly missed Black-Eyed PA).  It seems contradictory - lagers and pale ales are...well pale. (I know that lagering is a process not a colour description but we all know it's pale, right?).

You look at it.  You take a sip and if you close your eyes you could think it was just the same as its pale cousin.  But wait! The chocolate malt starts to assert itself and you get a much deeper flavour.

With an ABV around 5% it's not a starting beer for us - so it's not the first thing we'd pick up, say, after a walk on a warm day but it was glorious.

Excursion

 I was working in Hastings yesterday so, despite the cold, I coaxed the Best Beer Buddy out of the house to meet me afterwards.

I finished in St Leonards but it was seriously cold and I doubted that either Heist or Collected Fictions would have the cosy atmosphere we were after.  Having been in two freezing pubs last week, I wasn't in the mood for that again after a busy day.

So instead, we co-ordinated trains and I jumped back on the train at Warrior Square and we hiked up to the Imperial.

We hadn't been there for ages.

It was good to see it already buzzing when we arrived (just before 5pm) but faffed around a bit to get a seat we were both happy with.

It is a lovely place and the staff are universally engaging but we were a little taken aback at the prices.  They seem to have suffered a real hike since our last visit to one of their venues.

£7 a pint for a 6% beer is more than we'd (almost) ever pay in Bristol (LHG is possibly the only exception) so to see that price point in Hastings gave us a pause.

The cask beer (Pig and Porter) was a little more than Harveys in the Lamb for roughly the same ABV.

A really excellent Marguerrita pizza on the other hand was a jolly £9.50 and was enough for two of us.

Dunno whether this is a wider trend, a reflection on conmtinued pressures on hospitality or Brewing Brothers setting out their stall.

I'll be interesting to compare when I go to the Seadog to meet with work colleagues next week...

Shrinkage

 So, we're back in town.

I was working on Wednesday so the boy came and met me.  We decided, as we are wont to do, to head to the Belgian Bar.

Turns out they're on holiday, himself indicated that, for some reason he really wanted a pint of something (rather that our usual 2/3rd which we've had a lot of, of late).  So we headed to the Eagle.  It's never got an amazing array of beer we want to drink but there's usually something worth trying.

As we walked in, there was only Harveys on the bar but the super-cheery barman had already excitedly headed our way so we ordered a couple of pints of it and chatted to him.

Turns out a new bar manager has reduced the volume of cask they're willing to put on because it doesn't sell very well and so most of the time they'll only have Harveys on. So that's another pub we're highly unlkely to return to any time soon.

Options aren't numerous nearby so after supping what we'd bought we headed around the corner to the Dewdrop.  It's always been more hit an miss since it's a GK pub so guests are often a GK "Craft" special which often aren't clearly shown as GK.  

What we had was a decent enough 1066 IPA so nothing else we'd want to drink so after that we headed for Chinese food instead.

On Saturday evening we went to The Crown where there was a lovely pint of Kent Prohibition and a couple of friends who we sat and nattered the time away with.  He's also a keen beer drinker and also expressed disappointment with the Eagle - to which he added the Dolphin (we've not ventured there for a while) and was non-committal about Bibendum (likewise).  That writes off the whole of "Little Chelsea" as the area is known as not worth going to for pub purposes.

The Rainbow was added to the list as too foodie and too expensive for Beavertown keg beer.  We already avoid all GK pubs if humanly possible so that leaves two Harveys pubs (Lamb and Hurst) and two craft beer places (Ninkasi and Beerarama).

It's a pretty dire situation.

So I've been reading about lots of pubs closing down because they're not financially viable and, on the basis of our visits and the follow up conversation with A, that would be entirely unsurprising.  Also, all the pubs (with the exception of the Crown) were cold and the lack of people in them emphasised that. 

It seems like there's an element of self-fulfilling decline going on.  Not committing to more beer, not putting the heating on, etc - all in a bid to save money.  But the money will only come from customers really wanting to come to your pub and finding it somewhere they'd like to spend some time.  And it won't happen that way.

A First

 So after the travel issues on Monday, we needed to come back Tuesday or face loads of organisational hassle.

All looked good and then the headline on the radio news was "Further Disruption at Paddington".

There was a brief period when going via the Brighton -  Southampton route looked to be a necessity but checking trains, all seemed to be OK with the route.  Probably.

So we went for it.

The Paddington train was nearly empty as was the Eastbourne one, the station concourses were much less frenetic than usual and even the slight embuggeration of the tube (Bakerloo not working very well) actually only served to make the journey smoother via the Circle Line, with no waiting around anywhere.

We arrived in Eastbourne just before 3.30pm and, for the first time ever, I really didn't want to go and get beer in town.  I just wanted to be at home.

It was very chilly and I was very tired so we got a cab and were home in minutes.

Fridge beer is dwindling in volume and variety but easily sufficient to keep us happy.

Today I feel much perkier and have already attended to a few chores - including Bristol beer purchases.  Clearly the breweries aren't particularly busy just now: within about 5 minutes of placing the order online, two of the three breweries confirmed dispatch.  

Down to work later and then a decision about whether to deplete the existing beer stocks further, or venture to a pub.  

 

 

Thwarted

 Ach.

After finding out quite late that a TFL strike was happening today, we'd started to look at alternative routes.  Either Reading-Gatwick or Southampton-Brighton.

We decided that we'd think about it later and, meanwhile, popped off to Marthas for a game and some beer.

As always, this small, but perfectly formed venue is welcoming and doing what we want - serving great beer.

It's a very easy place to be in whether it's empty or part full.  The staff always catch up with us like we saw them yesterday and when I ask them how things are going - I genuinely want to know and am really cheering them on.  

This morning the TFL strike is off but something weird seems to be going on between Reading and London.  So we chickened out.  Himself is very keen on the Southampton route and and even wre we to do Reading-Gatwick there would inevitably be knock-on problems.  So we've decided we can't be doing with the hassle today and are heading back tomorrow instead.

Barley Mow looks odd-on for this evening, I reckon.

A Weekend in Bristol

 Set thinking by a Twitter post asking for ideas for a "civilised stag" I started to work out what I'd recommend to visitors for whatever reason they may be wanting to visit.

I guess my basis is the one I used about 10 years ago when I lived in a house 10 mins walk from the centre of the city and welcomed 6 visitors - all of whom like a walk and drink but only had one day to be in the city.  We set out at 11am and returned home around 11pm, having walked about 10 miles and visited 8 pubs.  On the way doing a bit of heritage etc.  I've just extended things for another day and a half...

So - here it is...

Arrive by train lunchtime on a Thursday and leave on Sunday afternoon.  I'd recommend this as giving long enough to see places and make the most of venues without forcing each day to be a continuous 10-pub crawl.

Also, I'd aim to avoid all large chain venues and hotel bars/restaurants if humanly possible, and I think that's easily possible.

I've no idea what the Ibis Hotel close to Temple Meads is like to stay in but it would be a really convenient base if the hotel is acceptable.  It's relatively quiet in the streets but dead easy to get to and from with little effort (about 5 minutes from train to hotel)

Lunchtime Thursday:  Arrive, check in at hotel.  Immediately decamp to Little Martha (<2 mins walk) via the Pasty Shop (next door) - excellent beer and lovely pasty/sandwich/savoury...making a perfect lunch and regrouping venue.

Stroll along the floating harbour and head towards King Street (it'll be less busy than on Friday/Saturday) -  there are a variety of pleasant walking routes.  The stroll is about a mile and if, you're so inclined, pay attention to the architecture -  some of this is old Bristol for sure.  

King Street has some 8 venues all with their different aspects - also HUGE amounts of outdoor seating meaining you could all choose drinks from different bars and drink them together.

- Brewhouse brews its own beer, and majors on TV sport (about 6 screens dotted about the place).

- Kongs does beer and games (I understand)

- The Old Duke is a Jazz Pub

- The Llandogger is a lovely old building but also has a wide range of continental type beers as well as regular cask and keg beers

- Beer Emporium is in a vault and does a wide range of beers - with integral pizza offering

- The Naval Volunteer - good range of beer and good pub menu - and some sport from time to time.  Also a games room

- The King William - Sam Smiths pub if you're into them (I'm definitely not)

- Small bar - my first introduction to 2/3rd measures and card-only payment.  Can be quite pricey but undeniably interesting and usually something stupidly strong if you like to end the evening that way.  Does fried chicken-based food.

There's also a world-famous theatre, indian, chinese & pizza restaurants.   In the adjoining street (next to the water) there is a burger boat, a cider boat and a gin boat and an upscale restaurant. All this could easily keep you entertained for an evening and you'll still only be a 20min  walk from the hotel.

Friday. There are some nice breakfast venues around Avon Street so they'd be a definite alternative to a hotel breakfast...breakfast needn't be too early...

Get yourself on a ferry from Temple Quay (you pretty much passed the ferry stop as you walked from the station to the hotel) to the far end of the floating harbour (SS Great Britain, Mardyke, The Cottage - any of them).  The ferry ride itself gives a lovely view of the bits of the historic city so don't just treat it as transport.  If you're into history and boats - the SS Great Britain is an award-winning museum. If you want to be active there are, I believe, boating activities to be had.  But walking around the harbour itself really pleasant and one of my favourite places to take visitors.

For lunchtime find The Orchard (if you get it right by walking by the rowing club you'll also see the Banksy "Girl with a Pearl Earring" piece...
Best place for cider but respectable cask and keg beer options too.  Monster rolls, pasties (well you are in the West Country), pies etc for lunch but they're delivered each morning and when they're gone, they're gone.  Notably, the most likely place to hear a proper south-bristol accent.  You'll think you're in the depths of the Somerset Levels.  The old boys who often drink there typically have cider which is orange in colour.  However, there's a board of about 20 other ciders and perries which suit all tastes.  Do not head here on Saturday match days if Bristol City are at home.

Now stroll back towards the centre of town.  You'll pass the docks railway lines (sometimes with steam trains running), a Fairbairn Steam crane (last one in the world) and some 1920's electric cranes (what's not to like) and a museum which often has special exhibitions.

At Wapping Wharf there are more places to eat and drink than you can shake a stick at.  If you need topping up... all of them are independents which was a priority by the site owners.

Heading further back to the centre there's an indepedent cinema at the local arts venue (Watershed) if that's your bag.  Most of the rest of the city centre is retail, food and drink though.  There's a 10pin bowling venue close to the centre of town which is also a music and other venue...but you've got to know it's there - does beer, but also the nearly-adjoining pub (The Bank) is a proper street corner cask-led pub. You're now in some of the oldest extant  parts of the city (thanks to fires and bombs over the last couple of centuries) so keep your eyes peeled for little lanes to explore and see old architecture.

Depending on what time it is/how much energy you have you could stroll back to your hotel via "Castle Green" and make visits to Left Handed Giant Taproom, Good Chemistry's "Kings Head" (it's one of their effective "tap rooms"), Fleece and Firkin for various gigs (with Seven Stars and its very traditional cask beer range) next door and The Cornubia (find it if you can).

Saturday

This is actually a tricky one -  there's so much choice.  For a full schedule - head out around 9.45am and go to the Martin Parr Institute to see the latest photography exhbition, followed by breakfast/brunch at Bocabar.

Then having stretched your legs head back to the Moor Brewery for 12.45pm to go to one of their excellent tours.  They also have occasional all-day events so that's worth checking.

If you now head to the "St Pauls" part of town (yes, you've heard of it but it's not rioty on a regular basis). Basement Beer is in Wilder Street (tiny brewery, even tinier taproom). Before you head back down the hill  join the main road and walk up the hill a little until you can see a place called The Canteen (good for a visit but not essential) to the right of the entrance is another Banksy - "Mild Mild West". 

Now head down the hill - get onto the back streets (via Wilder Street again, perhaps) and find the lovely New Bristol Brewery taproom (check social media rather than website for actual opening times).

I've lost track of what time it might be but after you're fed up of NBB, head down the little lane next to the brewery which will bring you to the main road (end of the M32).  Cross over to the far side and head down Wade Street - in a side street to the left (Great Anne Street) is the Swan with Two Necks - if you like a proper old boozer.

If you bypass that (or if you're still after somewhere else) you're heading in the general direction of "Old Market" which is a area of town and the road is "Old Market Street". There are a few pubs and restaurants there, including the quirky "Elmers" which is a late night kinda venue.  Also "The Old Market Assembly" which is a bar/food venue with a small quirky theatre.  

Once you're done around here and if it's not stupidly late, head down "Midland Road" until just before you get to an old railway bridge and there's a small road to your right (Barton Road).  Half way down is, simply my favourite pub in Bristol:  The Barley Mow.  Cask, keg, food, wine, spirits, friendly, etc, etc.
You are now spitting distance from the Ibis.

 Sunday

If you missed the Barley Mow (or if you just want to revisit) check out late from your hotel and make time for Sunday Lunch here (booking advisable sometimes).  Then a pleasant 10 min stroll will see you back on your train...and probably thinking you've seen everything.  You haven't.  

You've potentially visited the taproom (or equivalent) of 5/6 independent breweries.  There are at least 6 or 7 more (Arbor, On Point, Bruhaha, Tapestry/Props, Bristol Beer Factory, Fierce & Noble, Wiper & True, Lost and Grounded).  You've not walked across the Clifton Suspension Bridge or been on the rock slide, or visited the observatory.    You haven't visited the "Bag of Nails (Cats)" or the Grainbarge, or the Limekiln...all really have to be done at some point.

There are two football clubs and a rugby club which could have been visited if that's your thing.

There are (they tell me) escape rooms and the like.  There are Belgian-led bars, speak-easy hidden bars, more street art than you can shake a stick at and you've not really touched anything that isn't very close to the centre of town.  Bath's close too (cyclable along the cycle track, or 15 mins by train).  Seriously, you're going to have to come back!

New Places to Visit and Recommendations for Visitors

 Making the most of the drier weather and learning of a new place to drink beer we struck out towards Arnos Vale Cemetery.  It makes for a lovely walk through, with hidden corners, birdsong...and grave furniture.  Mind you, walking to the top of it is quite the yomp as the wider hillside it's built on includes the steepest residential street in England.  We took a fairly direct route to the top and arrived quite breathless.  During the walk I'd been musing on a Twitter request from someone I follow asking for "civilised stag do" suggestions - and what I might recommend.  I'm going to take that up separately in the next post.

Meanwhile, we strolled through a few residential streets in Totterdown and found the destination of the walk:  Bruhaha.

We'd missed them in their pop-up incarnation in Bedminster when we'd done an amble around there last summer so I was quite keen to give their permanent home a try.

It's made of two shops, on a hill, joined together - much like Collected Fictions in St Leonards.  The steep hill means the two levels are distinct and involves some steps.  The bar and a few stools plus loo and kitchen are in one half, the other half is tables and chairs.  There's space for about 35 people and, as such, definitely needs to run on Basketmakers' rules.

They had a longish list of draught beers and ciders available but all were completely different styles.  So one lager, one Bock, one sour, one pale, one stout, one sweet cider, one dryish cider, one cask beer, one lo-alcohol, and so on.  Whilst it's a nice idea in theory, for the way we drink it meant there was really only one beer I wanted to drink (the cask beer was a relatively low ABV beer from Good Chemistry and I didn't think I'd like it much).  We'd have loved them to have 2/3rds measures available but they only do halves and pints so we had a pint and a half between us which is our new tactic for dealing with that eventuality.  We hadn't really planned to stay that long, and we initially perched on the stools next to the bar because the main room was rammed and with many children and their pushchairs.  Clearly, this is very much a neighbourhood venue. Also evidenced by an overheard conversation between owner and punter..."...I think you're my daughter's head teacher..." this is a smallish, clearly quite tight-knit community.

The owner is very attentive and at one point said - there's a couple of tables free now if you wanted to sit somewhere more comfortable - which I thought was a really nice touch.

We decided to get another drink and decamp.  It was 'snug' in the other room but we settled in comfortably.  People ebbed and flowed and then some pals came in and looked briefly alarmed at the lack of seating - obviously, we offered them the other half of "our" table and we spent a jolly evening catching up with them.  There was the option of food there and perhaps on another day (ie possibly less busy) we might have taken it up...it looked really nice.  Apparently different pop-ups each weekend.

 As we set out home, the owner came and opened the door and bid us farewell - clearly keen to find out what customers thought.  All in all, a really great evening - and a place to keep an eye on.

Going Out

 The weather stayed very pleasant all day yesterday.

We were aching to get out in it so we took a slightly circuitous route over to Wapping Wharf.  This route meant that we went through a hither-to unseen bit of the Wapping Wharf development.  Gosh!

There was a surprising range of unessential shops - beauty place, things for the home shop and that sort of thing but an actual, proper, non-chain bookshop.  So delighted was I that I went in and found a book to buy.

The area now has a much more bedded-in feel and I have to say they seem to have made quite a good job of integrating the retained gaol buildings.  I think that there's more permanent development planned so that the container-based food businesses could end up moving into bricks-and-mortar buildings.

We went to the Junction (BBF) and, initially, were considering moving on after the first one - but they had both Independence and Southville Hop on keg and by the time we got around to deciding whether we wanted to stay the "creche" which had formed had largely dissipated.

It's a useful place but there are no cosy corners to sit in which is a bit of a shame so it never feels especially relaxing.  Nevertheless - it's place you could confidently take friends and family if you're doing the harbour circuit.  I also like it more than the Wildbeer incarnation.  We didn't want to eat there though so we thought we'd check out a few of the Cargo venues.

I'd wanted to try Daily Noodles which is right opposite Junction but it was full by the time we went to look.  So we had a bit of a clamber to see which (if any) venue called to us.

We ended up in Salt and Malt which is a combo take out chippy and bistro/eat-in place.   Lovely greeting the second we walked in by the FoH staff and we were soon perched at a tall table.

The menu for eat-in was much the same as the counter menu but with a couple of extra mains and some starters.

Ultimately, we shared fishcake and chips and a bowl of fish soup.  The wine list was short but we decided to have a couple more cans of Southville Hop which complemented the food really well.

This was none of your mug 'o tea, Mothers Pride and soggy chips affair - everything was fantastic and the bread was a generous portion of sourdough.

Service was easy-going and friendly - all in all a lovely, lovely place to go and we left feeling happy and full.  Quite keen to try somewhere else next time (although there's also a fair chance that we'd go back there given half a chance).

The walk home exercised off the chips but it's also a reasonably pleasant on.

Today?  Another bit of a walk and maybe a new taproom...

Staying In

 The bloody-awful weather has been relentless.  Day after day of grey and rain and rain and grey and then sunset and then rain.

We'd been working on some work-stuff requiring concentration, data and a fair bit of colourful language.

When I looked out the window to decide where to go it was, naturally, chucking it down.

We'd been to both hyper-local venues over the previous two days and so we'd usually avoid a repeat so soon.

Annoyingly, neither of us could decide where/whether we wanted to go out.  So inertia meant we cracked open some fridge beer and hunkered down.

Today, the weather has brightened and the Met Office promise dry weather for the remainder of our stay.  We can only hope.

I'm pretty sure that we'll be heading out later...we head back to the relative beer desert of Eastbourne on Monday so we'll want to make the most of it.

Walking Around the Block

 So, on New Years Day we were convinced that one of our Bristol locals would be open and that a sort walk in the rain would yield a venue.

It did not.

We came back and cracked a couple of cans, slightly damper but not too dispirited since we'd at least got a couple of lungfulls of fresh air.

Yesterday, we tried again.  We got to the Barley Mow at 4.45 but there was a notice on the door saying they were opening at 5pm.  So we headed off around "The Block" in the direction of Marthas - who weren't open either.  I mean it's fair enough - most bar staff will have been worked off their feet for the last couple of weeks.  So we circled around again, popped into the supermarket for some essential supplies and dropped them back home.  Then we headed out again.

We arrived back at about 5.10pm - grabbed a couple of pints and settled down next to the fire.  The pub started quiet, but by the time we left around 7.30pm, it had begun to liven up with a couple of groups of people.

Today it's possible that the weather might finally allow for a bit more of an excursion - fingers crossed.

Retrospective?

 Lots of people are doing retrospectives of the year with various themes.  My year in beer wasn't actually very "interesting" - in that we did what we do.  We love the beer scene in Bristol and we definitely make the most of it when we stay here.  The scene in Eastbourne is considerably, and sadly, so much less attractive but we know where you get good beer, and we make the most of it:

Crown on Thursday - Saturday.  Andy typically puts a new guest on for the weekend and sometimes there are absolute crackers.  The beer is ALWAYS well kept and Andy is fanatical that it stays that way.  He also does great beer festivals 3 times a year.  Sometimes there are sports, sometimes it's noisy but it's as good a local as it's possible to get in Eastbourne.

The Lamb - when we want to go to the pub near home but we've already been to the Crown, typically on a Sunday. Beer is only Harveys but usually well kept and have some of the range that isn't "Best".

The Hurst.  Rarely, but usually in the evening after a working day - especially when there's one of the seasonal brews on (think Thomas Paine, Star of Eastbourne, Bonfire Boy...).

Ninkasi when we haven't been for a while and are craving good keg beer or when there's a good reason to drink near the station.  We've introduced so many people to this place that we're probably due a commission.

Beerarama - usually after work at HQ, always good beer and lovely owners - particularly good on a hot day.

And, to be honest, that's just about it.  As a result we try to make the most of imperatives to be out of town.  St Leonards, Hastings, Seaford etc all have places we know and like but we go too infrequently to feel the push to experiment too much.

In Bristol this year, there haven't really been too many "discoveries".  The new Wiper and True taproom and the Kings Head have been added to our relatively frequent destinations for a variety of reasons.  We're still keeping our fingers crossed that the Arbor Brewery tap might open a little more in future.

What we remarked on yesterday afternoon as we had a couple of early beers hoping to avoid crowds (which was largely successful) and watching a troupe of youngsters walk into the Kings Head, turn tail and walk out again (it really is that small) and head off to somewhere else on a crawl of some sort - that we don't want to go to more than one place unless that place doesn't have a variety of beer for us.  We find a comfortable corner, settle in and try all the beers.  And that's how we like to do our beer - it's a pattern that has evolved over a number of years, and maybe we're settled in our ways.  But I don't care.

Meanwhile - come on, Eastbourne, surely there's more space in town for some interesting pubs and bars...!