...and a Third

We wanted to make up for not being able to go to Martha's for boardgames on Sunday.

So we went yesterday instead.

We were greeted cheerily by the folk there and we spent a little while catching up with them to find out how their weekend had gone.

They'd sold 30% more beer this time than last which they said was a surprise since two arches is Unwins' taproom, also selling beer and, halfway through Saturday the heavens opened whereas last year it was sunny all the time.  They declared themselves really happy.

They're part of a campaign to make this row of railway arches more of a destination, I really hope they're successful because it would pay better respect to the quirky, rough around the edges history of this bit of town than the retail units in all the new shiny buildings that have been going up over the last 10 years or so (most of them empty, by the way).  I definitely prefer my urban development to be organic.

After catching up with the guys, we settled into a booth.  A large group (probably off the train colleagues for a conference or meeting or whatever tomorrow) came in and very noisily hung around for about 30 minutes - it was hard to resent them too hard because it was nice to see the place with a few people in on a Tuesday after a bank holiday.

We played our new birdy game, now starting to get the measure of it so it didn't feel like such hard work - he won.

The beer?  Oh, yeah - we had their house beers:  Halo Orbit, Mysterious intergalatic object and Neighbour we left behind - plus the newer pale one.  Nothing novel (they probably sold it all over the weekend) but beers we know and like.  It worked well

 

Two in a row

 Bank Holiday Monday - but still a Monday, right?

In this house (flat) that means Barley Mow.

We wondered whether it would be open because of a hectic weekend.  We needn't have worried.

We popped round around 4.15pm

The chap behind the bar looked...broken...

 "busy weekend?..."

He nodded wearily, but with a warm smile.

"We broke all our records"

We chatted a bit about it and he chuckled when I said we'd been avoiding the whole thing and had been worried about the rain for the success of the event.  It seems a lot of people took refuge in the BM.  

Still the pictures I've seen from a few of the venues look like it was probably chalked up as a success across the board.  I'm genuinely delighted.  

We settled down with our beers - I had Notorious, he had a 3.8% pale by Ashley Down - both were great.

The pub was perfectly peopled - folk were at "our" table but that didn't dent our spirits one bit.

Second beer was a 5% Red Willow pale, slightly hazy cask.  Cracking! He had a second one of those whilst I jumped ship to a 5% keg beer (brewery not remembered) - however, he liked mine more than I did so we swapped after a couple of mouthfuls (greater love hath no man, an' that).

We'd necked our beers quite fast, despite playing Regicide to slow us down,  so there was scope for a 4th - so we had halves of a Weekend Project 6% keg beer (again, name forgotten but) it, too, was great!

Great selection of beer and the busy weekend clearly meant a thorough turnaround of beers from the day we arrived so it was really nice to have a completely different selection to choose from.

Another reason we both like BBF venues is their glass selection.  They have standard 1pt conic glasses, but their 2/3rds, halves and thirds are the same style and there's something incredibly satisfying about that when one of you is drinking a pint and the other 2/3rds (or other variations).  Their enthusiasm to serve cask in all the different volumes make me order the amount I actually want according to strength and appetite - I think that may be an underrated thing (or, we may just be odd...).

So, that's two consecutive days in a pub with everything (even the things they can't control) perfect.  That's a hard act to follow... 

 

 

 

 

Goldilocks

 No place, no beer, no activity is ever ALWAYS perfect.

Most places, beers and activties can have instances of perfection.

So it was at the Kings Head yesterday.

Frequently too crowded, or too noisy because after-workers don't know how to use their indoor voices, the Kings Head hits highs and lows for us.  Never had a bad pint in there since it was reopened, mind.

In the pursuit of avoiding the EBBT (which does look as though it was pretty well attended, thank goodnees) we walked in the other direction and wondered how busy the Kings Head would be.

When we arrived there were no folk sitting at the bar or in the little bench inside the door.  So we grabbed a couple of (absolutely delicious) pints and headed into the Tramcar Snug.  There were about 10 people in there but a nice little space was available for us.  

Initially the larger group were a little noisy but they finished their drinks quickly and the noise level dropped to a perfect gently hubbub.

We looked up where our beers had come from (Abbeydale, Sheffield and the other was from Mallinsons, Huddersfield) and chatted about...actually I'm not sure, but it was that kind of relaxed chat that flows and then goes away.

Second beers were hazy and keggy:  me Burning Sky - Quench, him Deya.  Both hit the spot nicely.

Other punters came and went, no one imposed themselves too much on the space:  a couple of couples, a few blokes with a dog...all very convivial.

Last beer was always going to be the Black IPA they had on offer (still a style I absolutely love and what a treat to have it on cask).  It was Pangoltergeist (the troubled spirit of a mischevious pangolin, maybe?) by Tartarus (Leeds).  This is not a brewery I've seen in Bristol before but there's frequently a keg of theirs on at Beerarama. Blimey it was lovely - roasty, chocolatey, deep and bitter...but not too much.  It being cask (Kings Head don't do 2/3rds for cask beers) we shared a pint and a half.

Then it was time to leave.  I picked up the glasses and started to walk up the passageway towards the door to find one of the dog-owning blokes heading towards me with a couple of pints so (obviously) I stepped aside to let him pass easily.  "Thanks, my luvver", he said.

Like I said, sometimes it all comes together and it's perfect. 

It's not that I'm anti-social, but...

 Being in Bristol when the East Bristol Brewery Trail is scheduled you'd think we'd be keen to get involved.

As several bar staff hereabouts we've spoken to in the last few days would be able to tell you - "..god, no...".

I hasten to say that I think it's a great event, and it's really nice this year that Moor have rejoined, along with the new incarnation of Good Chemistry together with Unwins so the trail is 7-breweries strong.

Since the furthest from here is a tiny bit over a mile, you have to be impressed that in one corner of a city which isn't huge there are that many small breweries (Little Martha, Unwins, Moor, Good Chemistry, Left-Handed Giant, Arbor, Wiper & True).

You also wouln't have to stray too far off the trail to also take in Fierce and Noble, New Bristol Brewery and Basement Beer.  Actually, I've just measured it.  A circle of 1km radius, centred roughly on Wiper & True's new brewery & taproom would encompass 10 breweries with open taprooms.  All of the eminently walkable from Temple Meads station.

So why aren't we flocking along with everyone else?

Mostly because they'll be horribly busy which both of us find quite stressful.  But also because all of these taprooms have regular (usually weekend) operating hours.  

We have attended in the past mostly so we could go to Arbor, which at the time wasn't open very often.  The place was rammed - everyone was jolly and we made the best of it, but the walk back along the cycle track was a blessed, peaceful relief.

One time we made the mistake of thinking the Barley Mow would, as a result, be quite quiet - it was most definitely not. 

So when asked we enthuse about the event and tell the questioner we'll be going to the places when it's quieter.

Sadly, after what was a warmish, brightish start to the day it's turned really quite wet which will probably dampen the mood a little.  I know the two breweries nearest here had contingency plans in putting tables under cover so let's hope that it's not a complete bust for the breweries with limited inside space.

As it turns out, we've hunkered down in the flat as we don't fancy going to the nearest "will certainly be quiet" place.  

Tomorrow is another day... 

 

Games in the Pub

 I strongly suggest that there may be quite a big overlap in the Venn diagram circles of "likes interesting beer" and "likes playing boardgames".

I've always loved board games but my siblings, being much older than me, didn't really indulge me when I was growing up.  Consequently it was mainly Scrabble for me - Sunday afternoons.

In my twenties - me and the boy from Lancashire were given a couple of modern games:  Settlers of Catan and Fluxx.

The BfL could take games or leave them and these two games weren't great for only two players.

Fast forward 30 years.  When I met the BBB, I was delighted to learn that, not only was he a beer enthiast, but also a boardgame one.  Like me, his older siblings had no interest, really, so he also had limited opportunities to play.

He likes a co-operative game, particularly. I'm happy with co-operative or competitive though I find co-operative ones a tiny bit stressful since my gaming strategy is not always up to snuff so I sometimes feel I'm not really pulling my weight.

On the other hand, I really don't mind losing - even though I do try to win.

So...best games in the pub?

Currently:

- Regicide - just a pack of cards but an app helps with the scoring (co-op)

- Jaipur - me more than him but involves a marketplace and camels.  Takes very little room (comp)

- Crew - trick-winning.  Takes a bit more room but playable on a smallish table (co-op)

- Sky Team - wayyyy better than it sounds.  Unique game play and there's a genuine sense of achievement when you win it (co-op)

- Sail - cute, lovely box and graphics small enough to have room in most bags and the game board is narrow (co-op)

and now, we've added Wingspan to the mix.  It's unwieldy in its heaviness, it takes quite a lot of juggling and concentration and it takes up a lot of table space.  But it's truly a lovely game. (comp).  

 We took this to Martha's yesterday and it just fit on a booth table with two of us and a couple of pints of beer.  But that's all we played for the duration of our visit, it's absorbing and tricksy and there's a lot of mileage in it.

Oh - Martha's cask Ruby Mild was really nice along with it too! 

Out and About

 The last couple of weeks have been very intense at work.  We've had meetings with other organisations and chats with proto-organisations, and discussions with network engineers and premises staff.  Our work to set up our new space continues and culminated in me spending a couple of days removing RAM from old (and very grubby) donated laptops, updating our laptop records and heaving piles of the darned things around to get things tidy.

Wednesday allowed us the opportunity to make a long overdue return to the Belgian Cafe - I realised I'd really missed it. 

On Thursday we went to Wolf and accidentally participated in a creative gathering and ended up chatting with folk all evening. I can't even remember the beer precisely, but Brewing Brothers from Hastings figured heavily and to great effect.

Then Friday I did some internet safety training in the community in some retirement housing - I got home at lunchtime, picked up some electronic work tasks and when we got to beer o'clock I just wanted to remain on the sofa, and drink fridge beer (Arbor and Drop Project offerings).

We'd been attempting to get to Bristol but my work, the arrival (or lack) of postal votes for local elections and then a Tube strike curveball meant travelling on Saturday was the most practical option.

Reduced trains from Eastbourne and Paddington meant that booking seats on the 2.30pm from Paddington made sense -  and then, when we looked at trains on Saturday morning even more trains from Eastbourne had been cancelled.

So we left home a little earlier than planned, fully expecting to have to wait a while at Paddington for our 2.30 train.

The people travelling on Saturdays are sooooo different from those travelling during the week. the whole journey was noisier, more crowded and with people being much more thoughtless travellers.   

Still, we got to Paddington with around 45 mins to wait for our train.  I was just about to suggest a cheeky half in the Mad Bear and Bishop (assuming it's still there) when we noticed a train that went via Bristol Parkway much sooner - so we legged it across to the platform.  The journey was less noisy than the first leg (maybe it's just that people from the South East are noisier).

The flat was very hot when we arrived so it wasn't long until we'd opened windows and abandoned ship to leave it to cool down a bit.  "Where will be peaceful?" he said - well, nowhere on a Saturday was a sure bet so, obviously, we went to the Barley Mow.  It was delightful inside, most people having carved out a spot outside.  There was a great array of cask and keg on offer and, because we were there a little earlier than usual, we drank a little more whilst watching for football results and properly chilling.

Castle Rock "go with the flow",a Scotch Brown Ale,  a BBF 5% beer, plus Notorious were all in great condition on Cask and we checked out a couple of keg offerings -  Azacca Triangle from Mysterious Brewing (who I've not heard of) and a 6% BBF one I can't remember the name of.  

We wondered whether our Eastbourne Local, the Crown, without the constraints of an uber pub co brand would  be able to match the BM for us?  Maybe.

A lot of "unspecified" lager was ordered yesterday - and I particularly love that what they get is either BBF or other locally brewed lager rather than something from an uberbrand.  Everyone also seems to be happy with what they get - given that they go back for seconds.  Another reason to adore this pub - a full range of choice, but a real sense of being an independent trader in all senses - a Free House (even though it's owned by the brewery) but even more so.

 The BM and its staff never fail to deliver for us. 

 

 

 

Permeability

 Had to be down at our new base yesterday.  It's a large civic building and is right next to a sports ground.

County cricket games were played here - though not often now - but it has a thriving cricket club which attracts all sorts of players.  There is (or maybe was) a croquet club, of course there's a bowls club and there's now a large Padel "tent", one of the Town's non-league football teams plays there along with a lively hockey scene.

It's fairly recently become home to a Gun Brewery taproom which we visited once last summer - and enjoyed watching some young women's cricket. 

Yesterday we didn't really want to go back to Wolf (the other closest bar of choice) so I suggested the taproom.

The sports ground is literally right across the road from our building and there have historically been numerous entrances.  How hard do you think it would be for us to find a quick route to the taproom?

Sigh.

We went to the nearest gate to find it padlocked and a note to suggest walking round to the next entrance -which is/was the football turnstile entrance - also locked. So we had walk about a quarter of a mile round to the next entrance, then walk round a quarter of the cricket ground perimeter then cross to the centre of the whole complex to gain entry to the bar.

Once in we were a bit confused by what was available on the bar - the keg labels were small and behind the bar (and so unreadable) and the beer list did list all the beers but it was a really confused jumble of information.  Only after we'd settled on a 4% Vermont Pale (very nice) did we realise that the two cask pumps we'd seen (Best Bitter and lovely, but stupid strong Zanzama) were only 50% of the cask offering.

The beer list didn't indicate the dispense method of the beers so we'd missed them entirely until we got our beer and sat down.  Only then did we see the ENORMOUS lit beer list on a wall you couldn't see from the bar (but it was almost as confusing as the written list - and still didn't indicate dispense method) and realise there were the other two cask pumps we'd missed at the far other end of the bar.

Still the beers we had were great, if a little on the pricey side, and we ended up with 2 good cask beers as well as the initial keg one.

Being inside the taproom (ie sports bar) was OK - you wouldn't expect it to be cosy but some slightly better furniture would be nice (they have the obligatory taproom folding tables and benches and then high tables and stools plus just a few more comfy seats which were taken).  They had the golf on (which made the BBB happy, but apologetic) and there were a few people there who'd clearly played padel or hockey or whatever.  It felt like an upmarket leisure centre bar and it made me remember very fondly the bar at a Filton leisure centre (in Bristol) back in the 90's where I used to play squash with an old school friend and then have a really good pint of, probably, Bass.  The bar being run by a beer fanatic and used by anyone who wanted decent beer.

Anyhow, when we left we headed out the other side of the sports ground which is across uneven paths and circuitous route out to the road.  It was about 7pm when we left and the bar had maybe 8 or 10 people in it even though it was Friday evening.

Maybe it was because it was the last weekday of the school holidays, maybe the season for the bar hasn't really taken of yet...or maybe it was something else.  I can't help feeling that a bit more permeability of the access gates would make it easier for people to find when they're passing.  Also, a bit clearer signage/menus for the drinks would make choosing your drinks a bit more straightforward.

Definitely a work in progress, I would say.

I am looking forward to going there on a warm evening when there's a cricket match on, or similar - definitely better than watching golf on the TV!