Busy, busy, busy: Hot, hot, hot

 We've been in Bristol for a couple of weeks, now and the intensity of my work has prevented me doing more than generally going to well-known locals...well, mostly.

 My trip up was very straightforward, even though it was via the "Long Route" (Brighton, Fareham, Bristol) and I arrived a little earlier than I had anticipated (would have been just about time to leg it for the last Super Off Peak train from Paddington but I didn't fancy the stress, to be honest).  The BBB offered to meet me off the train and take my bag but I was travelling pretty light so we met in Martha's (closest to station).  It was lovely to just collapse into a booth and be presented with a Petite Boulba to neck to recover from the heat (actually, compared to the temperature at the moment, it was nothing...but y'know).

We wanted to play hooky for the day and pop down to Devon, but our planned trip was thrice thwarted so we eventually gave it up as a bad job - it was a shame since it looked like our destination had two or three good places to go.  We've decided to try again in the autumn.

 Last weekend we (I) decided a little amble was in order but I get extremely bored of the same old routes.  Instead I suggested a bus to the farside of Ashley Down and thence to walk back via "Concorde Way" cycle/walking route which would land us in St Paul/Monpellier and allow us to avail ourselves of Licata in Picton street and then Basement Beer and New Bristol (I mean, seriously, you know we don't let these routes happen by accident, right?).  As it happens, the northern end of Concorde Way was closed because they're developing a new "Ashley Down Station".  It meant quite a detour and back onto a route we've walked before but it was nice to be out (if a little warm) and Basement Beer has taken over a bit more space and reconfigured itself so it's starting to feel quite spacious and charming.  We had a couple there but we wanted to drop into NBB too, so after two we toddled down the road and settled into their taproom.

We've also made a visit to the Cider Box which is such an intrguing place.  It was fun spending time there because the local building work means you're really sitting between two building sites and at knock-off time you get a completely different set of customers.  We also ended up in conversation with a chap who had never been to the Orchard or Middle Farm - so we sent him to both.

 Yesterday, I had a conference to attend in Reading.  From Eastbourne it would be a real drag of a rail journey but from Bristol, it's simple and pleasant.  Because the conference ended within the "YU ticket restrictions" period, I had to plan carefully to minimise the ticket cost.  Thankfully I managed to time it so that I had about 40 minutes in which to enjoy the Siren Taproom.  It was equidistant between conference venue and station so it really would have been rude not to.  It also had the benefit of good aircon which made the break very pleasant.  Really nice place, friendly staff and somewhere I'd happily go again.

By the time I was back in Bristol, the BBB was in Marthas so I joined him there and sweltered for a bit - although a railway arch is much cooler than a glass-box apartment.  I'm hoping it'll be a bit cooler today - but I'm not betting the house on it.

What's new, Pussycat?

 ...in short, nothing.

We've been in Eastbourne for over a month because work has been busy, we'd been in Bristol more than usual and the garden had gotten away from us so a few weeks here has allowed a fair bit of catching up in several senses.

I've had a few work trips locally, we've been to Heist (some grumbles about the relative costs of 2/3rd vs pints) and Collected Fictions where we only had one in this tiny, tiny place - and it was a strong one at that.  Nevertheless it such a lovely, friendly place that we really need to go back.

Yesterday, we met family in Beerarama and it remains fun and relaxing there.  The Crown has had some really good weekend guest beers of late and tomorrow we'll undoubtedly pop around to the hangover-inducing Belgian Bar.

Wednesday we're heading up to Bristol (for me via a slightly roundabout route because of work) and I'm really looking forward to arriving and heading somewhere relaxing and not too loud, and lovely, lovely, lovely beer with the best company...

Small glimmers

 The beer scene in Eastbourne remains a long way behind other places we spend time.

We get that it's tough in the industry but there's probably something else at play in Eastbourne - a lack of interest in beer (other than Harveys Best) seems to be the most likely.  

Anyhow, we've been doing our usual haunts since we've been back from Bristol - Crown, Beerarama, Belgian Bar and Ninkaci. We haven't even been to the Lamb or the Hurst.  Mostly because the warmer weather doesn't lend itself to Harveys beers (in our opinion) and partly because clientele in the latter place have "views" that we don't want to be in amongst - especially at the moment.

There was a fun trip to The Seadog in Hastings because I was there for work and I may have won BBB over to the idea of bao with beer.

But yesterday, I'd promised to do a day at the Wish Tower.  By the end of the open day, we needed to convene to talk to one of the other members about the renovation of the front door (that's another story) and it required a bit of thought and geeking - both best done over a pint.

We were going to head to Beerarama but we decided to have a quick look at the newly-opened "was the Buccaneer" which is the closest place to the Tower.  It's now called "Bohemian" and it's had a bit of a makeover.  In the past the venue has been a bit of a place of necessity so we don't generally have high expectations of the offering. Added to that, it was tennis finals day so we anticipated it might be stupidly busy.

Anyhow, all appeared to be well, so we ventured in.

The cask offering was pretty respectable - 4 cask beers (2 Longman, 1 Burning Sky, 1 Three Legs) and there were a few keg beers - including 2 local offerings (Beak & Longman).

I think we'd say the cask was a little too cool but the beer was in excellent nick.

It was pleasant in there, they had Euros Football on and you could kind of see the tennis out the back.  It was probably busier than usual but it was a good place for us to be.  The beer was quite pricey but not so much it would actually put us off.

All in all?  A welcome addition to place we might go from time to time but I still think it's unlikely we'll venture out to it specifically.  Still, small mercies.

Fallback Plan

 Yesterday, we had an idea to go for a walk in Arnos Vale to finish off a couple of films in our old cameras so that we could process the film before going back down south.

This would have, naturally, meant we ended up in Totterdown for a couple of beers.

However, the day was overcast and the light completely flat and featureless - a day when B&W photography would likely have been very unrewarding.

So we did some chores, listened to the radio and decided it was probably better to put it off until Sunday morning instead.

That did leave a "where shall we go for a pint" dilemma since we absolutely knew that Sunday afternoons are now firmly in the diary as Martha's and boardgames.

Ciderbox?

It was a tentative suggestion because it's a bit of an odd place and not always as relaxing as it could be.  But we decided to give it a go, noticing on the way that Martha's has space to take us if we decided against cider.

We were greeted very enthusiastically, did our usual of selecting 3 halves to share and sat on their slightly rickety folding benches and tables.

We were alone in sitting inside but there were a fair few people sitting on pub-garden-type tables outside.

Shortly after we sat down people started arriving to set up some sort of DJing event.  Clearly in their very early 20's, not terribly organised, the lads were quite entertaining.  One arrived with a bag of 12" vinyl which, obviously piqued a certain beer(cider) buddy's interest.  So we started chatting to them.  

At one point the owner of the vinyl said with a smirk "if you stay you can hear some of our ...'house'...music" - with the italicising of "house" very obvious.  Rather like when you're trying to explain how to pronounce a word to someone who is likely never to have heard of the concept.

I remember, very distinctly raising an eyebrow, fixing him with a stare over the top of my glasses (which I'm told by the lads who work for me is terrifying) and just saying..."house?"..."before you were born, lads...".  This was met by a bit of a shame-faced chuckle and a warm smile.

The BBB got chatting about vinyl and how he'd never got rid of his.  

Just before we left we noticed that one of them had a film camera - so we had a bit of a chat about that.

We ended up staying a little longer than we anticipated simply because it was fun watching what was going on (and taking the piss out of the youngsters, obvs).  I took the glasses back to the bar as we left and the owner said "thanks so much for supporting us" which I thought was a sweet thing to say.

We said goodbye to all the youngsters as we left and we all shared a nice moment (dear god, they'd call that intergenerational engagement, these days...sigh), leaving with a big smile.

It's never going to be one of those venues we long to go to but we were reminded, again, that sometimes you just need to embrace the moment and go with the flow.

 

Back Again

 A shorter than usual gap between Sussex and Bristol, this time.

Mainly because we had been invited to friends' wedding.

I'm always conflicted at such events.  The absolute joy of being invited, the chance to share the celebrations of people you're very fond of but, the incipient social anxiety.  This, alone, had been preying on my mind.  Yes, I completely understand that it was going to be a relaxed affair, and that I was lucky enough to have best beer buddy with me and we took a couple of film cameras just in case it all got a bit much.

In the event, of course, it was a fun and wonderful day but I was pretty glad to have taken the decision to politely decline the evening do in a pub and, instead, head back home. (and  I've never been so grateful that a venue had bottled Tribute).

We did take a slight detour via New Bristol Brewery Taproom where we looked like a couple of people on the way home from a wedding.  All in all, though, a day well spent.

Work has been so full-on and I was so preoccupied by going to the wedding that Sunday was very much a take the brain out and just chill.  Perfect.

All we did is go as far as Marthas to play board games and drink beer.  Today has also been pretty chilled and we were going to head out for a bit of a walk, but have, instead, opted to stay closer to home.  It'll be the BM for us in a little bit.

Weirdly for me, the next 5 days have no meetings or appointments of any sort so I'm hoping to make a decent dent in my extensive to do list. oh, and drink some beer, natch.

Striking Out

 The sheer amount of weather, recently, has reduced our excursions both in Bristol and Sussex.  Frankly, I simply don't enjoy getting soaked.  Nor does BBB.

Things are brightening up (where brightening up = gone from wet and cold to stupidly hot) so yesterday we decided we'd stroll along the greenway, cross the railway bridge and make an attempt at a Totterdown venue.  I'd heard good things about the Shakespeare so we started there.  For us, there wasn't really any choice but they had a cracking pint of W&T Kaleidoscope.  It was fresh, with plenty of condition and it's soooooo much better as a cask beer than a can or keg one.

In fact, it was so good we had a second pint and decided to swerve the Oxford this time around.  Apparently not all the other punters were so keen.  The Butcombe was off and one of the other customers didn't like the W&T at all.  Never mind, eh?

Not a pub we'd hack up to every week but if we lived in the neighbourhood we would probably be regulars.

We walked back via the Greenway again.  All in all, a pleasant trip.

This evening I'll be insisting on Martha's.  It's our last evening here for a couple of weeks (back for a wedding towards the end of the month) and I wish to be in familiar and pleasant surroundings.  Martha's is most definitely that.

Best of all Possible Worlds

 Yesterday it was the first day of the May version of East Bristol Brewery Trail.

I'd planned this trip here to coincide - mostly because I really wanted to go to the Arbor Brewery Tap again (they're rarely open) - and with a chance to go to the Good Chemistry brewery, too.

James from Moor had told us on Friday that this weekend is their biggest with gigs and Sunday opening and everything else.  For the most part, though, we'll be avoiding the taps we usually go to because we supect it'll be pretty busy.

Yesterday promised sun and warmth - today, not so much - so we decided to make the trip to Arbor then. The walk from the flat to the brewery is a pleansant 30 minute or so amble along the cycle path so even that part is a nice part of the experience.  Spring is making itself known, with plenty of greenery and tweeting.

The whole way along we saw groups of people clearly travelling from one venue to another - LHG sounded very busy with people and I imagine W&T were too.

We expected Arbor to be less busy because it's a little more out of the way.  But we were wrong.  Very wrong.

The brewery yard had been decked out with makeshift pallet seating/tables some benches and there were people EVERYWHERE!  

Undeterred, we went to the bar and were served really efficiently by their lovely crew - narrowly missing a chance to get a seat at a table we wandered around a bit and then squeezed onto some pallet seating.  I've probably said before that we don't like crowds but the odd pleasant exchange with nearby punters was right up our street.

The bar was really efficient, the music good but not intrusive, it was warm and jolly - brilliant, in fact.  It has to be said we did prefer being there in December, quietly in their tapPortacabin but having their beers on draught (including a couple of casks) fresh as a daisy was grand.

As an aside, I re-read a couple of my earliest posts about keg beer.  Oh, boy, have I changed!  I mean, I still dislike shit beer and I tend to avoid larger breweries but my taste is considerably more catholic than it has ever been.  2013 me would definitely not have recognised 2024 me's drinking preferences.  Maybe you can teach an old dog new beers...?