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.