Beer Bars in Bristol

So following on from what I wrote about beer in Bristol, here's my opinions on a few of the dedicated craft beer places that's opened this year:

The Beer Emporium is a cellar bar on King Street that boasts a huge selection of bottled and canned beeralongside a wide range of beers on tap. Food is clearly going to be a feature here too. I took advantage of their pre-theatre deal and got two courses and a pint for £12. I would definitely recommend it as the food was great and at that price it’s a bargain! I’ve always managed to find an enjoyable pint here but they do tend to offer quite a few standard British bitters. Nothing wrong with that, but they do tend to taste very similar and I can’t help thinking there could be more exciting beers taking their place. The bar also suffers from a lack of atmosphere at times. The acoustics aren’t great and it doesn’t have the ‘comfortable’ feel that marks a great pub, but it is new and these things can take a little time to bed in. The staff are always friendly though, and being open till 2am every night, it’s one of the only late options for a decent pint.

Next door to the Beer Emporium is the Famous Royal Navy Volunteer. This is one of the oldest pubs in Bristol but had been shut for a few months. It re-opened at the end of the summer with a mission to present British only craft beers. I really like this place. The staff are great and know the beer they’re selling. It may sound obvious, but unlike other pubs in Bristol, the staff have clearly tasted the beers they sell and they’re happy to offer an opinion on them too. They’re also more than happy to let you try a few samples before you buy, which I think is vital for a place like this. The management have taken the decision to avoid pump clips

and instead have a board on the wall with all their beers listed. The idea being that blank taps mean you aren’t swayed by logos, just by the beer itself. Nice idea I think and it also means groups of people don’t cluster around the bar looking at the pump clips and blocking access for everyone else while one person orders. The prices aren’t cheap, but the beers are reliably good, with some craft lagers and a range of ciders too. I’ve heard a number of complaints that some beers aren’t served in pints, only 2/3 or less, the implication being that you can’t afford a full pint or it’s too strong and you can’t handle it! Personally, I think this is just people being over sensitive and picking holes in what they see as a poncey craft beer scene. I think it’s more likely that the price point for these beers is high and so the pub doesn’t want such high prices on their board, which seems understandable. The seating is good, but at the front of the pub (near the windows) seems a little formal and not all that inviting, however there are sofas and armchairs at the back of the pub so some potential for winter drinking there. The restaurant side of the pub has opened now, but I’ve not eaten there yet so I won’t offer an opinion on that.

Now over to Stokes Croft and the Crofter Rights - new tenants of the building previously known as The Croft. I was sad to see the old Croft disappear as it had been a staple venue for the Bristol music scene for many years. This has all now changed following some fairly major renovations by the new tenants. The place is now one large room with the bar at the back and the toilets down a spiral staircase in the cellar. The ceiling has been removed at the back to give a double height about the bar and the stone walls have been exposed. There is also a very weird staged seating area facing the bar, which appears to conceal an office underneath!

I went to the opening night of this place and it was far from ready. It has been tidied up since then, but it still doesn't look entirely finished. No doubt this wasn't helped by the council suspending their license for a fortnight after they discovered the extent of the renovations. It seems they'd neglected to apply for planning permission and the building was Grade II listed! Oops!
Still, the place does look pretty good now, if a little idiosyncratic. All the taps come out of a blackboard backing up the bar, so the beers are written in chalk around the taps. This looks good, but isn't always that easy to read! As you may have guessed, this place is at the 'hipster' end of the market and you can't help thinking they've sacrificed function for form in some aspects. But they do get some good beers in and it's not overly expensive either. There's a youngish crowd, some good music being played and it's not a bad place to spend an evening.

So, there's my thoughts on a few of the places in Bristol. Although I'm hugely positive about the beer scene in Bristol, and I think that all these places serve great beer, I've tried to be honest about my experiences there. I've highlighted the negative aspects that I found, as well as the positive, but I still think that all these places represent some of the best pubs/bars in Bristol and are all worth a visit if you're after a good pint.

Craft Beer in Bristol

On the walk to work this morning my mind wandered to Bristol and its relationship with craft beer. So I thought I might write something on here about it too. For a long time Bristol had just a smattering of pubs serving decent beer. Most of these were limited to serving ‘real ale’ and didn’t really stray much further than that. There have been a couple of attempts at bars selling Belgian beers, but they’ve not lasted all that long. In the last couple of years, though, the beer scene in Bristol has exploded. In the last year alone at least four new craft beer bars have been opened (plus Brew Dog), with at least one more opening by Christmas. But the relationship with craft beer extends beyond these dedicated establishments, and I think that's what sets Bristol apart from other cities. Craft beer has crept into the mainstream here and in quite a subtle way. 

Previous food and drink trends have made their way into the mainstream, but have been used in such a clunky way as to strip them of all 'cool' and integrity. Street food is a prime example, with so many places jumping on the band wagon and inviting people in to try their new street food menus! It became totally detached from it's roots that the term 'street food' seems almost like a parody now. So far the term 'craft beer' has avoided this in Bristol. Sure, some pubs will advertise their craft beer, but mostly distributors have just done a good job of convincing pubs to stock some more interesting beers alongside their normal offering. So it's not unusual to see bottles of Goose Island or Sierra Nevada in the fridge behind a bar as well as beers from the numerous local breweries too. Having said this, it's not uncommon to have to point out to staff where the bottles are that you're trying to order. But I like to think that this little routine is just something they do to make people feel special!

I have no doubt at all though, that this interest in beer in Bristol is helped enormously by the number of breweries around here. Back in the day, brewing in Bristol was dominated by the massive Courage brewery across the river from Castle Park, which itself grew out of the Georges Brewery. This led to something of a domination in terms of what beer was available, with a few notable exceptions such as Smiles. Both these big breweries have now gone the way of all things and have been turned into flats and offices.

But in the present day, however, brewing in the Bristol area is continued by the many local breweries. There are established breweries such as Bath Ales, Butcombe and (a bit more recently) Bristol Beer Factory - which has recently upsized its brewhouse to 30 barrels. Alongside these bigger breweries are the smaller craft breweries like GWB, Dawkins, Arbor Ales, Towles Fine Ales, Wild Beer and newcomers Rocket Science, and The New Bristol Brewery.

All of this commercial brewing is of course backed up by the strong homebrewing scene in Bristol. Currently home to two homebrew clubs, Bristol is building a real community of enthusiastic and very knowledgeable brewers. This all means that there are more customers for good beer in the pubs, and more people who value a pint on its flavour rather than its price.

If anyone doesn't know Bristol all that well, or who fancies a day out, you could do much worse than a day in Bristol. I'm biased of course, but this is a great city which now has great beer to go with it!