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!