The only thing throughout the weekend that made me regret my trip was the journey down. I, in hindsight rather unwisely, decided that driving down on a Saturday morning would be a good idea, even though it was a Bank Holiday weekend and the weather was disastrous. I ended up on the M4 for a longer time than anyone should ever have too, surrounded by people who had either forgotten how to drive or thought that it was something that happened to other people, all whilst contemplating building an ark to cope with the flume-like conditions on the road.
Anyway, once I eventually arrived at Matt and Jess's flat, it was time for the merriment to commence. Our first destination was Bristol Aquarium, where I was amused to find them selling 'locally sourced' fish and chips in the café. Later, I was accosted by a small child who, for reasons on which I'm still not clear, thought I was her father. I can reassure everyone that I am not. Definitely not. After an hour or two becoming acquainted with our fishy friends and playing a game of 'Is that a shark or a dogfish?', we decided that some food and booze were certainly in order. We ventured over to the Riverside area of the city, where a large number of trendy bars and restaurant-type establishments are located. After some moments of indecision, we settled upon a place called The Stable.
We next headed back into the main part of town, close to the area in which we finished our last trip into Bristol. Our next stop was the King William Ale House on King Street, a Sam Smith's establishment.
This traditional 2-storey pub has a long, curved bar in the centre with the interior divided up into small booths and additional rooms with the use of internal walls and doorways. The interior has also retained many period features, including a resident ghost. Bar staff have reported hearing their names called when no one else is present and phantom footsteps have been heard walking the staircase at the rear of the building. On the bar, the full range of Sam Smith's products are available, totalling 10 in all, including lager and an organic wheat beer. Matt and I went for light and dark versions of their mild. The light mild was delicious and thoroughly drinkable, which is not surprising, seeing as it only has an ABV of 2.8%. We decided that a second drink here would be a good plan, particularly as Jess still had half of her first one left. This time around, I went for the Old Brewery Bitter (4.0%) which is chestnut coloured and malty with a very sweet aftertaste. It was during this second pint that something happened which has convinced me that the crazy people of Somerset hide away until they know that I'm visiting. We were approached by a charity worker, which is completely fine, and proceeded to give him what small change we had on behalf of a children's charity. One of his co-workers who had seen this then tried his luck but we were literally out of shrapnel in all of its forms. He noticed that Matt's cigarette lighter is weatherproof and, having said that he owned a similar one, proceeded by way of demonstration to set light to the sleeve of his jumper with his own lighter. To this day, I'm not entirely sure why. Needless to say, explaining this event to Jess when she returned from the bar was not as easy as it should have been.
Next up was the first pub of the weekend to feature in this Good Beer Guide which, handily, I now bring with me on trips of this sort to aid my explorations. This was the much loved Cornubia on Temple Street.
This traditional free house boasts a very friendly welcome and a convivial, quirky interior. England flags and coats of arms adorn the outside of the building, which is situated down a side street in sight of the fire station. There are lots of pictures around the interior and an extensive outside smoking area boasting a covered section for times of inclement weather. The pub is also dog-friendly and contains a turtle tank. Whether any of these turtles are teenage, mutant or ninja is not immediately obvious. The bar is small but boasts an impressive 12 hand pulls, 4 of which are not in use at the time of our visit. The beer variety is wide and ever changing and there is always a locally brewed beer (from Arbor) and a real cider available. Making use of my CAMRA discount, I opted for White Knight from Goffa Brewery, At 4.7%, this is pale in colour with a faint floral aroma and heavy hop notes. The flavour is indicative of grapefruit and peach and the finish is dry and smooth. We took our beers to the covered smoking area at the side of the building and basked in the friendly atmosphere of this place, which I was very impressed with. It certainly warrants a return visit at a later date. We spent time over our pints here, discussing all manner of topics from Doctor Who to Harry Potter and, I think, the work of Philip Pullman before it was time to move on elsewhere.
Another GBG listed premises was our next port of call, the renowned Seven Stars in Thomas Lane.
This small free house was local CAMRA pub of the year in 2011 and runner up this year. It is a relatively small pub with a mostly wooden interior and a central bar containing 8 hand pulls. A pool table and a rock-oriented juke box are other important features of note. The pub also boasts a reputation for live acoustic music at weekends and hosts regular beer events featuring beers from specifically chosen breweries. We arrived here just as the heavens opened. I've decided that it doesn't rain anywhere like it rains in the West Country. Amongst our choices for consumption were Killer Cat Double Seven, Dawkins Mosaic and Freebird, Arbor Motueka, Hammerpot Mocha Mild, Dunscar DBB and Arran Dark. My first choice here was the Mosaic (4.3%), golden and with a strong, hoppy aroma. The taste was peachy and citrusy with a fresh, crisp finish. Whilst we sat and dried off and enjoyed the juke box tunes, Jess suggested that we should play pool. This seemed like a good plan to begin with. 2 fairly inebriated chaps who were already playing offered to play against me and Jess which given the difference in levels of alcohol consumed, seemed like a battle we could win. However, my hopelessness with a pool cue meant that we sadly got narrowly beaten, even with Jess's impressive skill, both with the cue and in spurning the poorly executed advances of one of our opponents. By the time this had drawn to its conclusion, we decided to stay on for another pint. This time I plumped for the Arbor Motueka (3.9%). This, again, was golden and fruity but with a distinctive kick of hops and a citrus tang that blended nicely into a smooth finish. At this point, Jess offered to play Matt and I at pool and, this time, I was convinced that our superior manly skills was lead to victory. Which made it all the more disappointing when Jess took us to the cleaners like Paul Newman in The Hustler. Secretly, we know we let her win.
Our next and final stop on this tour of Bristol was a place I was very excited about. Small Bar, which is its actual name, is a micropub opposite the King William Ale House that we visited earlier.
It brews its own beer on the premises and has a unique interior design consisting of carved wooden tables and imitation beams with brewery vessels tucked away in a number of corners and dimmed lighting supplemented by candle light to enhance the pleasant atmosphere. Despite brewing its own stuff in situ, the bar boasts beers from a number of other breweries, all served in 2/3 of a pint quantities. The pub was easy during our visit but this is understandable as it was a Saturday night and the pub is in a busy area, evidenced by the presence of at least one stag do. After a minute or so of perusing my options, I eventually decided to try FUBAR from Tiny Rebel. This 4.4% brew is pale and almost lager-like in appearance with a sweet initial flavour and a good malt/hop balance. It went down very easily indeed. We decided to call it a night after this and wandered our weary way back to the bus stop and the nearby food stand where I had a burger that was both surprisingly tasty and did not lead to projectile vomiting, both good results in my book. It had, once again, been a very good experience exploring Bristol and I'm already very excited to return as I'm aware there are still so many more things to do and see. In terms of ale, Bristol is certainly a giant in promoting and producing good quality local beer and long may this legacy continue.
I learned many things from my second trip to Bristol: charity workers will do anything to try and get money, including setting themselves on fire; pizza and cider is an awesome combination; watching a friend getting hit on during a game of pool is funnier than it should be and having very long hair is enough to get you a high five from a stranger. More importantly, Bristol has a lot to offer and everyone should go there. Like right now.
Coming soon, the full account, as best as I can remember it, of the following days trip to Bath, which was excellent and wonderfully entertaining all at the same time. No spoilers here! Wait until next time. It won't be long..........
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