Bristol Whipped!

Our second day of this year's visit to Bristol dawned in a decidedly more inclement way than the one before but we were not to be deterred. Following a hearty breakfast at the Spoons two doors down from Matt and Jess's flat, we made our way back into the city centre with the idea to begin the day's alcohol consumption slightly later by distracting ourselves with a couple of rounds of mini golf at Cabot Circus. Having confirmed that I'm largely still terrible at any kind of sporting activity, it was time for the real work to begin. What followed would be an introduction to some pubs we'd yet to visit and a return to some much-loved favourites, some of which we'd be introducing to Amy for the first time.
Being at Cabot Circus gave us a good spot from which to embark on our exploration and it's in the vicinity of a couple of cracking pubs. It seemed only fair, with the weather forecast to be wet and windy thanks to Storm Erik, to choose a route which kept us as dry as possible. To that end, our day began at The Phoenix.

Situated on a corner plot that faces into Champion Square, The Phoenix opened in 2011 following a refurbishment of the previous property. A further recent refurbishment has taken place to add an enclosed, modern conservatory space. Inside, the bar sits to the right of the door with the immediate area consisting of low seating and dim lighting with a single step down to a rear area where can be found further tables and chairs, the aforementioned conservatory lit by bulbs attached to repurposed gas cellar gas gauges and a large outside patio area. The 3 handpumps on the bar regularly offer beers from local breweries and our visit was no exception. Available to choose from were New Bristol Uber Paris, Butcombe Original and Bristol Beer Factory Independence. I opted for the Independence, Matt for the Original and Amy went down the craft beer route with a pint of Tiny Rebel's Clwb Tropicana. We took our seats at a table in the conservatory and absorbed our well-appointed surroundings. I'd never been to The Phoenix before and I was glad we'd started the day here as it definitely bade well for what was to come. As for the beer, the Independence was an excellent starting choice. This is a 4.6% pale ale with strong hoppy notes on the nose and in the taste which leads to a sweet fruitiness and a hoppy finish. All-in-all, it's a very well-rounded beer indeed!

Upon leaving The Phoenix, it was clear that the rain had begun again. Thankfully, our next destination was a very short walk away. It was time for a return trip to a Bristol institution and a perennial favourite amongst the many pubs in the city. We now made our way to the Volunteer Tavern.

Dating from 1670 and listed, the Volunteer reopened in 2011 following a 6 month period of closure. Very popular locally, it was voted Bristol and District CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2016 and regularly features in the Good Beer Guide. The interior is small but cosy with a small bar to the side of the room and low tables and chairs throughout. The garden is large and features repurposed kegs as stools, along with picnic bench style tables and a working piano! The pub hosts regular pop-up kitchens with the incumbent being Naasto Baasto Gujarati cuisine. The pub was quiet on our visit which is not a surprise given the weather and that it's the middle of the day on a Friday. This does however, give us plenty of time to peruse the beer options. 5 of the 6 handpulls are occupied when we arrive offering a wide choice of beers, namely Animal Polar Bear, Twisted Oak Volly Hoptamistic (brewed especially for the pub), Electric Bear Werrrd, Kult Rebel and Twisted Oak Solstice. I eventually decided to go for the Twisted Oak Solstice (4.7%). This is a beer in the style of a special bitter so it's dark brown in colour with a warming maltiness and intense bitter notes that lead to a surprisingly smooth finish. It certainly helped in the process of drying off! We took a round table roughly in the middle of the room and adjacent to the toilets where conversation turned to family health and the fact the inside of the pub's main door is painted like the exterior of a TARDIS. Today was already turning into a fantastic day and that was certainly set to continue.

We left the Volunteer through the aforementioned door to find that the rain had at least temporarily abated, although this didn't stop the driver of a passing car from driving through a puddle and splashing us. Still, the next pub wasn't far away and this would be another new location to tick off the list. We ventured now, to The Bridge Inn.

Independently owned and decorated externally with a giant mural of Jimi Hendrix, The Bridge is a small but comfortable pub with a décor dedicated to rock music which has already made it a winner before I've even had a look at the beers. The main entrance leads directly to the bar, with a small seating area to the right, which is already full, and a smaller area to the left which features the toilets. In good weather, picnic style tables placed outside increase the seating options. In addition to the 5 handpumps clustered on the bar, there is an impressive selection of malt whiskies, rums, gins, vodkas and Belgian bottled beers. To add to how incredible the place is, it also features in the Good Beer Guide. Speaking of the 5 handpumps, there was an intriguing selection available for us. Our choices here were XT 4, Grey Trees Mosaic, Box Steam Tunnel Vision, Animal Polar Bear and the regular Dark Star Hophead. I decided on the Mosaic (4.2%) from Aberdare-based Grey Trees. As the name suggests, this is a single-hopped beer. The Mosaic gives a complex array of tropical fruit flavours, along with characteristics of citrus, berry, herbs, earth and pine. It packs quite a hoppy punch for its ABV and it certainly won me over. The pub was standing room only by this point but we manage to find a small ledge opposite the bar on which to lean and passed the time by trying to identify the musicians who featured on the newspaper collage on the wall next to us. The Bridge is an absolute belter of a pub and I recommend that you stop what you're doing right now and go there as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed!

We could have stayed at the Bridge all day but needs must and so we made our way to another pub that is something of a favourite of mine as well as locally. Next stop, the Cornubia.

A short walk from Temple Meads Station and a regular in the Good Beer Guide, this is a small, cosy pub in an 18th century building with two linked rooms displaying much patriotic memorabilia and an impressive array of pump clips adorning walls and ceiling. The bar takes up almost all of one side of the room, with a smaller snug to the left as you enter. Seating is in the form of wooden tables and chairs and sofa style seating near the windows. The outside area has been much expanded and now caters for boules as well as BBQs (weather permitting of course). A large selection of books and board games are available, there is a big screen TV and a fish tank that contains live turtles. 10 handpulls occupy the bar, with 8 in use when we arrive. Our options consist of By the Horns Transatlantic Cowboy, Lenton Lane Bluebird, Beowulf Clout, Cornubia SO (the pub's house beer), Incredible Amber, Incredible Rye and two ciders, namely Big Apple and Devon Blush, both from Ashridge. I opted for the Transatlantic Cowboy (4.5%), an American style brown ale from Wimbledon-based By the Horns. This is hoppy and lightly smoked with subtle roasted notes and it's a very good beer. I thoroughly enjoyed it as we sat in the window, admiring the interior of the pub and learning the turtles are named after the ones from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, although one is now sadly deceased. We also heard the barmaid discussing her bosom with a customer which seemed a bit random and out of context but strange things always seem to happen in Bristol!

Speaking of strange things, our next stop was a place that I'd heard many good things about, not just for the beer but for the history and stories about the place. Making the jaunt over to King Street, we now visited the Llandoger Trow.

This architecturally important and impressive pub dates back to 1664 and is thought to bear a unique name. The name comes from a captain Hawkins who retired to run the pub after previously sailing a trow (a flat bottomed sailing barge) between South Wales and Bristol. The Llandoger part of the name is thought to refer to Llandogo, a small Welsh village in Monmouthshire situated on the river Wye and believed to be Hawkins' home. When it was first built, the pub had five gables and stood beside Welsh Back where ships from across the Severn were once moored. The pub originally occupied just one of these gables with the others being used by tradesmen such as basket makers, grocers and tobacconists. The pub extended into the other gables in September 1942 when the two end gables were destroyed by WWII bombs. There are many stories about the pub including that this is where Daniel Defoe met Alexander Selkirk, whose story inspired Robinson Crusoe and that the pub itself was the inspiration for the Admiral Benbow featured in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Other stories are less of literature and more the paranormal. The Llandoger Trow is alleged to be one of Bristol's most haunted pubs with its most famous tale being that of the apparition of a sad, crippled boy who is regularly seen around the property. Poltergeist activity has also been reported, particularly in the kitchen and restaurant where cutlery is thrown by unseen hands. Pictures have also been known to fly off the walls without an explanation. Given the history and stories of this pub, it's perhaps unsurprising that this kind of activity has been associated with it.
On the more earthbound side of things, the pub is large and atmospheric with much of the original architecture remaining including exposed beams, large rooms and mock Tudor frontage. The bar is large and long and runs parallel along an internal wall with lots of seating situated throughout. 5 handpumps sit on the bar with 4 of them available for us to make our choices from. The available beers were Sharp's Doom Bar, Brains Rev. James, Fuller's London Pride and Black Sheep Best Bitter. I'm rather partial to a pint of Rev. James (4.5%) and this proved to be a good option, with flavours and aromas of malt and fruit leading to a bittersweet taste and a well-balanced finish.

We'd decided earlier in the day that 2 bona fide favourites of all of ours would feature on this trip but before we got to both of those, we opted to stay on King Street for one more beer. There are so many cracking pubs in this area of Bristol that it would be rude not to. Our next location was a mere stone's throw away and another location that I was familiar with but which Amy had yet to experience. Next up, Small Bar.

Located in a large, Grade II listed building, the pub has gone through many incarnations including Sublime, Indigo, Mulligan's Whiskey Emporium, Dr. Thirsty's Surgery and The Bunch of Grapes but it's current name is something of a misnomer. Whilst the bar area itself is of a modest size, the rest of the building certainly makes up for it. The bar opened in 2013 and serves a mixture of keg and cask beers from a massive number of taps (I counted 21) on the wall behind the bar. Uniquely, the beers are only served in 1/2, 1/3 and 2/3 measures and payment is by card only, with no cash accepted. There are two rooms downstairs, one containing the bar and repurposed barrels as tables and the other featuring bench style extending to the rear. There is also an upstairs room that features comfortable chairs and sofas and a small library. Beer-wise, we were very much spoilt for choice here. The list of products is exhaustive but gives an idea of the range of styles and breweries featured. The available choices were Northern Monk Saesoner, Wiper & True x Tempest Sicilian Sour, Siren Calypso, Oedipus Polyamorie, Little Earth Hedgerow Blend, Left Handed Giant Ubu, Tiley's Cashmere, Tiley's Amarillo Centennial, Left Handed Giant Sky Alone, Electric Bear Whirly Bird, Verdant Bennetton, Manual This Elevator, Pressure Drop Show of Hands, Glasshouse Call of Beer Duty, Tiley's Amber Nelson, Good Chemistry Shadow Future, Manual Based on a True Story, Lervig Dark Orbit, Tiley's Imperial Brown and Kees Caramel Fudge Stout. Picking through the vast array of options was no easy task but narrowing down my choices, I finally decided on Cashmere from Tiley's. Tiley's is a small brewery, operating out of the award-winning Salutation Inn in Ham, Gloucestershire producing small batch beers for sale on site and at selected outlets in the local area. Cashmere (4.1%) is an American style pale ale with big, bolshy hop flavours and a big hit of citrus. It's very nice indeed and I settled for 2/3 to make it last even longer. We took a seat at a long table in the downstairs room, enjoyed our beers and discussed how the day was progressing. Personally, we have a fantastic time!

It was now time to move on again, to the first of 2 of our favourite pubs in Bristol. Making our way out of King Street, we retraced some of our steps from the previous day as we made our way to the Bag of Nails.

This small, gas-lit, terraced freehouse dates from the 1860s and is renowned throughout the city as 'the cat pub' and for its eccentric list of rules including no 'idiot pub crawls' or inflatable bananas. The pub landlord has several cats that are allowed to roam free and tend to take up residence on the bar, on tables or pretty much wherever they like! You definitely need to be a fan of felines here! Inside, as well as cats, there are terracotta colours, portholes in the floor and music played from an old school record player. There are board games and Lego sets for customers and toys for the cats. It's a brilliant place and that's before you even get to the beer! The pubs is Good Beer Guide listed and it's easy to see why. The bar extends down most of one side of the narrow room and features 8 handpulls, all but one of which had something to offer. Our choices in this fine establishment were between Dawkins Brandy Chocolate Stout, C.O.B. Ordinary Bitter, Box Steam Campfire Porter, Vibrant Forest Cambrian Root, Moor Old Freddy Walker, Hop Kettle Red Star and Electric Bear Werrrd. Amy and I went for the same beer here, namely Werrrd (4.2.%) from Bath's Electric Bear. This is a very well-balanced and very-sessionable American style pale ale brewed with fruit-forward hops. The aroma carries pink grapefruit, mango and orange rind and these follow through into the flavour. The whole thing ends with a nice, piney bitterness. It's a delicious beer and testament to the idea that beer tastes amazing when you're surrounded by cats!

It was a shame to leave our feline friends behind but we had one more pub to get to. Possibly our favourite pub in all of Bristol, it's a haven of great beer, awesome music and wonderful company. Have you guessed where it is yet? I speak, of course, of the Gryphon.

Triangular in shape due to its corner plot, the Gryphon sits just a few yards uphill from Colston Hall. It is very much a shrine to heavy metal and rock music and accompanies it with excellent beer, the fruits of which can be seen on the ceiling which is entirely covered with pump clips from every beer they've ever poured and its regular entry into the Good Beer Guide. We love coming here so it seemed only fitting that our final pub of the trip should be this one. 4 of the 6 handpulls were pouring on the day and they were offering a fine choice of Brew York Fairytale of Brew York, Harlech Castle, Fixed Wheel Bear Cage and Stealth Mint Spy. I'm becoming a big fan of Brew York so opted for the Fairytale (4.9%). This is a coffee and walnut milk stout with roasted notes and an aroma not unlike Christmas cake. The walnut is subtle and the lactose flavours round out the whole thing with a triumph. Christmas really had come early! We were lucky enough to be able to get a seat at one of the few empty tables were we happily soaked up the atmosphere and were joined by Matt's bandmate Kenny and his girlfriend Cecilia. With our party now up to 5, we continued to revel in our surroundings and gorged ourselves on more pints and epic music. It's never easy to leave the Gryphon but sadly the time had come to venture back to the flat, via the local takeaway. The weather had begun to worsen but luckily the only casualty was Amy's umbrella. 

The following day would see us bid Bristol farewell until the next time. What a couple of days it had been! Bristol never ceases to impress and surprise me. There's a reason that we go back every year. As well as catching up with Matt and Jess, it's always a fantastic experience exploring this great city. The old favourites are deservedly visited time and again and new pubs always provide an opportunity to add more favourites to the list. The beers are fantastic, the breweries are brilliant, the pubs are wonderful and the people are by and large the nicest you could meet, notwithstanding the odd weirdo, evidenced by the bloke on the bus back to Hanham who was telling anyone who would listen about his health issues since his GP had retired. Still, despite the number of times I've visited, there's still so much more to see and do! Many more pubs have yet to make it into this blog and the time will eventually come, no doubt via some old haunts as well. I can say, hand on heart, that Bristol will never not win me over. Bristol you've done it again!

Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion!

Regular readers of this blog will know that there is something of an annual tradition of a trip to Bristol, at least once a year, in order to explore the many excellent drinking establishments of a fantastic city. Last week it was that time again so Amy and I headed for the South-West for 2 days of much frivolity and many beers in many fine pubs, in the company of our good friends Matt & Jess. We arrived mid-morning on a suitably grey and wet Thursday having survived the initial stages of Storm Erik, which would make its presence known in some style in the following 36 hours.
Following a tea break and a chill out, it was time to begin our adventures in Bristol. For our first day, we had a rough plan in mind that involved exploring a number of pubs along and near the harbour area, making a rough loop around the Avon before heading back. This trip would sadly be in the absence of Jess who, as well as being a tad poorly, had to work but we would at least catch up with her later on.

Matt, Amy and I got the bus into the city centre and made our way to the harbourside, a couple of locations of which have appeared in previous entries. However, on this occasion, all but one of our stops was a brand new destination and I was very excited to see where the trip would take us. Our first stop was the Good Beer Guide listed No. 1 Harbourside.


Named after it's convenient location on the bank of the Avon, this is a modern pub/diner in an excellent position on the quayside of the floating harbour. The mostly glass frontage gives way to a spacious interior with tables and chairs arranged roughly centrally in front of the bar that sits along the back room. The facilities are comfortable and modern and there are further seats available outside but those are better saved for a day that is much finer than the one on which we visit. The bar boasts 5 handpulls, offering to us a choice between Bristol Beer Factory 12 Apostles, BBF Fortitude, Sharp's Atlantic, New Bristol Brewery Joy of Sesh and Butcombe Adam Henson's Rare Breed. After a moment's deliberation, Matt and I both opted for the Joy of Sesh (4.2%), whilst Amy warmed up for the day with a Grolsch. The Joy of Sesh proved to be a delicious way to begin the day. Packed with lots of flavour and certainly very sessionable, this beer is jammed with tropical, citrus and stone-fruit notes from Mosaic and Citra as well as a delicious, clean mouthfeel from the use of both oats and Maris Otter malt. New Bristol are one of a wonderful crop of new breweries that have sprung up in the city in recent years to strong acclaim and, with beers like this in their locker, it's not hard to see why! The day had gotten off to a strong start and, with ourselves sufficiently fortified, we carried on our journey.

We now began to made our way towards the Hotwells area of the city where we intended to pick up the Avon and make our way along the bank. On the way to this area, our fantastic friend and tour guide Matt suggested a quick detour to another pub that he was a big fan of. It proved to be an excellent decision and we next found ourselves at The Three Tuns.

Located on St. George's Road and in the shadow of Bristol cathedral, the Three Tuns welcomes all-comers with it's wonderful sign that features a regal looking Nicolas Cage (yes, that one). Independently owned and with an L-shaped interior, the pub won CAMRA Local Pub of the Year in 2012 and is Good Beer Guide listed. The furniture is a mixture of scrubbed wooden tables and mixed seating and there is also a heated rear patio that features a mural from a local artist. 7 handpulls grace the bar, with 4 of them being in use when we visit. Our choice is excellent and varied with Trefforest Brewery Crazy Peacock, Tap Social 16ft Norwegian, XT Brewing 13 and Tiley's Table Beer all available. Pontypridd based Bragdy Twt Lol, known in English as Trefforest Brewery, are a brewery that I'm familiar with as I often get bought bottles of their beer for Christmas from Amy's aunt who lives near the site. Their beers are named bilingually in both English and Welsh as is everything on their excellent website. My familiarity drew me instantly to Pewin Ynfytyn/Crazy Peacock (4.8%). This is a powerful and earthy American style IPA with big hoppy hits from North American Cascade and Columbus. It's also dry hopped with Pacific Gem and Cascade for an extra big hit of citrus. It's a delicious and thoroughly drinkable beer, belying it's ABV. I'm a big fan of the Three Tuns. It's small and welcoming with friendly and enthusiastic staff, cracking beer and a real community feel about it. I cannot recommend this place enough!

It was time for our journey to continue and we made our way down the road towards the river where our next location is permanently moored. Next up, a place that makes a return visit to this blog and also features in the Good Beer Guide, maintaining the spot it's deservedly earned for many years. We now arrived at the Grain Barge.

The barge was originally built in 1936 and converted into a floating pub in 2007 by Bristol Beer Factory who still run the premises. Views can be had of the SS Great Britain moored nearby as well as passing boats and the floating harbour. Accessed down a flight of steps, the main bar area takes up the lower deck with toilets and a performance space in the hold. Seating consists of wooden tables at each end as well as an extended wooden shelf that runs throughout the length and overlooks the water. The exposed upper deck acts as a beer garden as is a sun trap on summer days. The bar is just inside and to the right of the main entrance and features 5 handpulls, 4 of which were in use on the day in question. 3 of the beers are, unsurprisingly, from Bristol Beer Factory, namely Fortitude, Nova and Force of Nature. The 4th pump is occupied by Zero Zero from Arbor, another local brewery. Craft lager and cider are also available namely Korev from St. Austell and Sulis from Bath Ales as well as Caple Road and North Street ciders. It seemed only fitting to try one of BBF's own beers in one of their establishments and I decided that the Force of Nature was a worthy choice. How right I was! Brewed to celebrate the brewery's 14th birthday, this is best described as a hop bomb. Brewed with Ekuanot, Simcoe, Galaxy and Citra, the beer is bursting with tropical fruit and flavours of grapefruit, passionfruit, papaya and peaches. The taste is well rounded and smooth with all the punchy fruit you'd expect and a more than drinkable ABV of 4.2%. Matt had swung for the craft lager in the form of Bath Ales Sulis and Amy had tackled the North Road cider. Both seemed very pleased with their choices and we enjoyed our drinks as we watched the boats go by and the rain come down.

The afternoon was in full swing by the time we disembarked and headed down the river bank to our next location, which sits adjacent to a road bridge over the river. We had now reached the Pump House.

This Grade II listed building was constructed around 1870 by Thomas Howard in order to house a hydraulic pump that powered bridges and lock gates around the harbour. It was replaced in this function by the current hydraulic engine house in the 1880s and is now a pub and restaurant renowned for serving excellent food produced by an award winning chef. The building is owned by Bristol City Council and sits at the spot where Bristol Docks meet the Avon. Inside, the décor is comfortable and features exposed brickwork, bric-a-brac and breweriana. The ceilings are high and the bar is roughly central and very well stocked with the entire back wall made up of several shelves of a very substantial gin selection. The bar also features 5 handpulls. 2 of this proffered the choice of Moor Beer Confidence and St. Austell Cornish Best Bitter. Being a big fan of Moor Beer, I was instantly won over by this choice. Confidence (4.6%) is styled as a red ale with flavours of rich caramel and toffee malt and a burst of fruity, juicy hops. Moor Beer are doing cracking things and I've yet to try a beer of theirs that I haven't enjoyed. This beer is no exception and is yet another reason why Bristol is one of the best beer cities in the UK, nay, the world.


It was over the road bridge and onto the opposite bank of the docks for out next location as we began the return loop of our beer tour. Our first stop on this side of the water saw us visit the Nova Scotia.

A pub since 1811, the Nova Scotia started life as 3 terraced cottages situated on the area known as Spike Island adjacent to the Cumberland Basin at the very end of the Avon Gorge. Formerly a coaching inn, the building is Grade II listed and still retains features of it's previous life, including lanterns and the entrance to the coach yard. The single bar to one side serves a small lounge area, a more basic strip by the bar and the 'Captain's Room' behind a Victorian screen. The décor includes photos of old Bristol and pleasant furnishings whilst seating is largely wooden tables and chairs. There is also a jukebox with an eclectic variety of genres prompting much conversation amongst ourselves. On the bar sit 5 handpulls, with a choice on this occasion of Courage Director's, Charles Wells Bombardier, the house Nova Scotia Ale, Caledonian Deuchars and Box Steam Golden Bolt. I decided on the Bombardier and this proved to be in excellent condition. Conversation turned, amongst other things, to what Extreme sound like when they're not singing More Than Words and the upcoming festival season with an emphasis on Download. Before we knew it, our glasses were empty and it was time to move on to yet another pub.

Our next location was handily nearby and we paused momentarily to observe the Clifton Suspension Bridge, resplendent on the distant hillside, before we entered The Cottage Inn.

Famed for its suntrap location, especially in the afternoon and early evening, this is a Butcombe owned premises located in Baltic Wharf with excellent views of the aforementioned bridge. Ferries to the centre depart from right outside the pub so it's a perfect place to visit for a pint before a scenic waterborne journey back into town. Cosy and quaint inside, The Cottage is decorated with bric-a-brac and other memorabilia as well as old photos of the area and the city as whole. The 4 handpulls offer Ashton Still Cider, Liberation EPA and 2 beers from Butcombe, namely Butcombe Original and Butcombe Gold. I'm an enormous fan of Butcombe's beers so decided to have the Gold and, as usual, it was marvellous with its fresh, earthy and herbal notes. Thoughts here turned to our experiences of flying, brought about by mine and Amy's recollection of particularly awful turbulence we encountered en route to Florida in September. Flying of a different sort was on our minds next as we left this excellent pub behind and flew on to our next destination.

Our next stop was one that a Bristol City supporter had recommended to me during a recent visit to the Nottingham pub where I work. It seemed only fair to take his advice and visit the Bristol Beer Factory Tap Room.

Located in the Bedminster area of the city, this is a very comfortable brewery tap room in an old building that was previously used as a tobacco factory and now also doubles as an event space. Seating inside consists of tables with benches, stools, chairs and even a 3 piece suite. The furniture itself is scattered throughout the room, which has an almost school hall feel to it and includes a small stage at one end with curtains obscuring whatever may lay beyond. The bar is known to get busy at weekends due to its proximity to Ashton Gate, home to both Bristol City and Bristol RFC. The bar, which sits in one corner, features 6 handpumps, most of which tend to be those of the owners BBF, although there are guests. During our visit, the available options were Fortitude, Nova and Independence, all from BBF as well as Quartet, a collaboration between BBF and another local brewery, Wiper & True. The 2 guest ales were Good Chemistry Future Shadow and, from distinctly further afield Saltaire Triple Choc Stout. The Quartet was my choice for the occasion and a great it was too. At 4.2%, this is a citrus and lactose session IPA with the big hop notes and balanced maltiness of an IPA combined with the sweet creaminess of the lactose for a beer that hits in all the right places. Bristol does beers right!

Our next plan was to begin to head back towards the water and check out some more pubs in the area of Wapping Wharf. On our way, we decided to pop into a pub that would help to break up what was otherwise a fairly long walk. To say we took a punt on the next pub we saw in close proximity would pretty much sum it up! Either way, we had a quick pit stop at the Avon Packet.

Décor-wise, this pub turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Single roomed, with a central bar and seating situated around, the Avon Packet boasts a number of unique internal and external features. As well as a bridge over a bear pit in the back garden, there is also a duck pond and a children's play area, a collection of toy buses behind the bar and walls covered in vintage photographs. As this was just a pit stop, we had time for a quick half of Doom Bar, the one beer available amongst the 4 handpumps and warmed ourselves by the log fire, although perhaps a bit too much as it felt like my face was melting. The pub was moderately busy for a Thursday although it was close to finishing time for local businesses so I suspect it may have been the after work trade and was definitely made up of regulars. 

Moving on from our unscheduled stop, we headed back towards the Redcliffe area, where Wapping Wharf is located, to visit a pub that Matt has mentioned many a time, a pub and music venue known as the Louisiana.

Standing out due to its Mississippi-style exterior, this landmark pub is well known locally as a popular an vibrant live music venue which has showcased lots of bands, both before and after they were widely known. Scottish indie band Travis has previously played here, amongst other more decorated acts. The downstairs bar area is decorated with softwood tables and cushioned chairs. The bar is to the right as you enter and curves around the room with the seating arranged between the bar and an area to the rear where the toilets can be found and where carvery stations appear to be on standby, albeit minus the food. On the bar, 2 handpulls feature a choice between Butcombe Original and Bath Gem. Having not had any Bath ales thus far, the Gem seemed like a good way to go and I'm pleased to say that it was. Once again, Bath Ales is a brewery from which I've never had a bad pint. 

We had time for one more venue before tiredness and hunger dictated the rest of the evening. It was decided that we'd venture to Wapping Wharf to explore a bar that showcased yet another of Bristol's fantastic breweries, one that has been doing excellent things with barrel aging and wild yeast strains for a while now. I speak of course of Wild Beer.

Officially known as Wild Beer at Wapping Wharf, this is a new bar in a brand new development. This may upset the purists amongst you to know that, whilst the venue has 20 beers on tap, these are all on keg and served in quantities of 2/3 or smaller. Still, it would be rude to investigate the place further, especially when it's now managed by somebody I worked with many years ago. The interior consists primarily of low bench style tables, with the bar at one end and the kitchen at the other, some parts of which are visible. There was almost too much to choose from here but I did manage to make a note of the full list, the majority of which featured beers from Wild Beer themselves. Wild Beer offerings included Sleeping Lemons, Shika, Dirty Boots, Sleeping Limes, Bibble, Funky Dory, Pogo, Epic Saison, Sour Dough, Millionaire, Yokai, Et Tu?, Redwood, Fresh and Taras Boulba. 2 guest beers came from Siren in the shape of Cradle of Future and Suspended in Cascade, whilst a 3rd came from Good Chemistry with Wit's End. Pilton Stickleback Cider and Perry's Barn Owl cider were also available. More than a little overwhelmed, I played it safe and went for the Bibble (4.2%), a fruity and hoppy session ale with a good, solid malt base. Truly, Wild Beer are wizards and this place is a sight to behold.

We were now truly starting to flag and, with the prospect of another day of drinking the following day, took the decision to head home via a takeaway to fuel ourselves for a good night's sleep and more of the same. I can never reiterate enough how amazing Bristol is. Every time we go back, I discover new and amazing beers and pubs. And this was just Day One! Stay tuned for a full report on Day Two which featured several return trips to some old favourites as well as some brand new pubs and some great laughs had by all. Watch this space! Until then, I must bid you adieu!