The Three Bs

[lupestripe]

We headed out to the West Country over the weekend, to three cities beginning with the letter B, Bristol, Bath and Birmingham.

We were going to meet up with Pompom in Bristol but he mistakenly booked his hotel in Bath. This was for the best really as due to Friday's World Cup draw, I couldn't leave work until quite late and so we didn't arrive until past 11. Wolfie got a bit annoyed as there was no parking at the Travelodge, despite it being advertised, but we soon found somewhere and we hit the town for a few drinks.

Bristol has always been good to us, and this weekend was no exception, with the BrewDog bar just a short walk away from the hotel, where we stopped off for one as part of our great BrewDog tour (this is bar number seven). Sadly, a lot of bars seem to close at midnight in Bristol, even at a weekend, but we did find a nice craft beer bar called SmallBar near to the hostel which wasn't there before. This was a great place, run by a friendly Scotsman and serving beer snacks, essentially snausages which looked like horse's willies. When I bought one, picking it from the jar myself, everyone around the bar bought one too after inquiring as to what it was. Never say Southerners aren't friendly and don't spontaneously talk to people, those in the South-West certainly do at least.

We had come down to go on a tea shoppe crawl in Bath organized by Ambery, so on Saturday morning we were up reasonably early and caught the train to endure the ten minute journey to one of England's oldest cities. It was rammed due to the Christmas market in the town, which we discovered was pretty much identical to that in Leeds and Manchester. Indeed in Birmingham there were some identical stalls making me feel that all if these identikit Christmas markets are run by the same company and are far from "traditional".

We met everyone in Kindling, an obscure shop away from the city centre, so we got lost initially and spent a while trying to best the crowds and admire the beautiful architecture of this city. This was difficult to do amongst the Christmas shoppers but Ambery showed the five of us in attendance around the city and I even got my picture taken with the Queen, albeit in cardboard cutout form. We sampled a delicious West Country pasty and I tried a load of cheese and condiments at the Market, including one stall which was run by a lady whose sister-in-law lives in Pudsey.

As is often the case, we were pretty tead out by mid-afternoon and PonPon in particular was insisting on a beer so by 4pm we has retired to a pub where we luckily found a table through a throng of people. We had only intended to have one but the conversion was good and we were down to four, so one beer became several and a deliciously locally produced pie. We then moved on to the Bath Ales pub at Bath Spa railway station to enjoy some more, including their excellent seasonal ale (one of the best things about Christmas in my view) and Platform 3, a high strength IPA.

As we had arranged to meet one of Wolfie's former work colleagues in Bristol, we had to depart around 9pm through the persistent fog of drizzle which had descended on the city earlier in the day. On our ride back, we met a charming group of ladies who were celebrating one of their number's 24th birthday, and they have us a free shot rammed with poor quality alcohol and sweeteners. It was luminous green but it tasted okay.

After Wolfie guided us around the city in a square shape rather than going directly, we eventually met up with his former colleague at The Gryphon, a rock and metal pub on one of the side streets we never would have found otherwise. It sold a range of cask beers, including on the too floor eight directly from the cask itself sans bar, and we had an enjoyable few hours here, chatting and listening to great music. We met a range of cool people and departed after closing at 1am. Needing pizza, we tried Domino's who claimed to be open til 5am despite bring closed (there were people inside but the door was locked), necessitating a complaint from Wolfie before we discovered a good local takeaway which did excellent pizza, which we enjoyed back at the hotel. It was one of those spontaneous days which just fell into place, getting drunk (although by no means paralytic) not through choice but because we were having such a good time that one thing led to another. As I say, Bristol has always been good to us and it was once again.

Comments

[enteirah]

All the branches of Dominos I know of that are 'open till 4/5am' or even the 24-hour ones close the actual shop between around 1am and 6am and instead only do phone order deliveries at those times. I'm not sure whether that's for safety reasons to avoid drunken behaviour, or just to save costs on needing frontline staff.

We should definitely sort a trip down Bristol again some time in the new year mind! ^.^

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

a lot of bars seem to close at midnight in Bristol, even at a weekend

Huh! I thought that was just a Bath thing. There are a couple places with club licenses, like the West Gate, but that pretty much does become a club on Saturday nights. =:P

Post-Grillstock (which you really ought to attend! Only if, of course, the notion of a weekend stuffed with barbecued meats and music holds any appeal) in Bristol last year, I took recourse to the hotel bar, which remained open until something like 2am. ^_^

so by 4pm we has retired to a pub where we luckily found a table through a throng of people

Ah, that was the Salamander, I understand. ^_^ Bear in mind they have a dedicated dining room upstairs - much better when it gets busy, if you’re intending to eat, though I’ve also often eaten down in the bar, when it’s not been too loud. I do hope you found them worthwhile. ^_^

and Platform 3, a high strength IPA

Ooh, that’s a new one on me! One of theirs, or a guest?

BTW, if you liked Festivity (a real delight!), you might consider buying a microcask or two for New Year - its availability tends to end anywhere from mid-December to mid-January. They’re five liters each, and are indeed live casks, so the beer’s pretty much as good as from the pub, running £18.80 for Festivity, and a little less for Gem, though you’ll need to allow around £4 each for courier delivery.

And if you do place an order with them, I must recommend adding one of their Sulis beer sets. Or two. =:9 I opened mine last night, and shared the “Imperial Stout Islay No.2”, a fabulous example of its kind, weighing in at 11.1%, with a delicious nature added to it by its eight months in Islay casks. Not an everyday expense, at £6 a bottle, but really, not an experience to be missed. (This set also included another Imperial Stout, matured in Speyside casks, and a Barleywine)

FWIW, if you’re likely to revisit Bath Ales pubs anywhere, you might consider obtaining one of their free Loyal Hare Force cards, which redeems at 5% of expenditure, so it adds up fairly quickly. (It doesn’t, unfortunately, apply to online orders)