The Improved Barley Mow

From @Barleymowbris Twitter feed

On my previous visit to Bristol I managed a swift pint in Bristol Beer Factory pub the Barley Mow. It turned out to be my pint of the year, scoring a perfect 5 on ratebeer. However I was lucky to have a got a pint as it was at closing time and the pub was empty

Fast Forward a few months and on a Friday evening and the pub is rammed. Its recent refurbishment has given it more than just a lick of paint but 10 keg and 8cask lines too as well as a tasty food menu.

There's plenty of seating for diners and drinkers alike, with friendly staff and plenty of beers to choose from.

This time around I had a half of Bristol Beer Factory's Acer but the sampling was all about the guest beers. Rich and sweet Summer Wine Mokko Milk Stout went down a treat and made a great latte Stout when mixed with Roosters' coffee creation Londinium. This went well with the sharer platter as a starter (curry scotch egg!)

Magic Rock Dancing Bear was a fantastic pils style beer, but with an antipodean feel due to the tropical flavours that appeared (despite using noble hop varieties Strisselspalt, Herrsbrucker and Hallertau). A lovely beer that Daisy enjoyed too.

From @Barleymowbris Twitter feed

I picked up a number of interesting bottles, (some of which are now safely cached in my dads flat). What caught my eye were the barrel aged variants of Southville Hop and West Coast Red. This is barrel ageing done well, with nothing too aggressive transferred, though I can't help but feeling some of the vibrancy from each of the beers was lost in the process.

I managed to have a chat to manager Emily too, though I didn't realise it at the time!

I couldn't pass up the chance to have Buxton Imperial Black Rocks on keg either, which was even better than the previous batches I've had in bottle... Another 5/5

The Barley Mow comes highly recommended and is a welcome (re-) addition to the already thriving Bristol pubs scene. It makes an ideal starting/ finishing point for a Bristol pub crawl within 5 minutes stroll of Temple Meads' grade I listed splendour.

The Barley Mow

39 Barton Road
St Philips
Bristol, BS2 0LF

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@BarleyMowBris

A Bristol Beer Crawl

Bristol is home to some fantastic pubs and breweries. I spent this weekend investigating a chunk of them. If I remember correctly (no mean feat with the number visited) there were 17 in all*, with a couple visited twice. Rather than bore you with a mammoth post about all the pubs I'll let the pictures do (most of) the talking. They do say a picture is worth 1000 words after all...

The Old Fish Market

Fantastic Red Brick Fuller's pub

New American-hopped seasonal Wild River

Georges Bristol Brewery

Bristol is full of Brewing Heritage, and the new breweries look
to reach the same heights of success

The Seven Stars

Fantastic back-street local's pub

Avoid the Hopping Mad!

The King's Head

Fantastic Historic Interior pub

Ancient beer selection (display!)

 The Cornubia

Real Ale Oasis the Cornubia is hidden up a back road

  The Three Tuns

Arbor Ales Bristol Tap

Just a few of Arbor's output

 The Grain Barge

A bar...on a boat!

And Bristol Beer Factory beers available, excellent!

  Bag O'Nails

Another free house on the way home

That'll be a Moor please!

The Robin Hood

Respite whilst climbing St Michael's Hill

The Highbury Vaults

Olde Young's Pub

Ancient Hand pumps in Front Bar

 Beerd

From one of the Oldest to the Newest
Beerd is Bath Ales' new craft beer & pizza bar

Eclectic interior and a good range of beer

Tiny Rebel Cwtch in Beerd

Aubergine, Goats cheese and Basil - nom!

Two Dawkins Pubs:


The Green Man

The Green Man

Arbor Single Hop in a cute 1/2 pint tankard

The Hillgrove Porter Stores

Hillgrove Porter Stores

Whilst okay on bottle its stupendous on cask.

 



These were all pubs I'd happily return to, unusual to get such a high success rate! There's a number of other pubs left to visit in Bristol, but they'll be for another time! 

I also love that I can get Butcombe Bitter, my benchmark on cask in the airport whilst waiting for my plane home. Rare Breed is now also available. Both of these plus others in the range are available in the Colston Yard, their flagship bar at the bottom of St Michael's Hill.

*I didn't quite manage to capture all of them, for the curious amongst you my journeys took me to the following:

Beerd, The Green Man, The Hillgrove Porter Stores, The Croft, The Old Fish Market, The Seven Stars, The King's Head, Cornubia, The Bridge Inn, The Three Tuns, The Grain Barge, The Bag O'Nails, The Hope and Anchor, Zero Degrees, The Colston Yard, The Robin Hood & The Highbury Vaults.

Beery Times in Leeds

The beer bloggers conference is just about to start, with many of us nursing hangovers from an over-indulgent night on the town in Leeds last night.

Thursday night was the pre-conference pub crawl, leaving us non-Leodisians in the capable hands of Leigh Linley, blogger at Good Stuff. You can read a bit of background on some of the pubs we visited here.Having only been to one Twissup event in the past I was looking forward to meeting some of the nigh on 100 attendees of the conference outside of the more formal arena of the Metropole Hotel (our home for the next few days). It would be all too easy to drop a load of names of who I bumped in to; so I'll leave that to your imaginations. Chances are if you're reading this you're one of them anyway! I had intended to get pictures during the night, but the beer and conversations took over - probably how it should be.

Having heard of the food quality in Mr Foley's, we decided to partake in some pre-crawl stomach-lining and get first dibs on the beer selection. I chose a pint of Kirkstall Best Yorkshire Bitter and a cayenne bean burger, both excellent, followed by a bottle of Flying Dog in de Wildeman Mr Foleys Can be found on twitter here

I'd heard about the Tipopils being available in North Bar; so headed there next. It has a laid back atmosphere but the music was a little loud on this occasion. Bumped into some GBBF friends. The beer was okay, fresh tasting and crisp but I think i just prefer Czech pilsner in general. Can be found on twitter here

A stroll to the Midnight Bell came next, where I enjoyed a half of the eponymous mild and also the relatively new Leodis lager, one of the better efforts from a UK brewery I think. We then popped just up the road to the The Cross Keys for a few.

I finished my evening in The Grove an ancient, multi-roomed pub sandwiched between skyscrapers with a pint of something gingery I wasn't too keen on. Back to my hotel room before 11pm, a sensible precaution against what looks to be three very beery days indeed.

So now lets crack on with the conference, made possible by a number of sponsors*, not least Molson Coors UK, who through their generous bursary offer meant I was able to attend the conference for free (and probably could not have done so without this help). Many thanks to all of those who have been working behind the scene to make this conference come together, I look forward to it and will certainly be publishing more blogs over the weekend!

*I figure if I mention this now, I won't have to repeat myself later in the week!

A Real Brewer's House?

Donaghmore is a tiny village in the back roads of County Tyrone, albeit one with a beery past as is evinced by Brewery-themed road names. In keeping with this heritage, the Brewer's House hopes to open an on site microbrewery in the near future to offer their customers something unique and decidedly local.

Opened by Ciaran and Vicki McCausland last autumn, I've only just managed to venture the nine miles to investigate (something about not having a car...). On arrival I received a warm welcome from the pre-warned Ciaran, who was calling any entering Englishmen Steve in anticipation of my arrival*. After a quick perusal of the bar I ordered the sole cask offering, Whitewater Belfast Ale. Its not one I'd been keen on before but on this occasion it positively shone, bettering even those available at brewery-owned venues. A good session-strength brown bitter that I could happily have had two or three of had I been in for a drinking session.

Proper glassware too!

As it was we had been drawn by the tasty sounding grub, and after a natter with Ciaran we seated ourselves and perused the menus, accompanied by a couple of beers from the bottle range kindly opened by Ciaran. Although the range may not be the most exotic, its certainly light-years ahead of what's available in the rest of County Tyrone and the majority of Northern Ireland, with the likes of Brewdog, Goose Island, Anchor and Brooklyn available. Add to that Erdinger Weiss and Whitewater copperhead on keg and you won't go wanting for beer. The menu also features some locally produced cider from MacIvor's (new to me!), wines, whiskys and cocktails for those who are not beerily inclined.

A "small" steak

I opted for breaded goats cheese with beetroot puree, pea risotto and chocolate cheesecake to finish. The food arrived promptly, piping hot and in good-sized portions. The plates were returned to the kitchen squeaky clean, which is testament to the quality of the food. My dining companions opted for steak and Thai curry, each met with delight and a selection of desserts all looked the part. A wine and food pairing evening on the 30th looks set to be a great night, with head chef David Kennedy excelling himself with a mouthwatering array of dishes. Rumours of a similar beery event in the future certainly excited me.

Wooden bar and whisky selection

Three hours on a sunny afternoon passed swiftly by in the charming atmosphere, though we weren't hurried at all, despite trade being relatively brisk. Its been tastefully decorated throughout, with real wood floors, stained glass windows and local photos adorn the walls. Fear not though as there are still plenty of seats for those just popping in for a beer or three, stools at the bar and high tables downstairs with a mezzanine seating area too.

And what of this microbrewery? Ciaran attended a brewing course in Sunderland last year and plans to brew some 100litre scale pilot batches this year. In keeping with providing what the regulars want, the beers will be handed out as free samples. If all goes well a 5 barrel brew plant will be installed in 2013, making it the first microbrewery in County Tyrone.

 We could certainly do with more pubs like this in Northern Ireland and I for one will be returning soon!

The Brewer's house can be found on Facebook here and Twitter here.

*Well, at least one anyway.

Update: Congratulations to the Brewer's House for winning the best Gastropub in Co.Tyrone in the Irish Restaurant awards. To have achieved this so soon after opening is good work indeed!

What's your favoured flavour?

Like most beer drinkers, if pressed to name my favourite beer I wouldn’t be able to. There’s a whole host of mitigating factors, time of day, time of year, weather, drinking company, drinking venue...the list goes on. However there are beers that if I'm lucky enough to find them on the bar I will make them my first pint. They’re beers that I’d happily drink 2 or 3 of in a row without feeling a pressing need to try something new. They’re beers that I would leave one pub for if I knew they were available somewhere else. I call these my benchmark beers. I find myself judging all other beers in the style against these stalwarts of my beer portfolio

I think the first bar that I realised had reached this benchmark status was Butcombe Bitter. A perfectly balanced classic English beer, mid amber in colour and well balanced bitterness and sweetness. I was surprised to find that Bristol airport serves cask ale and was excited to find it was Butcombe. Is it affected by the fact it was the first ale I tried? Perhaps. It could equally be that the proximity of the brewery to my home town and a loyalism to my county. Pete Brown has his Acorn Barnsley Bitter and I have Butcombe Bitter.

Yours Truly drinking Butcombe Bitter in Bristol.

Greene King XX mild is another beer I’ve left a pub to get a pint of elsewhere. Very few GK pubs sell this any more; so if you are lucky enough to find it then get a pint or three. My preferred dispense point is The Junction Inn in Southampton, hop off the train at St Denys and there are three pubs in close vicinity but The Junction does food and invariably it'll be GK mild that does the job.

Some of my favourite beers have been lost in recent years. Pride of Romsey IPA was lost when the Hampshire brewery went under in 2007. Here’s hoping someone resurrects it. The IPA benchmark spot currently remains empty though there are some serious contenders.

My benchmark stout is Hopback Entire Stout, an opinion it seems I am not alone in holding as it won Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2011. My benchmark porter is Ringwood XXXX, when I can find it!

Of course like all good beer geeks I’m keen to try as many different beers as possible but I always get the butterflies in stomach excitement of finding a benchmark beer on the bar and the anticipation of that favoured flavour passing my lips whilst waiting for the pour.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this tendency so tell me your benchmark beers!