Brizzle 2025

 Hello there  

     On Friday just gone (it was in fact 22nd August!) I went to Bristol - or Brizzle - after work, to attend the Forwards festival (Music), and also the East Bristol Brewery Trail, visiting for the first time a number of Taprooms in Bristol. On the Friday night we started in the marvelous kings Head - where owners Good Chemistry were celebrating their 10th birthday! Just the one in here, both myself and Matty enjoying a 6% Baltic  porter collab called Smooth Operator with fabulous Shefielders Abbeydale! We enjoyed this sat outside in the last of the sunshine

After booking in to the Ron Clayton hotel we headed next for BrewDog where the manager plays almost exclusively metal music, and sells a whopping range of beers as well. We had a pint of Marine Hazard Extravaganza and White Dog Will it float and finished on halves of their Habas and Fierce Very Big Moose barrel aged imperial stout. Having met Simon, Matt's dad, we finished the night in the Strawberry Thief where we enjoyed pints of Lost and Grounded Helles on draught and bottles of Augusteiner Helles and others, which I did not photograph....

The next day after a marvelous breakfast nearby we wandered through the city up to Arbor Ales Taproom for 12, once again meeting Simon at about 5 minutes before they opened. This was our first stop on the East Bristol Brewery trail and by 12 there was a hefty crowd waiting to get in! I started on Arbor C Bomb a Citra pale on keg from the current, and Simon bought me a second before we wandered off the trail slightly to a new Brewery and Tap to me.

At strength and Noble they had 6 of their beers on keg and two guests and we had 2 pints each of theirs and 3 halves to finish - we were once again sat out in the sunshine and enjoyed all of their beers, and I have to say the food smelled fantastic! Over the motorway next and down to Clark street where we walked up and into Wiper and True - this was really busy but we got a table for the 3 of us and ordered a few halves from an amazing range of 15 beers available - sadly I didn't take a pic of the line up but I know I had a fabulous pint of kaleidescope IPA on keg from the now, before we returned to the trail and headed straight for Good Chemistry Taproom for my also first ever visit!

I now I had a pint of Pure Celebration Party Pale also on keg, and at a pleasant 5.8 % and once again enjoyed that sat outside in the none sunshine! Off next back into town where we headed to Little Marthas brewing brew pub under a railway arch where we all ate delicious food, and once again sat outside as the clouds darkened the sky above us. We next went to the Portwall Tavern, which is not a brew pub and sadly, since my last visit in 2003 the beer selection seems to have gone downhill somewhat. No doubt based on it being a Craft Union pub, I had a pint of their Bonville Pale om cask from the past before myself and Matt hurried on up to Small Bar, which was not very welcoming, but  we finished on several excellent pints in the fabulous Famous Royal Navy Volunteer where we were both on pints of 8.2% Wibble DIPA on keg which was a fab collab between Balance Brewing and Cloudwater - possibly the best beer of the whole trip.

The next day was Forwards Festival and despite being the day before Bank Holiday Monday it was rather warm! Me and Matt opted to walk to the Downs in order to get some pre festival beers and we started in Zero Degrees Brewery Tap where we started on a clear lager before walking out onto St Michaels hill/Mount and despite its incline we quickly reached the comparative Darkness of the Highbury Vaults - I was once again on kaleidescope and Matt may have been on Otter Oak IPA as we sat in the back . Off next to the nearby turning for Brewhouse and kitchen where we stayed for just one, possibly a pale before visiting a new pub recommended by Simon - up a little side street past a closed pub was a marvelous micropub called Last Port of Call - a tiny 2 roomed boozer selling a great range of local beers where I started on a delicious pint of Gloucester Gold a pale at 3.9% on cask from the past and finished once again on a pint of kaleidoscope as its correctly spelled! A cracking pub to which I will return.

Beer at Forwards was once again cans from Lost and Grounded but £5.50 a can seemed lie a good festival price! We only watched about 4 bands this year, the best being Squid and Nea Archives - we were therefore back in town to make a quick final stop at BrewDog where I now we had Mad Scientist blackcurrant sour at 8.4%!

On Bank Holiday Monday I wandered off by myself post breakfast and made my first visit to the king Street Brew Pub where I sat inside looking at the busy Street outside enjoying a pint of their Hazy IPA at 4.8% before thanking them and waddling accross for my also first visit to the Llandoger Trow where I had a whole pint of their Three Acre Extra Special best at 5.4% which was a very easy drinking bitter on cask from the past.

A toddle next to the Grain Barge parked on the river where I had two beers - I know that they were both Bristol Beer factory but I forget which - before paying my first visit of the trip to The Myrtle Tree for a few excellent pints of Bass straight from the barrel - I even sat outside in the sunshine with two gents eating a cheese and onion cob, before being joined by Tash Matt and Rhodhri. Round the corner to the Bag O Nails next where not only does it smell less "feline" but also had a great selection of ales - I had Uley Guilty pleasure and something without a pump clip on keg before walking, now with Simon, up to a new pub  to me called the Three Tuns where we had a print of Bristol Beer Factory, and then walked into the Limekiln. Always worth a visit, this time it sold in its range Lenton Lane Big Dreams IPA at 6.5% on cask from the past so I was on that before me and Simon headed into town to get a burger and we all re met in the Old Hatchet Inn which used to sport a door made with possibly human skin? All I can say is that the beer selection was really underwhelming so we only stayed for one and I didn't even photograph it!

Our next to last day was quite cloudy and after our usual breakfast in Cafe Revival we went our seperate ways with a plan to  catch up later - I started by meeting a lovely lass on the bridge before walking up to see the church of the Holy Cross ruin and waling out to visit the fabulous Cornubia -a fabulous beer selection as always and I started on a pint of Burton Bridge XL Mild on cftp, then a Bobs your uncle IPA from Electric Bear at 5.4% from also cftp before walking to the Bridge on Passage Street, where the bar had a fab collection of beers on offer. I did ask the chap about Moor Brewing whose owner had posted an explosive outburst on the Friday about almost every customer and type of customer, and whom agreed not to take part in the East Bristol Brewery trail. He does sell quite a lot of their beers so I was happy to try some since he had paid for them, but I started on Newbarns Canopus IPA at just 4.5% which was delicious, then Misfit Brewing Astro Zombie IPA before finishing on Moor.

Next I headed to the Seven Stars for a pint of Hop Union Classic Gold which I enjoyed drinking outside, and then headed a trifle refreshedly for Left Handed Giant. It was really busy and in the end I was so surrounded by by shouters I opted to leave for food at the Fullers Old Fish Market where I met Tash and Matt and Rhodhri for scran whilst on Fullers Olivers Island before finishing in BrewDog on more plus 8% beers and getting cans of Chubbles for our journey home the next day.

After our final breakfast at Cafe Revival we walked together to the the Cornubia for pints of Electric Bear and then to the ruined Abbey for a look round and just got in the kings Head as it started to pee it down! Tash and Rhodhri only stayed for halves as they were off to catch an earlier train so me and Matt stayed for a few including two excellent pints of Good Chemistry kokomo weekday Hazy Pale on Keg and to finish on thirds of fabulous Vault City 7th birthday 14% stout between us, and to buy two Good Chemistry celebratory cans for our trip home.

Still time to pop in Simon's least successful recommendation, the Sidings, which sold no cask ales and sold only Beavertown mass produced beer on keg! We had halves, and I once again did not take any pics whatsoever.

So that was Brizzle! A mostly hugely enjoyable dawdle round some truly fabulous pubs and bars, mostly with fabulous ales and breweries!

Kindest regards

Wee Beefy