Twissup: The Aftermath

Saturday was a jolly day indeed, for it marked the first Birmingham Twissup and another positive sign that Birmingham is inching towards a stronger, beefier, more something something beer culture.

As Otherton Aleman has already reported, the festivities started at the Lamp Tavern, before moving through the Anchor to the Post Office Vaults, with an epilogue at the Wellington.

Strangely enough, most of the participants of Birmingham's first Twissup, aren't actually from Birmingham.  We had @19irishdragon (Walsall), @ckdsaddlers (Wolverhampton), @MarbleTim (Manchester), @OthertonAleman (Penkridge), @RobertoRossUK (Halesowen) and @CarlDurose (Birmingham resident, but recently imported from Herefordshire).  Luckily I was there.  I come from Leicester and live in Sandwell.  Errr.

Most of the party met up at the The Lamp Tavern, which is a warm little pub, tucked away on the edge of industrial Highgate.  I chose to start here because I wanted to showcase a hidden gem, a survivor, a pub of principles.  I sampled a Welback Abbey Donovan - a dry golden ale, billed as a Polish pale ale: which was a bit of a novelty.  The Lamp was throbbing with conviviality. 

From heritage and values, we moved on to some solid real ale choice. The Anchor has been the best pub in Brum for ages, and it's still my favourite (shush).  The assembled throng swelled slightly here, with the arrival of our Southern guest @mrdavidj, along with a cameo from one of Birmingham's top pub reviewers ilooklikeme.  Sat in the 'quiet room' of the Anchor, we had a good chin wag and sampled (well I did anyway) a beautiful Stout George from brand new Middlesbrough brewery Truefitt.  Like I said - beautiful.  I also took advice from Twissup's chief brewer and enjoyed a De Ranke Pere Noel.  Microbrewed UK excellence and established Belgian spiciness - a nice blend.

The most exciting moment of the Twissup's Anchor period came when 2x unexpected guests joined us.  Stewart and Kate had learnt of the gathering via, wait for it - social media and allowed their curiosity to get the better of them.  What a massively pleasant boost, to tangibly realise that there are like minded, intelligent beer fans in the city, just itching to be part of the movement towards a more robust beer topography.  In addition to the people who had already arrived, obviously.

From the Anchor, we bolted to the Post Office Vaults for a stint of quality foreign bottles, including Nogne Saison, Rodenbach Grand Cru and a Hellers Kolsch, the latter of which didn't quite meet the standards of the evening.  PO Vaults was as rammed as expected, but we miraculously got some seats and hooked up to the wireless to tweet some photos into the ether.

The Wellington was an extra helping, but by that point, the good work had already been done.  A bunch of friendly, passionate West Midlands beer fans got together, in the name of Twitter and made concrete, a previously nebulous network.

What was the point of Twissup?  Well as far as moi is concerned, it was to put down a starting point, another marker on the route to good beer.  I'm not suggesting that a load of blokes drinking beer in some pubs is in any way an unusual thing, but when a gathering happens in the name of something, then perhaps it means err something.  Our route took us from humming local boozer, to scoopers' stronghold, to our newest beer bar - provider of the best beers from outside our borders.  Perhaps by the next Twissup (or the one after), we'll be able to add an extra venue onto our journey - a bar offering kegged IPAs, the hottest US-brews and a palette of the very [very] best UK microbrewers.

(Oh and big respect to Richard of Porter Pages - Twissup was his idea and even though he couldn't make it, I notionally raised several glasses in his honour on Saturday). 

  

Birmingham #Twissup

This is a calling notice.  A belated one.

Birmingham Twissup has been scheduled for next Saturday - Saturday the 21st April.  Having no idea what a Twissup should, or should not entail, a 'programme' has been devised as follows:

4.00 - Lamp Tavern, Highgate (for backstreet charm)

6.00 - Anchor, Digbeth (allegedly holding a Festival that day)

8.00 - Post Office Vaults (to express our inner beer geeks)

Apart from those few pointers, there are no guidelines as such.

If you are able to, please pop along and say "Hi".  I have no idea how we will recognise each other, but it's the ideal chance to try walking around the pub shaking hands with random strangers - which is certainly something I've always wanted to 'have a go at'.

Perhaps I should warn these pubs that we will be dropping by.  Not sure.  I might do.

Come on chaps and chapesses, let's make this happen.  Let's inaugurate Brum as a happening beer city.  Lets start the movement.  

 

Birmingham's Top 10 Pubs

The Evening, sorry Birmingham Mail recently pronounced it's Top 10 Birmingham pubs and it's a solid list.  Admittedly it's based on unspecified criteria, but this is not intended as a nit-picking blog post, more of a conversation starter and gosh darnit, a celebration of some fine Brum establishments.

The Wellington, The Anchor, The Black Eagle, The Bartons Arms, the Old Contemptibles are no-brainers: places that combine good beer choices with a convivial atmosphere/good decor etc.

For the rest of my five, this is my thinking (in no particular order): 

Lord Clifden
Lovely artwork, good music, ping-pong, a GREAT beer garden and just enough good beer to top things off.  Cool pub.

Post Office Vaults
New kid on the block and already the subject of it's own blog post.  Could be the City's top venue soon enough.

Lamp Tavern
Small, located on an industrial estate, and fantastic. The welcome is warm, the beers are well kept and the banquette seating takes me right back to Syston in 1992. A magnificent survivor.   

The Shakespeare (the Summer Row one, not the Lower Temple Street one)
The Mail chose Bacchus, but I've gone for a different Nicholsons pub.  I love the arrangement of the L-shaped front room, with it's elegant street aspect.  I love the fact that it is Brum's most reliable stockist of Moor beers - this fills me with a deep joy.  This is almost my favourite.

The Brown Lion
This one scrapes in if I'm honest, as it is still a bit underfurnished and not quite lived in, although it is early days.  The beer is what brings me here, because the BroLi is the brewery tap for Two Towers - one of Birmingham's small crop of microbreweries.  At first, even the beer wasn't enough to bring me back regularly, but TT are pulling their fingers out now and I'm becoming quite paternal towards them.

What connects the above five places and the five Mail choices that I agree with?  Well, after a bit of chin scratching I think that it's some ethereal combination of good beer choice and an aspirational outlook.  I want to leave a pub with a good tingle on my tastebuds and a spring in my step.

Birmingham doesn't yet have a proper craft beer bar, but it does have some nice beer venues; and when I think back to late 2004, just prior to the opening of the Wellington, things were really grim.  Only the Anchor was shining a light.  Our City has come a long way.

And my favourite place of all?  Probably the Anchor.  Just.   

Whats your favourite, my beer brethren?

(With apols to the Red Lion, Prince of Wales, Old Joint Stock, the Junction (Harborne)).