Given the pubs that Birmingham has, what would be the best achievable pub crawl?
More specifically, since I prioritise beer over surroundings/decor/atmos etc, what would be the ideal beer crawl in Brum?
Here's an imagined (but rooted in reality) attempt.
Starting slightly north of the centre, I'm kicking off with a pint of Oakham Citra in the Bartons Arms. This is a double whammy, as the pub is a beautifully restored Victorian gem, with lovely tiles; and... it's owned by Oakham, who are one of my favourite/the best breweries in the country. Citra is a deliciously crisp, hoppy and piquantly fruity beer, with a tickle across the tongue. Lip-smackingly moreish.
Next, a short bus ride away from the Bartons is the Bull - a small, homely, genuine old pub in the Gun Quarter. Here, I'd probably plump for an Acorn Barnsley Bitter, which seems to be consistently available. The comforting genuineness of the bitter, would echo the surroundings nicely.
Next I'd swing up to the Jewellery Quarter, to tick off the Lord Clifden, Brown Lion, Rose Villa Tavern, the Drop Forge and Red Lion (in that order). In those pubs I'd hope to be able to sample [halves obviously] of Bathams (in the Clifdo), Complete Muppetry or Jewellery Porter (in the Brown), Thornbridge Kipling (in the RVT), a Malvern Hills Black Pear (in the Forge), and finally a Purity Mad Goose (in the Red). Why those beers? Well, because they are, respectively: i) a pleasure to drink and should always be sampled when available, which it usually is at the Clifdo and Red Lion; ii) the best of Two Towers' current range; iii) Bitters 'n' Twisted pubs usually carry Thornbridge beers, and they are always good; iv) usually on offer around Brum, and a pleasant Golden ale; and v) the best of Purity's 3 ubiquitous Golden ales.
A detour would be required to get to the Black Eagle, and once there, I'd hope for a Brewdog Trashy Blonde.
Heading back to the centre, I'd hope for a pint of Moor Somerland Gold in the Shakespeare [Summer Row], then an Otley Thai-Bo at the Old Contemptibles. 2 x Nicholsons' pubs, with 2 x of the better breweries on their Spring ale roster.
On the homeward stretch, I'd swing by the Old Joint Stock and umm and arr about whether to have a Chiswick Bitter (toasty and tart), a Bengal Lancer (quite hoppy) or a London Porter (rich and roasty). The Porter would probably win.
In the nearby Wellington, the rotating ales make it difficult to pin down a guaranteed choice, but Wye Valley HPA IS always on, so that would 'do' me.
In the Post Office Vaults there are lots of bottles that I KNOW will be in the fridge on any given day, and a good number of them would tempt me on EVERY given day. On current form, I think I would have to plump for a De Molen Amerikaans, which has the best aroma EVER. However, having chosen Amerikaans, I would obviously have to live with NOT having chosen Rodenbach Grand Cru or Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze - but those are the kind of tough choices I make every day.
Before the final leg, I'd head to the Victoria and certainly sample a Thornbridge Jaipur if possible.
Final 2 stops would be in Digbeth. First up the Lamp Tavern, where I would hope to sample an Everards Tiger, which is not only a delicious Bitter, but also a small taste of home. And then the Anchor, which has a retinue of ales which rotate at a similar speed to the Wellington: therefore I would cross my finger and hope to sample a Gargoyles Citra or a Steel City Vane Tempest.
After that I would be fit to drop.
But what conclusions can we draw from this imagined crawl? Well, firstly that the sort of breweries guaranteed to be available on any given day, in our best pubs, are not really members of the burgeoning 'Craft Beer' scene. My ideal Brum pub crawl would not allow me to sample Summer Wine, Magic Rock or Buxton. But, on the positive side, it would allow me to sample some nice Golden ales. Lots of Golden ales. Mainly Golden ales in fact. Golden ales seem to be doing rather well in Birmingham.
The other conclusion, is a rather more obvious one, and that is that Birmingham has lots of lovely drinking venues. Rather more than you might imagine in fact. And perhaps more than we realise - which is a sign of improvement is it not?
In the style of Tony Hart, why not come up with you own imaginary pub crawl, using this ever improving Birmingham Pub Guide via Google Maps?
Showing posts with label Nicholsons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nicholsons. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Sunday, 29 January 2012
The Top Ten Movers and Shakers in Birmingham's Beer Scene
This blog, obviously, is about the beer scene in Birmingham: part commentary, part rallying cry. So far all I've really done is report on the situation as is, but how about we do a bit of digging below the surface? If I don my Famous Five hat and Clark Kent trousers, perhaps I can pretend to do a bit of real journalism and take a look at the movers and shakers on the Birmingham beer scene. Who runs the show in Brum, and how? Once we know that, perhaps we can work out an effective brown-nosing lobbying strategy to keep things moving in the right direction. Here goes then, in reverse order:
10. Paul Halsey (Managing Director of Purity Brewing Co.)
Purity aren't based in Birmingham, but they may as well be, as their products have an enviable tendency to pop up in nearly every good boozer in town. Their three beers are consistent and tasty, but just think... if they were to produce a red IPA, a delicious Porter or a super rich Stout they could use their network of clients to stick experimental, challenging beers under the noses of half the drinkers in the West Midlands. The possibilities are tantalising and intriguing.
9. Adrian Posnett (Managing Director of Oakham Ales)
Oakham delivered a beautiful gift to Birmingham, back in 2004: The Bartons Arms. It's a gift that keeps on giving - delicious Thai food, sensationally kept [delicious] Oakham ales and wonderful pub architecture. Oakham are also the best represented of the UK's top quality brewers, in Birmingham's pubs. By remaining committed to the Bartons, Oakhams are maintaining one of our essential pubs, a key source of fantastic beer.
8. Mark Arnott-Job and Trevor Harris (Co-Directors and Head Brewers at Two Towers Brewery)
Their beers are getting better and now they have their own pub - the Brown Lion. Brum is not over blessed with microbreweries, in fact with this post being written prior to the launch of the Beer Geek Brewery, there is only Two Towers and ABC. Two Towers therefore need to keep up the good work and start throwing out some big, flavoursome new beers.
7. Bob Ivell (Executive Chairman of Mitchells and Butlers)
M&B has four of its Nicholsons pubs in the City centre, offering good beer, often from some of the UK's best breweries. If Mr Ivell turned round tomorrow and decided to turn the Old Contemptibles, the two Shakespeare pubs and Bacchus bar into Wacky Warehouses, then as a City we'd instantly be much poorer as a result. Think about it.
6. Mark Delaney (Birmingham CAMRA Chairman)
The results speak for themselves. Are things improving on the beer front in Birmingham? - Yes. Do we have more pubs serving real ale than before? - Yes. As sure as eggs is eggs, the local CAMRA branch must be doing something right. Plus, importantly, last year's festival was tremendous fun, with an improving range of beers.
5. Matt Scriven (Bitters n Twisted)
Bitters n Twisted have four bars in the City, each offering something slightly different: Jekyll and Hyde is a modern day gin parlour, Island Bar is a hip cocktail joint, the Rose Villa Tavern is a beautiful old pub turned gastropub, and the Victoria is a hipster hangout. Clearly Mr Scriven knows what he is doing and I'm grateful that all of his venues recognise the importance of good beer, offering a smattering of bottles, taps and handpumps. Now, if they could keep that moving in the right direction and increase the range and quality of the beers, that would be lovely. In fact if they would like to open a new place, seeking to fill the remaining good beer niche, then they can talk to me and I'll point them in the right direction. I'm serious.
4. Graham Smith (Urban Art Bar)
Urban Art Bar has two pubs in the Jewellery Quarter: the Lord Clifden and the Red Lion . Both places have placed beer at the heart of their appeal and have been important in acknowledging that a cool pub, can and should serve real ale. Both of these venues were old pubs which were tarted up in a most tasteful way - so that they are both great to spend time in. Mr Smith - more please.
3. Gerry Keane (The Anchor)
The Anchor has been in the Keane family for donkeys years. For all of my time in Brum, they have been offering a fantastic range of real ales, often from smaller breweries. They were also the first place to offer Erdinger on tap and Belgian bottles. Regardless of whatever else is happening in Brum, the Anchor remains a reliable oasis of good beer and good cheer.
2. Krishan Rajput (Stirchley Wines and Spirits)
In 2002 I bought a house, partly because it had easy access to the fantastic off-licence Stirchley Wines and Spirits, with it's range of beers unparallelled in Birmingham. In the 10 years since then, SWS has gone from strength to strength. It is now the only place in the City offering access to some of the country's top beers (such as the Kernel) and and the best imports (Stone, Nogne, Mikkeller). The owners expend a lot of energy in continuing to source new products: every day I get tweets from them, trying to lure me back for the latest unmissable treats. This year they also ran the Foreign beer bar at the Birmingham Beer Festival, which brought more positive exposure. They are spreading the good word, giving access to the best beers and opening eyes. We would be lost without them. If they opened a pub, they would nick top spot.
1. Nigel Barker (The Wellington/Post Office Vaults)
Before Nigel opened the Wellington, Brum relied totally on the Anchor for access to guest ales. But since late 2004, things have got better and better, as we now have 16 handpulls of real ale, slap bang in the centre of town. You don't need me to tell you that the Welly does alright - the fact that it is usually packed is a clear indicator. With fast rotation of ales and regular beer festivals, Nigel gave Birmingham a venue which was essential, not just for Brummies, but for beer fans across the country. In fact, in 2011 the Wellington amazingly ranked as the 36th best beer bar in the World, according to Ratebeer. At the back end of last year, Nigel sprinkled some of his magic on the Post Office Vaults, another city centre real ale haunt, this time offering a massive selection of Belgian bottles - something the City definitely needed. So why does Nigel get the top spot? Quite simply he altered the direction of good beer in our City, he showed us what we had been missing and raised our expectations. It should be noted that his arrival in the City also coincided with the re-energising of the local CAMRA branch. Top man indeed.
10. Paul Halsey (Managing Director of Purity Brewing Co.)
Purity aren't based in Birmingham, but they may as well be, as their products have an enviable tendency to pop up in nearly every good boozer in town. Their three beers are consistent and tasty, but just think... if they were to produce a red IPA, a delicious Porter or a super rich Stout they could use their network of clients to stick experimental, challenging beers under the noses of half the drinkers in the West Midlands. The possibilities are tantalising and intriguing.
9. Adrian Posnett (Managing Director of Oakham Ales)
Oakham delivered a beautiful gift to Birmingham, back in 2004: The Bartons Arms. It's a gift that keeps on giving - delicious Thai food, sensationally kept [delicious] Oakham ales and wonderful pub architecture. Oakham are also the best represented of the UK's top quality brewers, in Birmingham's pubs. By remaining committed to the Bartons, Oakhams are maintaining one of our essential pubs, a key source of fantastic beer.
8. Mark Arnott-Job and Trevor Harris (Co-Directors and Head Brewers at Two Towers Brewery)
Their beers are getting better and now they have their own pub - the Brown Lion. Brum is not over blessed with microbreweries, in fact with this post being written prior to the launch of the Beer Geek Brewery, there is only Two Towers and ABC. Two Towers therefore need to keep up the good work and start throwing out some big, flavoursome new beers.
7. Bob Ivell (Executive Chairman of Mitchells and Butlers)
M&B has four of its Nicholsons pubs in the City centre, offering good beer, often from some of the UK's best breweries. If Mr Ivell turned round tomorrow and decided to turn the Old Contemptibles, the two Shakespeare pubs and Bacchus bar into Wacky Warehouses, then as a City we'd instantly be much poorer as a result. Think about it.
6. Mark Delaney (Birmingham CAMRA Chairman)
The results speak for themselves. Are things improving on the beer front in Birmingham? - Yes. Do we have more pubs serving real ale than before? - Yes. As sure as eggs is eggs, the local CAMRA branch must be doing something right. Plus, importantly, last year's festival was tremendous fun, with an improving range of beers.
5. Matt Scriven (Bitters n Twisted)
Bitters n Twisted have four bars in the City, each offering something slightly different: Jekyll and Hyde is a modern day gin parlour, Island Bar is a hip cocktail joint, the Rose Villa Tavern is a beautiful old pub turned gastropub, and the Victoria is a hipster hangout. Clearly Mr Scriven knows what he is doing and I'm grateful that all of his venues recognise the importance of good beer, offering a smattering of bottles, taps and handpumps. Now, if they could keep that moving in the right direction and increase the range and quality of the beers, that would be lovely. In fact if they would like to open a new place, seeking to fill the remaining good beer niche, then they can talk to me and I'll point them in the right direction. I'm serious.
4. Graham Smith (Urban Art Bar)
Urban Art Bar has two pubs in the Jewellery Quarter: the Lord Clifden and the Red Lion . Both places have placed beer at the heart of their appeal and have been important in acknowledging that a cool pub, can and should serve real ale. Both of these venues were old pubs which were tarted up in a most tasteful way - so that they are both great to spend time in. Mr Smith - more please.
3. Gerry Keane (The Anchor)
The Anchor has been in the Keane family for donkeys years. For all of my time in Brum, they have been offering a fantastic range of real ales, often from smaller breweries. They were also the first place to offer Erdinger on tap and Belgian bottles. Regardless of whatever else is happening in Brum, the Anchor remains a reliable oasis of good beer and good cheer.
2. Krishan Rajput (Stirchley Wines and Spirits)
In 2002 I bought a house, partly because it had easy access to the fantastic off-licence Stirchley Wines and Spirits, with it's range of beers unparallelled in Birmingham. In the 10 years since then, SWS has gone from strength to strength. It is now the only place in the City offering access to some of the country's top beers (such as the Kernel) and and the best imports (Stone, Nogne, Mikkeller). The owners expend a lot of energy in continuing to source new products: every day I get tweets from them, trying to lure me back for the latest unmissable treats. This year they also ran the Foreign beer bar at the Birmingham Beer Festival, which brought more positive exposure. They are spreading the good word, giving access to the best beers and opening eyes. We would be lost without them. If they opened a pub, they would nick top spot.
1. Nigel Barker (The Wellington/Post Office Vaults)
Before Nigel opened the Wellington, Brum relied totally on the Anchor for access to guest ales. But since late 2004, things have got better and better, as we now have 16 handpulls of real ale, slap bang in the centre of town. You don't need me to tell you that the Welly does alright - the fact that it is usually packed is a clear indicator. With fast rotation of ales and regular beer festivals, Nigel gave Birmingham a venue which was essential, not just for Brummies, but for beer fans across the country. In fact, in 2011 the Wellington amazingly ranked as the 36th best beer bar in the World, according to Ratebeer. At the back end of last year, Nigel sprinkled some of his magic on the Post Office Vaults, another city centre real ale haunt, this time offering a massive selection of Belgian bottles - something the City definitely needed. So why does Nigel get the top spot? Quite simply he altered the direction of good beer in our City, he showed us what we had been missing and raised our expectations. It should be noted that his arrival in the City also coincided with the re-energising of the local CAMRA branch. Top man indeed.
Monday, 16 January 2012
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)).
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)).
Monday, 9 January 2012
Some rapid feedback on Sunday's stolen crawl
Let's strike while the iron is hot. Let's do another blog post and try and learn how to use Blogger a bit better.
Anyway.
The televised football finished about 3.00, and I was supposed to be on the other side the City by 3.30, with a journey time of between 40-60 minutes. I wasn't going to make it. I would face a wrath. Oh dear, may as well make it worse by squeezing in a mini stolen crawl.
That was the backdrop to Sunday's mad dash down New Street in search of beery treasure (which I wasn't to find). It was a further chance to play one of my favourite games - 'guess which Birmingham pub might be serving a good beer'. Now this popular local pass time involves reading about all the lovely beers being supped across the UK (Twitter helps with this), then hoping that one of these might have reached Brum, then closing your eyes and jabbing your finger into a Birmingham pub map, in the hope that you might pick the right venue for that good beer. It's a bit like playing the national lottery.
So off I trot, to hit two Nicholsons pubs, right in the centre of town, both with beautiful interiors, but middling track records for beer, although fond memories abound for previous good 'finds' of Salopian Kashmir and Moor Gold, Frankincense and Moor.
The Shakespeare (which interestingly enough is one of three pubs in central Birmingham called 'The Shakespeare' - nothing like cashing in, eh?) is a rather nice, snug boozer, squirrelled just off New Street, next to a posh shoe shop. It used to be a bit rougher than it is now and as such is very pleasant. The beer is rubbish 50% of the time mind, but bless them, they do try. The beer (range that is, not the way it was kept) was rubbish today also, but scored a half of Leeds Midnight Bell and found it to be a reasonable dark ale, certainly a smooth one. Are Leeds a good brewery? The jury is out.
Bacchus Bar is a beautiful mish mash of medieval banqueting hall and Victorian opium den, hidden conspiratorially under the Burlington Arcade on New Street. It's dark, romantic, opulent, clean, posh and interesting and usually has 3 rotating handpulls. Unfortunately, not much was on today, only Doom Bar, Brains' Rev. James and Dorset Ammonite. I've never sampled anything from the latter, so quickly guzzled a half of caramelly, lager-hopped strawness. Not brilliant. Not terrible though.
And that was that. It took about 20 minutes all told. I should have taken some pictures really, that would have livened this page up somewhat. I'll remember next time.
Anyway.
The televised football finished about 3.00, and I was supposed to be on the other side the City by 3.30, with a journey time of between 40-60 minutes. I wasn't going to make it. I would face a wrath. Oh dear, may as well make it worse by squeezing in a mini stolen crawl.
That was the backdrop to Sunday's mad dash down New Street in search of beery treasure (which I wasn't to find). It was a further chance to play one of my favourite games - 'guess which Birmingham pub might be serving a good beer'. Now this popular local pass time involves reading about all the lovely beers being supped across the UK (Twitter helps with this), then hoping that one of these might have reached Brum, then closing your eyes and jabbing your finger into a Birmingham pub map, in the hope that you might pick the right venue for that good beer. It's a bit like playing the national lottery.
So off I trot, to hit two Nicholsons pubs, right in the centre of town, both with beautiful interiors, but middling track records for beer, although fond memories abound for previous good 'finds' of Salopian Kashmir and Moor Gold, Frankincense and Moor.
The Shakespeare (which interestingly enough is one of three pubs in central Birmingham called 'The Shakespeare' - nothing like cashing in, eh?) is a rather nice, snug boozer, squirrelled just off New Street, next to a posh shoe shop. It used to be a bit rougher than it is now and as such is very pleasant. The beer is rubbish 50% of the time mind, but bless them, they do try. The beer (range that is, not the way it was kept) was rubbish today also, but scored a half of Leeds Midnight Bell and found it to be a reasonable dark ale, certainly a smooth one. Are Leeds a good brewery? The jury is out.
Bacchus Bar is a beautiful mish mash of medieval banqueting hall and Victorian opium den, hidden conspiratorially under the Burlington Arcade on New Street. It's dark, romantic, opulent, clean, posh and interesting and usually has 3 rotating handpulls. Unfortunately, not much was on today, only Doom Bar, Brains' Rev. James and Dorset Ammonite. I've never sampled anything from the latter, so quickly guzzled a half of caramelly, lager-hopped strawness. Not brilliant. Not terrible though.
And that was that. It took about 20 minutes all told. I should have taken some pictures really, that would have livened this page up somewhat. I'll remember next time.
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