The Hype Machine

Are things really kicking off for Birmingham beer fans?

Is it finally happening?

Yes, I think it is and they are.  [Remember to edit this sentence, it's rubbish.] [But isn't it deliberately rubbish? Isn't it slightly knowing?] [Yes, I suppose you're right, OK leave it.] [Thanks]

This issue of the Mediocre Hype Machine will give you cast-iron proof that things are on the turn:

i) Brewdog Birmingham
No visible sign of building work at their John Bright Street site yet, but we I believe they are still due to open sometime in August.  This will bring uber-trendy beer in bottles and on tap.  Plus, we should get new beers when they are new, rather than eons after the rest of the country.

ii) Purity's new Craft bar
Just round the corner from Brewdog, we now have news of a second new craft venue, which will be run by Purity team.  Twitter brings news that it will feature a range of craft beers, in tandem with a top-notch food offer.  This sounds good.

iii) Brumcraft
In July 2013, Birmingham will have it's first Craft beer festival, organised and delivered by Birmingham beer fans.  No longer prepared to wait for the very best new beers to make their way to our City, a small group of determined activist have raised their heads above the parakeet and are now in a position to deliver a new kind of beer event - one peppered with the very best flavour combinations, from the very best new brewers.  This will be a big one.

iv) Off licences flexing their muscles
I dare that say that both Stirchley Wines and Cotteridge Wines would rather that their competitor was located a bit further away; BUT given their close proximity, it's Birmingham beer fans who are reaping the benefits.  There is no doubt at all that Cotteridge and Stirchley are driving up each others' standards - bringing in more and more of the World's best beers to us, at an ever quickening pace.  The work of new and hitherto unseen breweries is arriving day by day, and the choice of so many great beers, means that personally I no longer feel like I have to live a compromised beer existence.  Dan in 2005: "What beer shall I sup at home tonight?  Samuel Smith? Freeminer? Erdinger? Marston?; Dan in 2012: "What beer shall I sup at home tonight? Mikkeller? De Molen? Kernel? Summer Wine?  No contest.  I may be asking too much, but I hope this level of competition continues, as it will surely breed a newer, larger audience for quality beer in Brum.

v) Better beer in existing pubs
Dare I hope?  Is genuinely high quality beer starting to become commonplace in venues like the Old Contemptibles, and the Wellington?  This may seem facetious, as these are two pubs in the City, already known for a premium beer choice; however.... they were are not always home to the very, very best brands.  But in recent weeks, we have seen Hawkshead and Moor at the OC's, Red Willow and Buxton at the Wellington and Tiny Rebel at the Post Office Vaults.  I accept that these are very small, isolated examples, but I am still taking them as a positive.  In fact, when I popped into the Welly on Friday, they had a mini-festival underway, featuring beers from a fistful of London's new breed of microbreweries - By the Horns, Hackney and the Botanist, in addition to Happy Valley from Macclesfield.  Now I'll leave aside the fact that the Wellington failed to publicise this via social media, which would have been helpful, but you can't have everything.  Pubs of Birmingham, we want these top beers, we want them regularly and we want to know when you have them.

vi) Cherry Reds
A tiny venue single-handedly taking on the apathetic giant, this Kings Heath venue are doing a great job with their range of great beers on offer and by hosting beer tasting events - to my knowledge they are the only venue really doing this at the moment.  This outfit are a model of independence and integrity.  More please.

vii) Beer Geek
6 months (or so) on from their launch, they are now an increasingly established local brand, available in loads of places across the region.  More please.  On a personal note, I would like them to brew a delicious beer in my honour, but I realise that does sound a bit grandiose and bit git-like, now I come to type it.

viii) Birmingham Post
Talented journalist/cum PR Manager Keith Gabriel neatly captured the gathering beer zeitgeist in the City, in this article.  It's clearly a great piece of writing and clearly mentions all the most important beer figures in the City - namely moi.  But seriously folks, when the Birmingham Post starts noticing that beer is on the up, beer really is on the up.  In actual fact, the article in question appears to have been heavily plagiarised (in theme and tone) by me, in this post, here.  Whoops.

So then, lots to be positive about.  Are there any more?

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)).