There were over 40 beers from the UK, Austria, Germany, the US and Scandinavia etc – on tap, not bottled.
It’s a neat set-up, with a proper tap room, barrel-valuted tasting room, conservatory and a decent stage, where the live band Giacomo Smith played summer jazz classics, including an exceptional Summertime. We could have stayed for more than 12-hour-day, starting at 12 noon and ending at 2am with the rising noise levels of banter echoing the strength of some of the beers.
The food was exemplary, with my favourite, from a new company launched just this year, called Tacochu, which is a mix of Japanese and Tex-Mex with spicy beef, Okinawa-style sticky rice, lettuce, nachos and guacamole.
There were also duck burgers on offer that were going down a storm. But that’s enough with the food, what about the beer?
British beers jostled for our attention – from Bristol Hefe brewed by the Bristol Beer Factory, to Magic Rock Brewing’s Carnival and beer from boutique brewery Art Brew with lots of deliciously malty, hoppy and weissbeers types for tasting. Plenty of witty names too, as you might expect, including 3 Weiss Monkeys a white IPA designed by brewmaster Ben Ott, fusing his German heritage and his love for American craft beer.
When it came to beers from farther afield – the rivals from outside the UK – our favourite was Norway’s Nogne Brewery with ‘O God Jul’, which is as you can guess, a dark Christmas beer, definitely a meal in a glass. At £10 a pint – it should be good and it is – a malty cuddle in a glass and one that leaves you not wanting anything else so that you can savour its lingering aftertaste.
We spoke with assistant manager Chris Snelson who was kind enough to spare us a few minutes even though the crowd at the Bar was almost 10 deep.
A great day out, and well worth the experience, from inspired new flavours in beer to a spicy blend of international cuisine it looks like flavour fusion is the future.
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