Final Thoughts on Bristol

Built on a succession of hills just inland from the mouth of the river Avon, with a population of about half a million, Bristol prospered during the days of empire building, transatlantic commerce, and on the slave trade in particular in the 1700s. It features an area of waterways and a harbour at the city’s heart and a sprawling commercial centre that spreads up its many hills to Clifton, a more open and airy green terraced area of Georgian architecture, upmarket shops and the Downs, that overlooks a dramatic gorge over the river below. Bristol has a thriving music and art scene, a major university and is home to a very diverse population, from all over Great Britain and around the world.
As I continued my exploration of the city, I found the Hope and Anchor, half way up the hill between the Floating Harbour and the Clifton Downs, right near the university and not far from the city’s 19th century Cathedral. No TV, no pool tables, no VLTs, just a real traditional British pub, with a rotating selection of 6 interesting real ale. It has a nice bright room in front, a hop vine decorated bar, and the room swings around to the right making a L shaped with more tables in the back. Also, out back is a beautiful terraced area with a rocky flower garden for when the weather is nice. I have enjoyed the Hopback Brewery beers I have found in the city’s pubs, so started with Hopfest (4.6%) a pale gold/yellow best bitter, fresh bready/hop nose, light low head that clings to the glass for a thin, fading lacing, and features a wonderful balance, a pervasive subtle bitterness that floats across a toasted malt palate, with hints of tangerine and an astringent dry finish, easy to drink.
They have daily lunch specials and an extensive menu featuring an amazing looking Ploughman’s Lunch (choice of more than a dozen items in two or three lists including some luscious looking English cheeses). No quite that hungry, I went for the tasty lamb burger and listening to the soundtrack of my youth playing appropriately low on the speakers in the pub: Sixiousie & the Banshees, The Fall, David Bowie, Wire and a lot of other great new bands that I don’t even know. I just LOVE British music! Small taster glasses of anything on tap were freely offered by the friendly and knowledgeable bar staff.
Butcombe Brunel IPA (5%) is a gold brew with amber tones, biscuit nose followed up by a bitter fresh hop palate, well balanced with a fruity malt base and a malt-accented, yet dry finish. Wickwar Autumnal (4%) is more amber in colour, the balance swinging in the dark malt direction, but underpinned by a fresh bitterness with notes of toasted malt and hints of dried fruit. Palmers Tally Ho Strong Dark Ale (5.5%) is darker and sweeter still, it’s stronger palate giving way to some roastiness but with enough hops to smooth out the middle and dry the finish nicely.
There are a number of good bottle shops to find real bottle-conditioned and other ales around Bristol. Staying away from the large supermarket chains is a good idea, as their selections, as you can imagine, run the gamut of cheap international lagers and mass market national British beers. But Cotham Wines, in the heart of Clifton, is a decent little shop, with an amazing selection of British real ales, high end imports (Dogfish Head, for example, and a few other award winners from the States) as well as an impressive collection of wines.
Moor JJJ IPA (see Beer of the Day, Oct. 26), was a fabulous beer that I found here. Also, Cheddar Ales Totty Pot Porter (4.7%) Very good dark porter (there really seemed to be so few porters available) featuring tones of coffee and chocolate, with hints of tobacco and a big roasted malt quotient. Kelham Island has become one of my favourite breweries, on tap or in the bottle. Easy Rider (4.3%) is a session bitter, pale straw, good fruity aroma, with full hop flavour and bitterness.
Box Steam Brewery from Wiltshire boasts a steam fired copper kettle, hence the name. Dark & Handsome (5%) is a traditional style old ale, smooth and creamy, citrus notes floating seductively over liquorice undertones, exhibiting a certain malty sweetness throughout.
Another great pub, just around the corner from Cothams Wines on Whiteladies Road is the Vittoria, a beautiful restored traditional British pub. The building dates back to perhaps the mid-1850’s, with a façade added in 1911. The new landlord Les converted it back from a rowdy sports bar about 2 years ago to it's original retro splendor. Nice long wood bar, one long, narrow smallish room, maybe 8 tables with a booth in the front window and a couple of tables out on the street for people watching on the high street in good weather . The coal burning fireplace takes the chill off on rainy days, they have free Wifi, a nice selection of 7 real ales and a varied menu, including daily specials, as in some wonderful meat pies, 6 to choose from the day I was there. Les is very knowledgeable and gave me a short history of the place, of Bristol itself and the pubs namesake too, a pre-WWI British war ship sunk off the coast of Finland while siding with the Whites during the Russian Revolution. As all of the shops on the high were getting ready for Halloween, I continued that theme with my beer selection. Marston’s Wicked Witch (4.2%) is a dark ruby red/brown ale, with a fruity nose and a delicious malt laden body, held up by a generous amount of fresh, juicy hops. Greene King’s Ghastly Ghoul was darker, a brown ale with shades of garnet, a full malt nose with fruity tones, a fully body with hints of treacle/molasses, but enough hop bitterness to suppress too much sweetness. It had a creamy mouthfeel and a long, smooth drying finish.
Bristol is a wonderful city to visit, varied and historically intriguing, full of friendly and interesting people, a hodge podge of architectural types and styles, with many great pubs and exquisite restaurants. I would like to give many thanks to my great friends Dana and Mark, and their kids Taz and Rosa, for their generous hospitality and friendship, and for showing me the city in a way that a simple tourist just wouldn’t see, and for getting me out of the city for hikes in the country and up into Wales. Cheers!