Pubs then

[shoulders]

Fair enough, Tranca and Colmade get absolutely rammed. In Tranca's case I don't find that kind of rammed atmospheric, just pointless. In Colmade's case it kind of works as it's so small and spills out into the street anyway.

There is of course Casa Invisible which is one of my favourites, and it seemed from my visit that tourists largely don't know about it

[thelittlemango]

It was a lovely Monday after a rainy weekend when I went, felt cosy without being mad, I'm sure in Summer it's a different story. Will definitely check out the others next time I'm in the area!

[shoulders]

Basel, Switzerland and Freiburg, Germany this weekend.

Have actually found some pretty fun looking places in both, quite excited.

[shoulders]

Btw, Northern Monk Refectory in Leeds have a Tilquin Gueuze tap takeover on 22-24th March. Looks like they're advertising 10 different beers available. If you've never had some of their stuff it ranges from good to astonishing.

[shoulders]

Some quality kneipen in Freiburg 🇩🇪

Atlantik - Institution boozer that looks and feels more like it should be in Žižkov 🇨🇿 than Germany. Popular joint and no wonder when they have daily dishes for €6 (for reference, a main in a proper restaurant is around €20-25 here). Alliance of grizzled old men and students. They give work to refugees too.

Café Movie - Another bunker plastered in posters and ephemera, surprisingly central given the format. However I heard it might be in trouble due to noise complaints.

Beat Bar Butzemann - Punk, kiezkneipe type hangout west of the tracks. Small with table football and cigs, again every inch of wallspace is plastered with posters on top of one another. Delirium Tremens on tap.

Litfass - Just sublime. One small room, 5 tables, instant sense of genius loci and belonging. Folk music nights, somewhere it's difficult to wrench yourself from knowing you'll probably not return for years.

[shoulders]

Augustiner Mull'n in Salzburg 🇦🇹 really is quite something then.

When you've been to Hofbrauhaus and Augustiner in Munich and are still taken aback by the size of what's happening, it really is an extraordinary scale.

I also like that you can get direct service from the tapster, fuck all the waiting and back and forth of grumpy fat cunts.

[thelittlemango]

This TikTok account (don't judge it, it's actually quite tastefully done) is picking up a bit of attention for the Adam Curtis-esque pub reviews:

https://www.tiktok.com/@deadpubs

[phes]

Did watch a few of those a while back but the reviews are much more superficial than they could be given the time they have

[thelittlemango]

Agreed, also a bit critical of this London culture at the moment where middle class people seem to be fetishising 'proper pubs', lager and greasy spoons (there's a strong cross over between hipster fry-up people and the recent 'proper Guinness' crowd). It feels very gentrifying mixed with something I can't quite put my finger on. Obviously in a bunch of cases it will be genuine enthusiasm for something authentic and non-homogenised too.

[shoulders]

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/best-pubs-sheffield-15-of-the-best-places-to-drink-in-sheffield-as-recommended-by-european-bar-guide-4563998?page=4

Some latest exposure, although I highly doubt I said that about Dog & Partridge.

[phes]

Agreed, also a bit critical of this London culture at the moment where middle class people seem to be fetishising 'proper pubs', lager and greasy spoons (there's a strong cross over between hipster fry-up people and the recent 'proper Guinness' crowd). It feels very gentrifying mixed with something I can't quite put my finger on. Obviously in a bunch of cases it will be genuine enthusiasm for something authentic and non-homogenised too.

I've confused this with another similar looking, similar named channel. This one does a better job of capturing the feel of a place tbh. It's just content though innit, fuck all utility 

[phes]

First time in The Wellington, Sheffield (somehow). What a magnificent pub. Absolutely no idea what's happening outside, it's like a sitcom pub. A time warp in every sense. About a dozen beers of no interest, but Kirkstall bitter at £3.70. Three stools around every table, wood all round (steady). Top stuff

[shoulders]

Usually you'll find there Neepsend cask  plus two guests and superior if unexciting keg. Every now and then something amazing will appear like Schlenkerla Fastenbier, so it is worth repeat visits.

The back yard is nice in summer too.

I have been telling people about it for quite a long time, it was in James Birkett's stable for years.

[phes]

They had three Neepsend casks but all were either their blonde or neipa style beers. The bitter was more than enough to make it a great visit 👍

[shoulders]

https://twitter.com/DavidJesudason/status/1773696477925155273?t=pl08nRbDkzhTJXHhe8qBPQ&s=19

The appalling anecdotes from anonymous whistleblowers at a bar - probably a chain of BrewDog have now broken cover with an open letter. It was BrewDog Waterloo.

Vote with your feet...

[shoulders]

https://twitter.com/td_ward/status/1773710210403561513?t=Z4CchmqrlaLVdJi92Q1XpQ&s=19

Of course, the company are busy setting that right by...inflating their figures on Instagram.

[shoulders]

Czech pub scoredump.

⭐ New Recommendation
🔹 1st time visit

Still got 7 days left.

Strakonice
Forbes 8.6🔹⭐
Pivovar Čejetice 8.4 🔹⭐
U Tomáše 7.5🔹⭐
Pivnice U Hada 7.5🔹⭐
Restaurace Jiskra 6.8🔹

Písek
Hostinec U Jiřího z Poděbrad 7.7 🔹⭐
Hospoda Na Sadech 7.3🔹
Vinoteka Hruška 7🔹

Tábor
U Lva 9.2
Penzion Alfa Whisky Bar 7.5 🔹⭐
Výčep 7.4🔹
Kozlovna U Františka 7.2🔹

Humpolec
Na Mlýně 7.4 🔹
Hospoda Na Štokach/Pivovar Bernard 7.3 🔹
Hospůdka Jiříčka 7.2 🔹
Pivovarská Restaurace Na Čytrce 7 🔹
Restaurace U Vlasáků Střepina 6.6 🔹

Prague
U Hrocha 9.7
U Černého vola 9.5
U Sadu 9.1
Dejvická Nádražka 8.6
U Prezidentů 8.4
Kasárna Karlín 8.2
Hostomicka Nalevárna 8.1
U Šumavy 8.1
U Rotundy 8
Malý Pivo 7.7 🔹⭐
U Budyho 7.7🔹⭐
U Kašpárka 7.6 🔹⭐
U Veverky 7.5 ⭐
Na Mělníku 7.5
Roesel 7.4
U Kladiva 7.4 🔹
Galerie piva 7.4
U Poštu - Domu 7.3 🔹
Base Camp 7.3🔹

Olomouc
U Kuděje 9.5
Citadela 8.6
Drapal 7.6🔹⭐
Hospoda U Musea - Ponorka 7.5
Svatováclavské Pivovar 7.4
Sport Bar Penalta 6.5🔹

Brno
U Bláhovky 9.1
U Poutníka 8.6
Poslední Lec 8.6
U všech Svatých 8.1
U Vodičků 7.8
Pegas Pivnice 7.7
Ochutnávkova Pivnice 7.7
U Čápa 7 🔹

[thelittlemango]

Forbes is listed as permanently closed on Google, should help keep it under the radar.

Back from a trip home to Bristol, Hillgrove Porter Stores and Hare On The Hill are a great back to back, both on the same quiet street a minute walk from each other and both excellent and full of character. Sad to see Prince Of Wales in Bishopston is now a Brewdog pub, it's quite basic but a buzzy oasis at the bottom of Gloucester Road.

[shoulders]

Forbes is listed as permanently closed on Google, should help keep it under the radar

I heard it was due to close at the end of the month.

Really, really awful news for a town that size. It was a belting pub.

[poodlefaker]

Agreed, also a bit critical of this London culture at the moment where middle class people seem to be fetishising 'proper pubs', lager and greasy spoons (there's a strong cross over between hipster fry-up people and the recent 'proper Guinness' crowd). It feels very gentrifying mixed with something I can't quite put my finger on. Obviously in a bunch of cases it will be genuine enthusiasm for something authentic and non-homogenised too.

The thing that puzzles me is that Guinness is completely homogenised and pasteurised; their entire MO is to make the product as consistent as possible. Any variation in pints will be to do with the gas that the pub uses to pump it up from the cellar and the way it's poured, aiui. There's a new pub called The Devonshire nr Piccadilly Circus which is rammed with young ppl necking seven quid pints of "the best Guinness in London"; the owners were on the Food Programme the other week (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001xly5) and said it's mainly about nitrogen levels and the result is something pleasantly bland.

Hate to go full CAMRA but to me it tastes of wet cardboard and it's like fetishising the perfect pint of Budweiser.

[shoulders]

I think that's underplaying Guinness somewhat. Markets dominated by one beer or one style develop customers who have micro fixations on pour, storage, cleanliness of glass etc. In a peculiar way it ends up driving up standards of everything except the beer itself.

How to pour a Mahou in Madrid is discussed reverentially and debated from place to place, likewise Pilsner Urquell in Czechia.

As the mass consumed dark beer I think there is value in hearing people who drink Guinness regularly actually talk about the minutiae. It's especially interesting because they have a tin ear (or whatever the tastebud equivalent is) for almost anything that isn't it.

I bring this up with beer epicureans as I find it quite a leveller that ordinary joes who perhaps aren't articulate about beer nevertheless are in their own ways the sternest and most discriminating about small differences certainly most real ale or craft drinkers would let slide.

You hear it on planes, in waiting lounges young guys discussing the difference between standard lagers, not realising they are themselves almost through pure absorption and osmosis developing a discerning palate.

Enjoying Guinness is about the patina of flavour that develops. Mildness is at the heart of it, and the sensations 3-4 pints in as it becomes the backnote to a night out. Describing it to an epicurean, particularly one who deals in half, thirds, samples, is about as pointless as teaching a kestrel how to use a fishing rod.

[Senior Baiano]

How to pour a MahouMadri in Madrid is discussed reverentially and debated from place to place

[Psybro]

I bring this up with beer epicureans as I find it quite a leveller that ordinary joes who perhaps aren't articulate about beer nevertheless are in their own ways the sternest and most discriminating about small differences certainly real ale or craft drinkers would let slide.

Over time I've been abandoning my policy of always ordering guest ales as more and more often I was having poor condition or just not very good beers.  I think quantity over quality is a fine policy for your first couple of hundred beers but then it serves you well to work out what you really like and pursue its ideal form.

[shoulders]

As for the younger generation spurning beer culture, well quell surprise. Most don't tend to do what their dads like doing, and the escalated price on craft versus their almost non existent disposable income won't be helping.

[phes]

Over time I've been abandoning my policy of always ordering guest ales as more and more often I was having poor condition or just not very good beers.  I think quantity over quality is a fine policy for your first couple of hundred beers but then it serves you well to work out what you really like and pursue its ideal form.

Very much my direction over the last couple of years. I look for the ale that's consistently on and popular, obvious shite notwithstanding. Blue Bee in the Kelham, Moonshine/Deception in The Broomhall Tav, Jaipur in The Tap etc. So many places, even dedicated ale pubs don't seem able to keep their beer well. My regular summer haunt is Ale Club and I'll only drink Kernel bottled Pale Ale, as their ale is consistently inconsistent, and that's being generous. I've given up. Last week I was in a micro pub in Woodseats and I returned a Moonshine that tasted bad and had an awful claggy consistency. They were very good about it and rejected my motion towards paying for a different pint, but they thought it was 'fine'. I'm not a brewer, I can't identify the cause of the fault, but that's a beer that's served consistently well elsewhere and is consistently not tasting like shit and thick and claggy. They'd recognise the problem immediately if they had a strong frame of reference.

There are a good number of pubs in Sheffield that I trust to get good to great results from anything they serve, but many more that I don't. 

the escalated price on craft.

I called in at The Pearl at Park Hill a few nights ago. I don't like this bar at all but it was hammering it down. Their cask was so uninspiring and overpriced that I asked how much their Beavertown Neck Oil was: £6.50. It cost me £1.50 more to get a cab across town to an oldies ale pub and buy a fantastic pint

[Psybro]

I always romanticise the Letná beer garden heavily in my mind, but on a sunny day Sheffield has a pretty decent stab at it in the Brothers Arms and Sheaf View's gardens.

[Steve Faeces]

I don't drink from ny to lent(ish) as a rule so had my first pints of 2024 today in the Black Dog in Vauxhall, London town. A Twickenham ale off the hand pumps, decent. Also had their own ale which was nothing special and a pint of Wimbledon Brewery bitter which I quite enjoyed.

[shoulders]

Brno
U Bláhovky 9.1
U Poutníka 8.6
Poslední Lec 8.6
U všech Svatých 8.2
U Vodičků 7.8
Pegas Pivnice 7.7
Ochutnávkova Pivnice 7.7

Brno update:


Mýdlo 9.5
U Bláhovky 9.1
U Poutníka 8.6
Poslední Lec 8.6
Na Božence 8.4
U Všech Svatých 8.2
Hostimil 8.2
Zastávka 8
Skleněna Louka 7.9
U Jelena 7.8
U Vodičků 7.8
Air Café 7.7
Pegas Pivnice 7.7
Ochutnávkova Pivnice 7.7
Café in the Ghetto 7.7
Grasel Pub 7.7
U Václava 7.6
Super Panda Circus 7.6
U Karla 7.4
Osmička 7.2
Čápa 7
Pivovarsky Dum Poupe 6.5

[shoulders]

Those tiny honey jars some pubs put in front of the ale pumps so you can see the colour. Always felt something off about it. Stale. Pickle. Dehydrated piss levels.

[AliasTheCat]

Anyone familiar with Montpellier? Just booked a last-minute trip there and looking for recommendations for a nice drink in the evening.