tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2008://354 2008-03-05T20:26:24Z A search for the perfect pub and the best beer in Britain's second city. Movable Type 3.31 tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2008://354.40613 2008-03-05T20:24:08Z 2008-03-05T20:26:24Z

For anyone still reading this old version of the blog, move on over to the brand spanking new Birmingham Post blogs site. It's absolutely lovely. I'll be continuing to review the top pubs in the area, and maybe reprinting some...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net blogs site. It's absolutely lovely. I'll be continuing to review the top pubs in the area, and maybe reprinting some of the old ones. You'll find my posts here. Cheers!]]> tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2008://354.40015 2008-02-27T21:26:00Z 2008-02-27T21:27:32Z

Well, this blogger has been celebrating the relaunch of the brand spanking new Birmingham Post website with a pint or two of ale (naturally). The Post is a venerable Midland institution with a history stretching back into the Victoria era....

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net Well, this blogger has been celebrating the relaunch of the brand spanking new Birmingham Post website with a pint or two of ale (naturally). The Post is a venerable Midland institution with a history stretching back into the Victoria era. As, it appears, is the Beacon. But while the Post is surfing the cutting edge and thrusting forward into the 21st century, in the Beacon they're still partying like it's 1799. But of course, we're not in Birmingham any more Toto. This is the Black Country, home of the famous Living Museum. And the Beacon is a sort of living museum itself, with the guarded fireplaces, serving hatch and selection of fantastically strong dark brews that have been replaced over the years with lager, louts and loud music. It would have been rude not to dip into the selection of Sarah Hughes ales, brewed on site, so I dived straight in with the Dark Ruby Mild, a fruity, but dark brew that's terribly drinkable and terrifyingly strong. The interior of the pub is split into several small snugs, a larger lounge at the back, and even a conservatory with some kind of indoor rainforest growing that would be the ideal place to lose the kiddies for a few hours. And the original gas light fittings and convival atmosphere mean there's a reason to visit entirely separate from the beer, not that you'd need one. A genuine landmark, and always worth a look in. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2008://354.37799 2008-02-05T15:57:34Z 2008-02-05T16:00:04Z

A less mature review than myself would take this opportunity to make a "cocks" joke here. But I'm going to rise above the opportunity (tempting though it is) so readers of all ages can enjoy this review, assuming it makes...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net A less mature review than myself would take this opportunity to make a "cocks" joke here. But I'm going to rise above the opportunity (tempting though it is) so readers of all ages can enjoy this review, assuming it makes it through your internet filth filter. Speaking as someone who's more hobo than boho I'm rarely to be found in the arty surroundings of Moseley, preferring the more gritty urban area where I live and spend most of my drinking time. It's cosy inside with comfy chairs, wandering rooms and passageways and lovely little romantic candles (the last detail a bit wasted on me to be honest). Unfortunately there's not a ecent ale selection to go with the fancy decor, just Bombardier and London Pride, so I stick to something continental and strong that makes my head hurt. Just a shortie, this one, but should have a spate of pubs to review coming up, because I'm off on a mild pub crawl round the Black Country tonight with a work contact. Many updates to come, if I survive. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2008://354.37476 2008-02-02T18:57:21Z 2008-02-02T18:58:50Z

Shakespeare - a very astute man and a West Midlander to boot - once said of alcohol that it “increaseth the appetite but taketh away the ability”.* Of course he was talking about sex, not using the internet, but I’ve...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net Shakespeare - a very astute man and a West Midlander to boot - once said of alcohol that it “increaseth the appetite but taketh away the ability”.* Of course he was talking about sex, not using the internet, but I’ve come across that maxim anyway today. Because the Bartons Arms, along with its many many other good points, boasts a wireless internet connection, which I was going to use to do this blog’s first-ever live pub review with my trusty (i.e. cheap) laptop. Unfortunately, when it came to it, the combined efforts of my own sketchy computer knowledge, a few pints of ale, and a helpful barmaid couldn’t actually get the bloody thing to work. So while I’m writing this while enjoying a pint of Oakham JHB, you are reading this much much later, after I’ve nipped into work to put it on the internet. So much for the cutting edge. Anyway. The Bartons Arms will be well know to anyone familiar with Birmingham’s real ale circles (and these are pretty powerful circles I can tell you). Absolutely stunning interior, with tiles, fancy woodwork and etched glass all around, the Grade II listed pub in Aston would be well worth a visit on architectural grounds even if the beer were rubbish. Thank god its not. One of only two pubs owned by the multi- multi-award winning Oakham brewery (The other being its brewery tap in Peterborough), the Arms has the full range of the wonderful, hoppy Oakham beers, plus a few other interesting ones thrown in for good measure. Recently I’ve been disappointed with former British champion beer JHB, which was the epitome of a “session” beer a few years ago, with a bitter but drinkable hoppiness and a forgiving strength. But recently its been off the boil, losing the bitterness and becoming a bit sickly. Today it’s so-so. A beer that’s always worth a go, but which has been disappointing in recent years. But this truly is a simply spiffing pub, which cannot be recommended enough if you don’t already know about it, whether you’re after atmosphere or top beer. Go there now. Now. I don’t care what time it is. They have Thai food too, which is nice. *Macbeth. Possibly. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.32501 2007-12-06T07:27:31Z 2007-12-06T07:48:52Z

The Mailbox: home to the BBC, trendy bars, restaurants, yuppie flats and all the other modern city-centre fripperies springing up across the city. Not the kind of place you'd turn to first to get a pint of ale, you'd think....

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net The Mailbox: home to the BBC, trendy bars, restaurants, yuppie flats and all the other modern city-centre fripperies springing up across the city. Not the kind of place you'd turn to first to get a pint of ale, you'd think. But that's reckoning without Pennyblacks, the ale jewel in the city living crown of the Mailbox. On intitial appearances it's all so far, so young urban profesional. Converted industrial site: check. Exposed brickwork, brushed metal and carefully mismatched furniture of dubious authenticity: check. Hordes of suits crowding the bar: check. But looking closer behind the bar, there's a promising number of barrels suspended behind a glass partition, connected to around six hand pumps. Favourites seem to include Wye Valley, St Austell and the Warwickshire-based Church End, along with many others. Of course it's not all perfect: the prices reflect the surroundings, with ale knocking in at around £3 a pint and the lagers generally going even further up the scale. And enjoying a quiet pint during the day might be difficult at the moment, with the Cube development being put up next door. But at least all the pints I've tried, using the pale and refreshing Wye Valley HPA as a standard, are well looked after, very moreish, and it's great to see breweries that don't normally get a play in Birmingham make an appearance. It's a diverse choice, tending towards the strong, golden sector of the ale world. And along with the huge selection of draught lagers, bottled beers, wines etc, you're never going to be short of something to drink, whether you're coming in here with colleagues for a loud after-work session or relaxing during the day with the paper. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.31300 2007-11-26T06:00:04Z 2008-02-02T18:57:16Z

I was pointed towards this small but multi-award winning pub by a reader (thanks Tony) who told me no pub search of Birmingham would be complete without a quick visit. But I've got to say I had a serious problem...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net I was pointed towards this small but multi-award winning pub by a reader (thanks Tony) who told me no pub search of Birmingham would be complete without a quick visit. But I've got to say I had a serious problem with this place. Having gone in in a spirit of professional journalistic enquiry for a quick pint and a scan of the paper, I ended up staying so long I spent my last pennies there and had to walk home. For an hour. In the snow. Apart from that I can hardly find a thing bad to say about this small back-street boozer and restaurant in Hockley. Er... the music was rubbish (The "Jim'll Fix It" theme tune was a personal low point), it's not close enough to my house... ok that's all I can think of. So enough of the bad: on with the good. To sum up, it's fantastic here. I was talking to a world-famous American actor on Friday night (sort of), and he told me he loved coming to Britain and going to the pub because people were so friendly and would come up to you and talk to you. At first I thought, well maybe if you've appeared in films, but I don't see that much myself. But was I ever proved wrng by the friendly types in the Black Eagle the afternoon I went. Not that I'm saying I made any new bosom buddies, but it's always nice, and adds as much to the welcoming atmosphere as the roaring fire on a cold winter afternoon. Split into three small rooms, a public bar and two small lounges (although the bar seems to be closed when I'm there), the Black Eagle is deceptively small, and so a very cosy atmosphere, although I wouldn't want to try to find a table when it gets crowded here. And the eclectic choice of beers is simply a joy to work through. At the time of my visit, there's the Ansell's range as standard, plus a list of around five guests, including Timothy Taylor Landlord, Kelham Island Easy Rider (pleasant but not a patch on its more hefty cousing Pale Rider), and Salopian Hop Twister (pleasently fruity but not bitter enough to match up to its name). You could easily - and unfortunately for me I did - end up whiling away a surprisingly long afternoon or evening here working through the range and soaking up the atmosphere of this great little pub. PS I'm told the food here is excellent, and there certainly seemed to be enough people queuing up for it to make that easy to believe. The plush restaurant at the back of the pub was packed for the few hours I was there. Remember, keep the suggestions coming in to thomasscotney@hotmail.com, and I'm always good for a pint or two if you can recommend somewhere good. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.30959 2007-11-20T19:31:04Z 2007-11-20T19:45:09Z

In today's Birmingham Post (although not as yet on the website), came the news that international brewing conglomerate SABMiller was set to buy Dutch lager brewers Grolsch in a £580 million deal. The world of international finance isn't really the...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net In today's Birmingham Post (although not as yet on the website), came the news that international brewing conglomerate SABMiller was set to buy Dutch lager brewers Grolsch in a £580 million deal. The world of international finance isn't really the remit of a writer looking at great pints of ale in Birmingham boozers, you might think. But the increasing conglomeration of beer companies across the globe is an ongoing issue that affects every brewer and drinker. massive controversy among drinkers, and provoked fury when the IPA was placed second at the Great British Beer Festival a couple of years back. For drinkers who appreciate the diversity of taste that the small breweries scattered around the West Midlands offer, it's time to be thankful for Progressive Beer Duty, the Government system of geared tax rates for breweries which at least provides some relief for smaller brewers operating in a big wide world. And let's hope that the Government, after making aggressive noises against favourable tax rates for toher small businesses, doesn't decide to turn its wrath against our small breweries next.]]> tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.30311 2007-11-13T17:12:15Z 2007-11-13T17:15:27Z

In the early '90s gameshow The Crystal Maze groups of depressingly keen outdoorsy types sprinted round an Essex aircraft hangar converted into a pastiche of various time periods - Aztec, Medieval, Futuristic etc - tryingto complete tasks in an attempt...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net In the early '90s gameshow The Crystal Maze groups of depressingly keen outdoorsy types sprinted round an Essex aircraft hangar converted into a pastiche of various time periods - Aztec, Medieval, Futuristic etc - tryingto complete tasks in an attempt to win a pony-trekking holiday in Ullswater, or something else similarly dispiriting. So far, so entertaining. Watching the poor oafs flail around in pool of water or fiddle with a radio-controlled car while being campily berated by Richard O'Brien was always fun, at least for this writer. But I can't say the thought of using it as the basis for a drinking venue ever occurred to me. But the creators of Bacchus obviously thought different. It certainly seems to be doing its best to live up to the imagery of the Crystal Maze. You can choose between a plasticky reproduction of an Ancient Egyptian hallway, a plasticky reproduction of a medieval castle room, a Greek inspired section with columns, cornucopias and couches, or the extensive 18th-century drawing room. Don't get me wrong if it sounds like I don't like Bacchus. I absolutely love it. There's a fine line where something goes from being tacky to being just gob-smackingly mind-bendingly wonderful, and Bacchus approaches that line of taste like Jonathan Edwards. So enough about the maze, what about the crystals? What I'm trying to ask with this increasingly tortuous metaphor is whether the quality of the drinks match up to the style of the surroundings. And the answer is, sort of. Although a minor outpost of the Greene King evil empire (on which more later), the place deserves kudos for looking after its two ales (GK IPA and Bombardier on the times I've been). Both are as nice as they ever are, in my opinion. But although you might expect to find one or two ale-quaffing peasants here, in the Medieval zone if nowhere else, it's obviously not designed with the ale crowd in mind – as with almost everywhere else in the city,it's all about the suits of an evening. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.28906 2007-10-29T22:46:25Z 2007-10-29T22:47:32Z

Just a short one this time. The OC, as it is known affectionately by at least some of its locals, is a spankingly-restored Victorian bordello of a pub drawing in workers from the surrounding offices....

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net Just a short one this time. The OC, as it is known affectionately by at least some of its locals, is a spankingly-restored Victorian bordello of a pub drawing in workers from the surrounding offices. The luxurious surroundings would more suited to the spoilt American teens of the TV show with which it shares its name (ask your kids) than the “contemptible” band of World War I Tommies that it gets the title from. It's smarter than the average pub with sparkling brasswork, decadent drapes and a respectable selection of ales to go with the fancy-dan lagers that crowd out the bar. Unfortunately the only really contemptible thing about the visit is a severely dodgy pint of Black Sheep: sour with a flocculent coating of foam masquerading as a head. It put a teeth-clenching crimp on what should have been a top-notch post-work drink or three. It shows the mistake of ordering beer off a blackboard when there's no sign of a hand pump – is there a secret one in the back? But maybe it's a one off? Hopefully a future visit will straighten things out... tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.27778 2007-10-17T21:38:17Z 2007-10-18T10:45:51Z

Up The Junction on a wet and windy weekday night, in one of the more salubrious corners of town, home to an old school friend lucky enough to have recently moved Birmingham. And also home to the Junction, a curious...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net Up The Junction on a wet and windy weekday night, in one of the more salubrious corners of town, home to an old school friend lucky enough to have recently moved Birmingham. And also home to the Junction, a curious club sandwich of a pub, jamming together a diner, bar and even a heated garden, although the less-than-tropical climes of Birmingham this evening forbids taking a look at that. The bar area, in which we're sat, holds a comfy array of booths, tables and seats in the nose of the narrow wedge of a building. Comfy - yet wih an air of menace that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's the low chandeliers, seclusive booths or generally dark atmosphere, but it's starting to feel like the deserted ballroom in The Shining, where Jack Torrance gets his whiskey on the rocks from a ghostly bartender. Or maybe I'm just being unfair. The service is far from madness-enducing, and the prices wouldn't drive you to an axe-rampage any time soon, unlike some of the joints in this part of town. My pint of Okells Autumn Dawn - from the Isle of Man, no less - is seasonal, but bland, well poured but unexciting, and costs me £2.80. They've got a small but interesting range of ales - three in total, but in the end we just dive headfirst into the dizzying array of continental beers on tap, so many of them it's hard to remember. Disappointingly, considering my companion is a rising star in the military engineering complex, and is probably even now thinking of fiendishly clever ways to deal out death, even plying him with a selection of the finest the extensive bar has to offer fails to elicit any state secrets. Luckily for Britain, he’s far too professional And probably lucky for this blog too, that I don’t have to fear a visit from the men in black soon, to stop me passing it on to the enemy. Looks like pint-sized – and the West – is safe for another day. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.26778 2007-10-07T22:36:55Z 2007-10-09T07:58:05Z

So Shakespeare walks into a pub right? And the landlord turns to him and shouts: "Oi, get out! I thought I told you, you're bard..." Okay, I'm sorry, you've heard it before and it's not that funny anyway, but I'm...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net So Shakespeare walks into a pub right? And the landlord turns to him and shouts: "Oi, get out! I thought I told you, you're bard..." Okay, I'm sorry, you've heard it before and it's not that funny anyway, but I'm sure even the Bard of Avon had his days off. And when he did, he could have done a lot worse than come here. It's handy for the trains, for a start - ideal for a quick stopover between London and Stratford. And there's an air of bookish quiet, at least on this Sunday afternoon, that would suit anyone looking to pen a quick soliloquy or ream of iambic pentameter down to the ground. There's not the widest choice of beers in the world here - there's two hand pumps and one of them's off when we arrive. But they're friendly enough, and the pint of Adnam's Broadside I get is carefully poured and pretty well priced as well (£2.25). The surroundings are bright, airy and pleasently eccentric, with mismatched chairs, tables and decorations, and a combination of traditional wood panels and attractive tiling on the walls. The Shakespeare has been non-smoking since November 2004, beating the censorious government by nearly three years. But in a possibly unforseen twist, that makes it one of the best places for tobacco fans to go, certainly in the city centre, with chairs and tables in a roped-off area of the pedestrianised Lower Temple Street for smokers and al fresco drinkers. When the sun is out, the wind blows the trees, and if you don't look towards New Street Station, it's almost possible to believe that you've found a slice of the fabled cafe culture lauded by MPs. Watching the shoppers visit the chic boutiques while sipping on a pint of beer, It's like Birmingham meets Barcelona. Well, Brighton at least. All in all, it's a much more refined establishment than the kind of drinking den in which you'd expect to find Falstaff and a young Prince Hal carousing and plotting. tag:pintsized.midlandsblogs.co.uk,2007://354.26625 2007-10-05T09:09:17Z 2007-10-05T09:13:18Z

This is the latest blog brought to you by the Birmingham Post. Over the coming days, weeks or months I'll be searching for the top brew in the pubs, clubs and bars of Birmingham and the West Midlands. No beer...

Tom Scotney www.birminghammail.net This is the latest blog brought to you by the Birmingham Post. Over the coming days, weeks or months I'll be searching for the top brew in the pubs, clubs and bars of Birmingham and the West Midlands. No beer mat will be left unturned, no pub guide unchecked, no bartender or local blearily unexamined in the quest for the perfect pint. Benjamin Franklin, a very clever man by all accounts, once said: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." And with new breweries and new pints to try springing up by the bushelful every year, there's never been a better time to go out and look for the best place to enjoy a swift half - or more. Of course, as a dedicated professional during the working hours, this blogger doesn't have time to visit the pub more than once or twice a day at the very most. Or possibly even less. So I'll be relying on tips, recommendations and feedback to know where best to go. If you've got somewhere you're keen to see reviewed, think somewhere is sorely overrated, or if you feel your local boozer is a sadly overlooked gem, get in touch with me at thomasscotney@hotmail.com and I'll check it out. Maybe we'll go together. If you like what you see, or if you're enraged by the slanderous comments heaped upon your favourite pub or pint, please leave a comment seeting the record straight. I'm always happy (more or less) to be corrected. Chin chin!