Small Bar, Bristol

First pub on a Saturday crawl round Bristol. Craft keg is not really my thing, but I went along with it for the team. Beer was OK, bar was very quiet at 12 noon on a Saturday, people started to arrive as we left at 12:30. Decent rustic decor and knowledgeable staff made it worthwhile. Good bar if you like keg, like I said, not my thing.

Fashionable ale house with front bar, barrel tables, beer chalk boards, with a side area giving a large sitting space and almost beer keller like. There moto appears the be 'we don't serve pints', rather 1/3rds, halves and 2/3rds. There is a mixture of real ale and craft beer and the quality was rather impressive. All round great place to try a few beers.

It isn’t that small in size but is another craft beer bar that has sprung up on King Street (the ‘small’ is, apparently, an allusion to the small batch beers they stock). Like the Volunteer, this is another one that has the beer listed on boards above the bar but at least everything is clearly marked-up, unlike the aforementioned. Prices were fairly steep, disguised by the Brew dog-style measures “you WILL have two-thirds of this beer, sonny (cos you’d baulk at the price of a pint of it…)” but I’d at least be more inclined to fork out a bit extra for a well-sourced limited-run beer than a micro’s established range. Unusually, the handpulls were just thin metal sticks – a change from the norm (pretentious, moi?). My Buxton Rednik Stout (cask) was in good form and bar service was distinctly better than the Volly despite less staff. The interior is of course refitted and hipsterish but at least had an element of character, such as the wood plank bar back, palette lights and the brewing process hand-drawn on one of the walls. Three different areas overall which breaks things up a bit and in one of these is promised an in-house brewery (Big Beer, ho-ho) that was under construction. Upstairs is a library area that looked the nicest place to relax with your drink. I’d be prepared to pop back in and see what’s on but I wouldn’t think to spend an afternoon in here.

Another King Street craft beer bar, this place is apparently called 'Small Bar' because it specialises in small batch beers. That was certainly in evidence on our visit, with a large range of cask and keg beers available - all detailed on a large board behind the bar and, as seems to be the trend in such places, priced in the most complex and confusing way imaginable. Many beers were served in 2/3 of a pint glasses, making it almost impossible to gauge exactly how badly you were being ripped off. The cask options on this visit comprised Siren Undercurrent, Wild Beer Wild Goose Chase, Buxton Rednik Stout, Burning Sky Plateau, Tiny Rebel Billabong and Harbour Amber, with an even greater number of keg brews available, including some lager and cider options. A large bottled beer menu rounds off a pretty comprehensive selection. I tried 2/3 of the Rednik Stout which I enjoyed very much once I decided not to try and work out exactly how much it was costing me. The pub itself could never be described as 'small', comprising three distinctly different areas. The main bar is in the smallest of the rooms, over on the left hand side, with the servery along the back wall sporting an odd wooden plank bar back. Barrels with high stools run around the high arched front windows and porch, whilst a small fireplace with marble hearth stands on the right hand wall. There wasn't a great deal in the way of décor going on in here, but someone has drawn a basic guide to the brewing process on one of the cream coloured walls and there is a frieze running around the room, which has been partly lost by virtue of it also being painted in cream. The right hand room is much bigger and has exposed floorboards and brickwork plus some rather hefty looking wood panelling. There is ample seating in here and in the rear left corner there is a small brewing plant which will eventually be home to Big Beer Brewing. Two sets of stairs lead up to an area called 'The Library', where comfy sofa and armchair seating allows you to relax, perhaps with a book from the large shelving unit on the end wall. I thought that this had potential to be quite a nice spot for the lone drinker to settle down in peace with their paper. Of the three bars we visited in this part of town, this was the most overtly and unashamedly 'craft' in its presentation, but I felt that this worked quite well in this instance. You won't have a cheap evening in here, but it's a pleasant spot to enjoy something a bit different and I'd be happy to give it another try.

The Small bar that isn’t. I guess named by some young marketing type, and the fact that I had to ask “why’s it called the Small Bar then ?” is all the evidence you need that I am not the target demographic for this new venture. Spread over a decent sized modern décor space over a couple of levels the central bar area is also in the mode of un-badged pumps and taps on the bar and a large chalk board displaying the available beers above the bar. However the Ale pumps , instead of the usual wooden or ceramic pulls, were thin metal pencil thickness pumps which are probably considered to be trendy, but just looked naff to an old fogey like me. It did get me wondering where all this will finish and I guess eventually pumps will be replaced altogether by infrared sensors you wave at to dispense the beer from orifices above, much like the hand basins in modern airport terminal urinals. I suppose some will regard it as progress. Anyway getting back to the bar, thought it was a welcome, although another expensive addition to the Bristol beer scene. The cost was not immediately evident from the chalk board until you realised most beers were sold in ½’s or 2/3rds and at £3.15 for 2/3rds of Siren Undercurrent, this made a pint miles the wrong side of £4 and even more expensive than the same beer in the Royal Navy Bar But, although another one I wouldn’t choose to linger too long in, it had enough about it to be one I would certainly consider to visit to see what was on when next in town.

An OK sort of place, with a bit of a buzz about it if you can put up with the steep prices slightly stealthed by the fact you can't buy pints here ,but it doesn't take much working out.The beer itself was good and in fact I had my best beer of the day here, and keg at that, Arbor E Bomb ll. I would certainly call in again to check out the beer, but not for a session.