Bottle & Jug, Bishopston, Bristol

A recent opening on the popular Gloucester Road strip, this is located in a former shop unit and they have, for the most part, done a decent job on the conversion other than the suspended polystyrene ceiling tiles, although these have been draped with some netting to make them slightly less ugly. Décor wise it’s quite contemporary, with pale wood strip on the floor, and mostly pale grey paintwork on the walls, although there was also some contrasting deep blue at the rear. A large bottle and jug mural is on one wall, whilst elsewhere were some colourful pieces of artwork. A slightly rough and ready looking bar counter was at the rear, whilst the seating was a mixture of padded beer barrels, some unusual curved benches and some quite comfy arm chairs. A TV screen was off to the side which seemed a little out of place perhaps, this might almost have qualified as a micropub otherwise, but fortunately the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. The real ale selection presumably rotates regularly going on the number of differing beer mats on the tables and the lack of any cask pumps on the bar. On this occasion they consisted of four from Uley with their Hussar, Severn Boar, Pale and Bitter, all served directly from boxes perched on the end of the bar. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold and Stowford Press, although the friendly landlord did say that they were hoping to be getting some more traditional ones on soon. Overall, I quite liked this, and would happily pop in again if in the area.