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Small Bar, Bristol
Bristol
BS1 4DZ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Small Bar
Small Bar is located in two buildings with the right side being used for seating on the ground and first floors. The bar is in the left building where a large selection of craft keg is available. High on the back bar chalkboards list the beers divided into sections of Lagers, Pale + IPA, Sour, Belgian/Wheat, Fancy Beers, Dark Stout and Crazyshit. I went for 2/3 pint of Chocolate & Vanilla Stout which was 5% and very tasty, but not cheap at £4.60. The barman the served me was a cheeky chappie and it was nice to sit down and listen to a bit of Nirvana in the background. I liked it in here and would return if in the area, although I couldn’t afford to stay too long.
On 3rd September 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Small Bar
A hipsterish craft place in two adjoining buildings, with the bar to the left and a tabled room to the right. Entering the bar, the first things apparent are a couple of beer tanks and a vast beer list on the wall behind the bar. This at first glance appears to be keg (and key-keg) only but on closer inspection there are a couple of handpumps without handles hiding amongst the taps, on this occasion offering an extremely nice Tiley's Dark Mild, although priced in 2/3rds. On closer examination, this appears to be an attempt to minimise the price variations, with the most expensive being priced in 1/3rds, some in halves, and the cheapest in 2/3rds. So you pay more or less the same but may get much less beer! Anyway, there are something like 20 brews in total, including sours and stouts alongside lager and IPA. The bottle and can list appears to be on a tablet. A good place for the beer enthusiast, if you can put up with the trendy bits and prices. Note is card only.
On 27th January 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about Small Bar
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.
On 7th March 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Small Bar
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.
On 1st April 2015
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Small Bar
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.
On 7th December 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Small Bar
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.
On 1st December 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Small Bar
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.
On 22nd November 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Small Bar
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.
On 20th November 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Small Bar
Small bar and again as in the Navy Volunteer, tall prices. My Tiny Rebel Billabong came in at £2.10 for a half. The barman was helpful and I noticed when you order your drink in here, your glass is rinsed out on a small glass font in front of you before the beer is poured. Plenty of light were we sat in the corner room from the large arched Georgian windows. They had also left some bare brick showing above the fireplace so we can appreciate the age of this building.
On 18th November 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Small Bar
This is most certainly a Small Bar that's not so small. The walls seem to be paneled with old planks, and in the main bar the lights seem to be suspended from an old pallet. All very uber trendy I guess, like the policy of not selling pints (only thirds, halves, and two-thirds). I've only ever encountered one other pub with this policy, and that one was pretending to be a sort of French bar. The beer was in good shape though, and the bar staff were helpful and friendly, which is a big plus.
This is nothing like the sort of traditional pub that I prefer, but it's a good example of a trendy craft bar if you like that sort of place.
On 18th November 2014
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]