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The Orchard Inn, Bristol
Bristol
BS1 6XT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Orchard Inn
Like Quinno, I also shudder at gravity fed.
Took me a while to spot the beers in this GBG2023 entry. To be fair, I should have experimented with a cider or perry - dominating the chalk board.
I went for a Bristol Beer Factory Independence and my server disappeared into the back to come out with how. I suggested she shouted "Abracadabra" at this piece of black magic. It was a very good pint.
Large open plan room, with old Bristolian brewing paraphernalia on the walls. Seemed lively. A decent locals pub.
On 28th March 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Orchard Inn
The inside has gone green. I don’t remember it being green. Four cask on stillage which always gives me a shudder (and I had a duff one here eight years back on my last recorded visit), though this time the Otter Bitter was in very good shape (NBSS 4). Snaffled the last of the filled baguettes from the bar, which was exceptionally nice. Cider is still the king here of course with the selection into double-digits. One day I will actually drink some! One downside was that it felt a bit cold, the place itself was a bit dimly lit which didn’t help.
October 2013
An overdue revisit found that the beer is now on stillage (which I’m always suspicious of) and it yielded a so-so Wye Valley. Stick to the cider and perry here, it is their speciality after all…
Rated 7
July 2011
Tucked away in the backstreets of Spike Island, a few minutes walk away from the SS Great Britain, this is a pub that anyone with an interest in cider and perry should make a point of visiting. Over last few years it has gone from selling a couple to offering a plethora of 20+ on a good day. I’m not a cider drinker to any great degree but I’m reliably informed that this is Mecca if you want to grapple with the apple in these parts and that advice and tasters are dispensed to those who want to get involved. The pub itself feels like a pretty basic 'no frills' affair - it's designed for drinking, with tiled floor and fairly basic furnishings. There are also four ales on offer sourced from local breweries. Being an ale drinker I can comment on these – choice is good but I’ve had the odd stinker in my half-a-dozen stops so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the place on the basis of ale alone. Live music is advertised and basic food is available (pasties, filled rolls etc along with the occasional hot dish). It can get a bit lively in the evenings (some of the locals are ‘characters’) and gets rammed full of home fans on a Bristol City home game – given the atmosphere and amount of coppers outside last time I accidentally visited on such an occasion, it didn’t strike me as being a place for away supporters. For cider and perry fans, this is clearly a must-visit. Rated 7
On 10th December 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Orchard Inn
A charming small corner pub in an unpromising part of Spike Island,it's well worth seeking out.There are exterior benches in a small patio,while the single square room has a modern quarry tiled flooring,a raised section to the left with bench seating below the front windows and traditional furniture elsewhere.Lots of CAMRA awards are hanging on the walls,the muzak was gentle and the welcome friendly.
There were 4 casks on stillage offering on my trip Otter Bitter,St Austell Proper Job and a good Bristol Beer Factory Independence (NBSS 3.5),while the fourth cask was settling.The two handpumps were serving real cider and I'm sure there were more options for fans of the apple.
There is a community feel here and it is away from tourist hotspots despite being close to SS Great Britain.Spike Island is a bit remote from the City Centre although there is a useful cross harbour ferry service for easy access to the pubs of Hotwell Road saving a long walk for £1.20.
Make the effort to visit this pub,traditional and authentic. I will be back.
On 30th September 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Orchard Inn
Tucked away in something of a back street location, it is nonetheless just a short stroll from the SS Great Britain and the attractive harbourside area, and is well worth taking the trouble to track down. It is a former winner of Camra’s Cider Pub of the Year and although that is certainly their speciality, there are still a few beers on tap if that’s not your thing. It seems to have had a slight spruce up since my previous visit, but fortunately has lost none of it’s traditional charm in the process.
Internally it consists of one reasonably small room, although with some wooden balustrade creating a slightly separate area at the front. Flooring is pale quarry style tiling and there was dark green paintwork on the walls and dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls. Traditional black wooden beams were on the ceiling, as well as a few supporting iron pillars. A TV screen was up in the window showing a Six Nations match, although I don’t recall noticing that previously so perhaps it’s only used for major events. Several pieces of brewery memorabilia was scattered around the walls such as old adverts for George’s Brewery and Guinness.
Beers were all dispensed from barrels racked up on stillage behind the bar and on this occasion included Gloucester Brewery’s Session IPA, Box Steam Brewery’s Piston Broke and St Austell’s Cornish Best. Ciders on tap were Old Rosie, Thatcher’s Gold, Thatcher’s Haze, Natch, Black Rat and Stan’s Traditional with a further extensive selection listed on a chalkboard, which also helpfully included the ABV, style and tasting notes. These were Bloom, Somerset Session, Westcroft, Bop Drop, Wilkins, Janet’s Jungle Juice, Fire Starter, Slack-Ma-Girdle, Crossmans, Blakeney Red, Kingston Black, Roxwood Foxwhelp, Glastonbury Gold and Ham Hill. All in all, a great pub and well worth checking out.
On 25th February 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pete Yeates left this review about Orchard Inn
This was CAMRA's cider pub of the year three years ago and deservedly so.
On 20th October 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 99 recommendations about 92 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Orchard Inn
Situated in a quiet side street close to the harbour front on what is named Spike Island is The Orchard Inn, a smallish single bar street corner pub.
An unremarkable and rather basic interior has a tiled floor and comfortable seating around the walls. Several framed posters advertise the long gone Georges Bristol Brewery ( acquired by Courage )
It’s quickly apparent to the first time visitor that this is a specialist cider house. A blackboard by the bar listed around 20 different ciders at varying gravities and prices. Interestingly, hot mulled cider was on offer at £ 1.50p per half pint. The pub was voted CAMRA’s National Cider Pub of the Year for 2009.
Occasional live music is offered. The pub is apparently famed for its “Hangover Café” breakfasts which it offers between 9am and noon on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
On the real ale front, 4 beers were offered on my recent early evening visit – Otter Aardman Bitter, London Pride, plus stronger beers from Bath Ales and Arbor. “Aardman” Bitter apparently reflects the fact that the creator of Wallace and Gromit – Aardman Animations – is based nearby.The pub is listed in CAMRA’s 2011 Good Beer Guide.
This is a reasonable pub and is convenient if visiting S S Great Britain, moored nearby. It’s not top of my list for a revisit however as there’s pubs closer to the City Centre that offer a greater variety of real ales.
On 22nd November 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Orchard Inn
We were not going to bother with this place as we walked around the harbourside, as it’s a fairly plain corner box on the outside with a couple of wooden tables to street side level. But we decided to venture in for one and I’m bloody glad we did.
Although there are a couple of real ale hand pumps on the bar that is not the reason to visit the Orchard.
As mentioned below this pub was awarded the Camra cider pub of the year 2009, primarily because there are so many ciders on offer that you can’t count them all ( I lost count at 15 chalked on the boards.). There’s a couple on pump, others in polypins on the bar and then several which involved the bar man disappearing somewhere. Considerate service with a couple of samples being offered especially as we’re cider novices and the only direction we could give the bar keep was ‘we’d like to try a couple of dry ones’.
Anyway lots of different regional Ciders and Perrys with strange names and abv’s all around the 5-6% mark. So definitely recommended for those who like their alcoholic beverages to be made from Apples or Pears.
On 8th September 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
train man left this review about The Orchard Inn
Otter, Butcombe Brunel, Arbor Slumberjack (6.9%), plus ciders galore! Three on handpump plus 19 (nineteen!) on gravity, incl perries. Plain square bar area, tiled floor, practical rather than architecturally attractive, but friendly service, and most tolerant of the inauguration of a friend's one-week old into Briz's hop & apple (&pear!) society – welcome to the world Little Fish!
Some well-priced stuff to soak up those dangerous abvs – pasty £2.50, bangers & mash £4.50, mutton broth £3.50.
On 22nd November 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 412 recommendations about 411 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pete Yeates left this review about Orchard Inn
Amazing range of cider and a few good choices of real ale too, not to mention the food that's on offer.
CAMRA's Cider Pub of the Year!
On 10th September 2009
- rating: 10
[User has posted 99 recommendations about 92 pubs]