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Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Sunday, 16th November 2014
With picture contributions to 11856 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (11 more images)
Detail Pages
The Gryphon, Bristol
Bristol
BS1 5AP
Served areas
Reviews of The Gryphon (Average Rating: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Gryphon
An interesting flat iron shaped building ,the apex entrance leads to an open plan ale house section with a semi circular bar directly ahead,sporting 6 handpumps,but sadly with just one operational on my visit.Behind the bar are two seating wings with trad furniture but nothing of much interest.
The pub used to be known for it's heavy metal vibe ,but much of that has gone together with the previous selection of dark and strong ales.The barman said dark beers were available in cans but I opted for the single pale ale Fierce & Noble How Moo Can You Go,from a local microbrewer,NBSS 3.
It retains a noisy heavy metal sound track,but little else in the way of character or characters.One to pass by IMHO.
On 30th September 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2835 recommendations about 2835 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Gryphon
Such a niche place - can't be many Good Beer Guide Heavy Metal pubs but you can add to that that they only sell Dark, Strong Real Ales. Talk about a target audience.
Thrash metal, very loud. Sort of place you will either love or hate.
On 6th January 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1445 recommendations about 1428 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Gryphon
Located at the top of the famous Christmas Steps, this is an unusual wedge-shaped pub which has struck out to attract fans of heavy metal and good beer. Steps lead you up into the simple main bar area which has exposed floorboards and an attractive curved dark wood bar counter to the rear. The bar has a modern, fairy light lined bar back sporting numerous keg taps and an Iron Maiden ‘Eddy’ head. Tankards have been evocatively strung along a line from above, with a random trainer appearing midway through the collection – who drinks out of that I wonder?! High tables and stools can be found along the right hand side of the room under a series of large, plain mirrors, with smaller tables and low stools to the left. Pump clips line the upper section of the walls and fill almost all of the ceiling, punctuated only by a few, very metal-looking guitars along the walls. Moving to the left behind the bar, you find a small, raised seating area with enough space for two tables and a staircase leading down to the toilets. Meanwhile, to the right of the bar, there is another raised space with a single table and some nice padded benches. Some blokes round here were playing a very intense game of Jenga, so I sloped off quietly lest I should disturb their concentration. As you might expect, a thrash metal soundtrack was playing, albeit at a pretty reasonable volume for a Saturday night, and overall I found the place had a pretty cool vibe that was very tolerant of someone who was clearly only there for the beer.
Talking of which, six handpulls line up across the bar, but four of these were sadly out of action, leaving a choice of Stealth Solitude and Red Cat Peach Mosaic, plus a pretty wide keg selection. The Solitude turned out to be a quite pleasant drop and I enjoyed a bit of people watching from my position propped against the bar.
I thought this would be a bit too niche to fully enjoy, but found the staff and locals to be a friendly bunch and ended up enjoying myself here and staying for longer than I’d intended. The pub has found itself in recent editions of the Good Beer Guide and whilst your enjoyment of the place might be proportionate to your tolerance for heavy metal music, I’d still encourage people to give this quirky place a chance.
On 8th January 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3219 recommendations about 3219 pubs]
View more reviews of The Gryphon (11)
No known official website for this pub.
- Twitter - Mr Gryphon
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Gryphon - whatpub.com
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Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Beer Festivals : Yes last updated 10 February 2020 by ROB Camra
- Beer Garden : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - 10% - last updated 10 February 2020 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Child Friendly : No last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Darts : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Function Room : Yes last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Jukebox : No last updated 07 May 2016 by Jonathan Wilde
- Karaoke : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Live Music : Yes last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 10 February 2020 by ROB Camra
- Pinball : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Pool Table : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 10 February 2020 by ROB Camra
- Real Cider : No last updated 10 February 2020 by ROB Camra
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 07 June 2014 by Jonathan Wilde
- WiFi : Yes last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan