Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Birmingham

  • Aura Lounge Birmingham in Birmingham

    Aura Lounge Birmingham in Birmingham

    Aura Lounge Birmingham

    Address: 111-113 Bishop Street, Birmingham

    Local Council: Birmingham

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • Austin Sports & Social Club in Birmingham

    Austin Sports & Social Club in Birmingham

    Austin Sports & Social Club

    Address: Busy Bees Nursery, Tessall Lane, Northfield, Birmingham

    Local Council: Birmingham

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • B15 Student Bar in Birmingham

    B15 Student Bar in Birmingham

    B15 Student Bar

    Address: Birmingham University, Queens Hospital Close, Birmingham

    Local Council: Birmingham

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • Bacchus Bar, Burlington Arcade in Birmingham

    Bacchus Bar, Burlington Arcade in Birmingham

    Bacchus Bar, Burlington Arcade

    Address: 126 New Street, Ladywood, Birmingham

    Local Council: Birmingham

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • 101 Nightclub in Birmingham

    101 Nightclub in Birmingham

    101 Nightclub

    Address: The Arcadian, 70 Hurst Street, Birmingham

    Local Council: Birmingham

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • Birmingham – Tilt Bar

    Birmingham – Tilt Bar

    I’ve pretty much finished visiting all the Good Beer Guide pubs in central Birmingham, so I felt that it was time to work through the craft beer bars in the city as well. Tilt is a little tucked away, although that’s perhaps partly down to all the roadworks which made getting to it harder than I had anticipated. They’ve put helpful signage though on the main street so that I (and others….) could find it, which was much appreciated.

    It wasn’t very busy, but I liked the informal feel to the arrangement.

    I thought I had taken better photos of these than I actually had, but clicking on the images makes them larger and just about readable. I stayed for a little while, and the beer menu on the right was the one that replaced the heavily crossed out one. It seems there is a regularly rotating choice of beers and there were extra options in the beer fridges as well.

    I would comment that the beer list is a little difficult to tie into beers on Untappd, and there were a couple of mistakes on there. That makes no difference to me as I had the information that I needed, but it might mean that I thought that I was drinking a slightly different version of a brewery’s beer to the one they served me, which will mean my reviews on Untappd might be a little wrong. But I can’t imagine that anyone much cares….. (and I won’t tell Nathan as he will tut at my lack of accuracy).

    Anyway, my first beer was a collab between S43 Brewery and Brew York, which I think is the Pumpkin Pumpkin Dark Side. This was exquisite and it felt a little like Christmas with the cinnamon and nutmeg, just like a decadent drink from Starbucks. Apparently there is pumpkin in there (a hint with the beer name) but I can’t remember what pumpkin tastes like, so I took their word for that. The second beer was from Maltgarden, which immediately made me miss Poland, who I always try to get beers from when I see them. This one was Escape With Me, another stout which again had a cinnamon flavour, but also coffee, nuts and maple syrup, a second decadent drink.

    My third drink was the Virtual Reality – Mocha Coconut and Vanilla Macaroons, which disappointed me as I struggled to pull any flavour out of that at all. I did partly wonder whether I had the right beer, but a few people noted the subtle flavours with this one and so perhaps they were just too subtle for me. I usually like Amundsen Brewery beers, but I thought that this was a little average. But, I can’t win them all.

    And they had a choice of crisps from Pipers, another positive point…… Although I didn’t have one, the bar is also proud of their coffees and I suspect that they’re rather good as well. Yet one more good thing, they’ve made the effort to put some history of the building on their web-site, it annoys me when historic pubs make no reference anywhere to their heritage. More substantial food isn’t served here (although I’d be happy with lots of crisps) but customers can bring their own food in and the bar’s web-site offers some recommendations.

    The staff were conversational and welcoming, this was always an inviting place to be. The staff were knowledgeable about beer and I felt that they made an effort to engage with every customer. In some ways, this bar seems very understated when I visited, given that it was quiet and I felt it deserved to be busy. I’d say that this is one of those bars which is on-trend, but not through a formulaic design, but by offering elements that are exciting and innovative. There were numerous pinball tables (or whatever they’re called) which added something different as well, I like additional quirky bits like that.

    Anyway, I thought that this really was a delightful little place which deserves more attention given the care that they’ve taken with the choice of beers. Friendly staff, a clean environment, excellent beer and nothing for me to complain about. Reviews on-line are nearly universally positive, so all very lovely.

  • Birmingham – Birmingham Snow Hill Holiday Inn Express

    Birmingham – Birmingham Snow Hill Holiday Inn Express

    One measure of just how much I like a hotel is how disappointed I am to leave it. This hotel in Birmingham, near Snow Hill railway station (and about a ten minute walk from Birmingham New Street), is one that I didn’t much want to leave at all, the professionalism of the management is evident across the building, the facilities and the staff engagement. This is, as far as I’m concerned, a glorious example of how to run a hotel and I have no idea who the general manager is, but he or she certainly seems to know what they’re doing. I rarely have reason to write that in the 100s of hotel posts I’ve made on this blog.

    The view from my room, which was on the top floor and at the end of a corridor, my favourite location for a room. I arrived late at night and phoned the hotel in advance to check that they wouldn’t give my room away, but they reassuringly seemed surprised that I ever thought they would. Check-in was efficient and I felt like I was given a proper welcome, with lots of information offered about the hotel.

    This is the view from the other side of the hotel, giving a scale of the height of the building.

    The room, which was clean, comfortable and had a desk (a concept seemingly being ignored by some hotels now). The air conditioning worked and I was able to have the room nicely chilled for my three night stay. The windows don’t open, but I can forgive that on a building of this height and with functioning air conditioning. The room was spotlessly clean and there were no noise issues internally or externally. The hotel doesn’t seem to have cut corners during the construction of their building and although I knew that the hotel was busy, it didn’t feel like that in the room which was beautifully quiet.

    The welcome drink and there was a choice of around five different beers, this was perfectly acceptable to me.

    The breakfast selection, which was operating as it did pre-Covid, with individuals being able to take what they wanted themselves without staff involvement.

    The pastries. The quality of these was OK, although nothing more than that, although I suspect that the hotel might be tied into buying these from IHG for brand consistency.

    A general view of the breakfast room, which the reception desk told me got busy from 08:00 onwards, so I beat that by going down at 07:00 every morning. The coffee actually tasted of coffee and there were a range of different teas as well.

    For what is a hotel charging £50 me per night including breakfast, I’d say that the quality offered here is really good. Perhaps there could have been a greater choice of hot food items, but there were eggs, bacon, sausage and beans, which I thought was sufficient. No-one ever checked my room number at breakfast, but there were plenty of staff members about clearing down tables on a regular basis. Everything felt clean, organised and well managed.

    The reception desk staff were impeccably polite and helpful, saying hello whenever guests passed them. It’s a nice touch as this is a large hotel and it adds a level of personal interaction to proceedings. Rooms are also being cleaned every day, they’re not taking shortcuts there as some hotel chains seem to be.

    I can’t really find any fault with this hotel. I did have one empty soap dispenser, but since there were two, that was hardly a major fault. That this is only negative that I can think of shows just how perfectly things ran for me. All very lovely.

  • Birmingham – Head of Steam (II)

    Birmingham – Head of Steam (II)

    Head of Steam is one of my favourite chains and I’ve been to several across the country and I’ve been to this one before and enjoyed the quality of the food and drink that they had.

    I came in here again as they were advertising on Facebook the new bottles from Vault City Brewing. The staff member hadn’t heard of them and was initially confident that they didn’t have them. I did on four occasion say that I could see the beer in the fridge behind her, but she wasn’t having any of it. She was polite enough though and got another staff member, who told her they were in the fridge behind her. I decided not to say anything. They hadn’t yet been listed on the till and I did ask the price before ordering and was given an estimate, which transpired to be a fair chunk out, so this was a more expensive drink than I had anticipated.

    Being honest, I wasn’t entirely sold on the engagement here in terms of beer knowledge, but these are challenging times for pubs and perhaps they were short-staffed.

    And here is the drink that I wanted, the Raspberry White Chocolate Honeycomb Imperial Stout from Vault City Brewing, which was a rather beautiful beer. Although a stout, there was a sourness from it, with the various flavours each noticeable by taste in what was quite a complex beer. Rather lovely to have that white chocolate smoothness, the tartness of the raspberries and the touch of honeycomb. I lingered over this drink for over an hour, as it was one that could just be sipped for some time. I’ve also just realised I had listed it incorrectly on Untappd, as they have a similar sour version, which I’ve now corrected.

    The interior of the bar, which was all clean and organised, as well as being quite empty. It’s a large venue and there’s an interesting bit at the entrance which feels like a covered beer garden type area. So, everything was fine with the visit, but it was missing the level of engagement that I’d usually expect from Head of Steam. No negative issues though and marvellous that they’ve got such excellent beers in stock. A perfectly well deserved entry into the Good Beer Guide in my humble view. And a reminder that I need to try more beers from Vault City Brewing.

  • Birmingham – Cherry Red’s Cafe Bar

    Birmingham – Cherry Red’s Cafe Bar

    This is one of those locations that I probably wouldn’t have thought to visit for beer if it wasn’t listed in the Good Beer Guide, as it’s listed as a cafe bar. Looking through the reviews, they are nearly all positive, whether it’s customers wanting a breakfast, a coffee or a beer.

    The cask and keg options are listed on a board, which I didn’t initially notice (although it is quite obvious if I’m being honest). As at that point I hadn’t noticed the board, I asked a staff member what beers there were and they were keen to engage and offer samples. This is a place that’s put quite a bit of thought into their beer options and is proud to explain what they’ve got.

    The beer pumps, although unfortunately they’d just run out of the cherry sour from New Invention. They don’t have much space here, with a limited number of tables inside, but although perhaps a little cluttered in places, everything was clean and organised.

    I went for two half pints, one of the King Korvaks Lament from Fownes Brewing Company and one of the Steady Rolling Men from DEYA Brewing Company. Both were very nice beers and I can absolutely see why this cafe bar arrangement has ended up in the Good Beer Guide. I was initially sitting inside, but moved outside as it was just too hot. I usually try and avoid sitting outside, but there was a lovely breeze blowing up through Birmingham that I thought I’d take advantage of. The prices were also reasonable for the quality of the beers which were being offered.

    In addition to the beer, the cafe bar serves meals, cake and has a range of soft drinks, so there’s something of a continental feel to the whole arrangement. In addition to the visible cask and keg lines, they also have a relatively extensive list of bottles and cans which are in the fridges, so there’s plenty of choice. The staff were friendly, the location was clean and I was certainly not disappointed with this visit.

  • Avanti West Coast : Birmingham New Street to Coventry

    Avanti West Coast : Birmingham New Street to Coventry

    Birmingham New Street is a delightful new and bright railway station, but the platforms under it weren’t modernised as part of the new structure. It seems a little unusual to go from a beautiful building which is modern and flooded in light, to the dingy platforms underneath. It reminds me slightly of Penn Station in New York, with the platform section being totally different to what is above (in that case because they demolished the beautiful building above the platforms).

    Here’s the Avanti train, not really looking the most beautiful in terms of its design, although apparently a number of their trains are currently receiving makeovers and so perhaps this one will soon receive the same modernisation.

    I had booked my train about twenty minutes before the trip using GWR (to get a few Nectar points) and it cost £4.90 to get from Birmingham to Coventry. Seat reservations are required and I was in Carriage F, although it transpired to not really be very busy on-board. The above set-up really doesn’t help customers find their carriage if they’re labelling them G and then U. The announcements made clear that customers need no longer wear masks, although they were welcome to if they wanted, which makes me confused as to what the rules actually are now as they seem to differ between rail companies. Customers were though asked not to sit in the aisle seats to help protect staff, although that request seemed to be widely ignored.

    The carriage, all clean and bright, although I couldn’t find any at-seat power (not that I actually needed any given that the journey was only twenty minutes). These are the old Virgin trains from when they operated the West Coast mainline franchise from 1997 to 2019, but Avanti will only hold the new franchise until 2026 due to changes to the way that the rail system will operate in the future (I suspect for the worse, but that’s a discussion for elsewhere).

    And safely into Coventry on time.

    I thought that this was all rather positive, they’re building a new station complex. The current railway station isn’t really very nice, it’s a bit tired and was in need of a modernisation. It was built in the 1960s after the previous perfectly adequate building was demolished, a sad loss for the city. As part of the integrated public transport strategy, buses and trains will now connect together at the new railway station building.

    Which all means that I’m safely in Coventry and this new development gives a much better first impression to the city than it used to.