After visiting Liverpool, one of
my favourite cities, in February this year, and not impressing people with my
rather hasty but honest verdict on the city’s lack of craft beer, I jumped at
the chance to return last week and hoped to come out with a more attractive
judgement.
A couple of friends and I visited
on a day out, with neither of them having been drinking in the city before. It
was left to me – or rather, I volunteered – to plan the day’s itinerary and
places to visit. I had a couple of new or unvisited places in mind myself, but
knew it would be unfair to miss out on some of the city’s famous gems. With
around 10-12 hours in which to fit in an entire city, I opted to concentrate on
the famous Georgian Quarter and see if we had time for the Dale Street end later on.
We planned to arrive in the city
for around 11a.m. just in time to walk up Mount Pleasant to the new-on-me,
though I believe it has been opened three years, Clove Hitch on Hope Street for
breakfast. Nestled and blended into the Georgian Terraces this lovely bar come
dining room come club come gallery did not disappoint . In fact, the day peaked
at it’s very beginning for me. This was the kind of bar I felt was sorely
lacking from the city visit earlier in the year. Three Casks were accompanied by
eight Kegs – four of which housed beers from the renowned Brewfist brewery of
Italy. Being the first of the day, I stayed sensible and plumped for a
Liverpool Craft Hop Beast at 4%. It turned out to be a lovely accompaniment to
the Pancakes with bacon I opted to have for breakfast. The service, clean
décor, interesting instrumental decorations and sign in the toilets about the
bucket all made for a lovely experience I was reluctant to end. After much
deliberation, we grudgingly decided it best to take in somewhere else.
We’d noticed that just behind
Clove Hitch on Arrad Street there was Liverpool’s The Font Bar. There are three Font Bars in the Manchester area and all are now serving a very impressive
beer selection. The city centre one near Oxford Road has certainly cleaned up
its student image in the last year. With this in mind, I was keen to try the
Liverpool one. Unfortunately, this is very much still a student bar. There
were three cask ales, no guest kegs and nothing interesting in the fridges.
Cask included Slater’s much maligned Top Totty, though my Purple Moose Snowdonia Ale was well kept. The ex-student’s in us rather enjoyed the
ambience, though we were disappointed the SNES hooked up to Street Fighter II
was not working. Though it felt like a Font Bar, the beer selection feels
thirty miles away from its Manchester counterparts. 
Our next three stops were all in
close proximity. The Caledonia was a bit of a let down. A soulless feeling pub,
despite two pianos, two adorable dogs and a few casks. My Melwood Knowsley Blonde was a bit insipid which matched the pub décor nicely. I liked the
Belvedere Arms, with its snugs, glass panels and packed bar area. Modern beers
from Liverpool Organic, of which my Pale Ale was very good, gave a good
contrast to a very old school feeling local. Finally in this trio, the famous
Ye Cracke, which was another revisit for me. The pub hasn’t changed but on this
occasion felt like more of a novelty. We were the only patrons under the age of
60 and were treated so by the bar staff. We managed to get into the always
pleasant War Office room, though I find sitting anywhere else in the pub
trying. My George Wright Green Bullet also tasted much different to how I’m
sure the brewer intended. Three OK stop-offs on a tour of Liverpool but none felt
like “must visits.”
After some lunch come dinner, we
walked past the Pilgrim and Fly in the Loaf, down Hardman Street looking for
the Roscoe Head. We accidentally passed it and ended at the Dispensary, another
pub on my list. This pub was fairly busy and the drink’s choices extensive. I
opted for a delicious Oakham Citra, whilst both my friends had a guest Keg from
the Rat Brewery (the name eludes me but it was delicious.) We enjoyed our brief
stay, the interior and the drinks. I was therefore rather shocked to read the
comments on TripAdvisor after coming home about the irate landlord. It seems we got lucky last Friday
because this was one of my favourite places of the day and has one of the best
beer ranges in the city.
We walked from here back to the
Roscoe Head which was a rather forgettable experience. I thought this pub was
one of the more famous in the city? This would have fitted in neatly with my
last blog post about Liverpool. And my Weetwood Ales Cheshire Cat wasn’t
exciting.
At this point we were surprised
to find we had visited all nine pubs I’d listed in the Georgian Quarter and it
had only just gone 6pm. With plenty of time we began walking towards the city
centre. On the way we passed a small and near empty bar that had the BrewDog
logo outside the window and the word BEER sprawled across. It turns out this is
a comfortable little bar known as the Inn Beer Emporium. The place serves eight
kegs as well as a few bottles. None of them are overly exciting at present, but
my Punk IPA was in good condition, as was the Point Brewery’s Black. It had cosy sofas, booths and a screen for sports. Hopefully this will turn into something good.
After passing by the Ship in a
Bottle and finding it sadly shut (what kind of beer shop shuts at 6pm on a
Friday?) we moved onto pubs around Dale Street. This is where my memory of the
evening starts to become a little hazed and, unfortunately, I stopped checking
into Untappd, my usual source for forgotten memories. I can remember finding
the Vernon Arms interesting with decent locals and a pint of Boggart’s Rum
porter. Thomas Rigby’s has waded a little into keg beer with a decent Shipyard
IPA amongst it’s other selections. Do not even ask me what the Lion Tavern is
like as I couldn’t tell you. We finished in the Ship & Mitre which was busy
but lovely as always. The boat styled bar had a good pint of First Chop’s TEA
on and had the most diverse clientele of anywhere throughout the day, which is
an interesting point about Liverpool. 
Whether I still think this is
“the city that craft forgot” is near irrelevant now. Clearly there is a
movement in the right direction. But the pubs themselves still retain a very retro
and nostalgic feel. I wrote in my last post about the city "The city on a whole seems to love its past too much to have a future" and there is still some truth in this. Many pubs seem to have survived the 70’s and 80’s destruction of
snugs and glass panels. Interiors are of varnished wood and coloured glass
windows. The drinkers are all above 40.
They are pubs that I love; full of character and history. But where are the new
breed of drinkers going? Where are the hipsters, the beardos, the Fedora
wearers that prop up every beer bar in Manchester? Where are they drinking?
They’re not in the Clove Hitch. They’re not in the Dispensary. Some are in the
Ship & Mitre. But despite as much research as possible, I STILL don’t know
where the new breed bars are in Liverpool. Do they exist? I'm not saying I need them to exist, I'm just now wondering whether they do. It’s a marvellous city with a brilliant drinking scene. I found the craft beer I was searching for and hope I can return again and again. It was worth the visit just to discover the Clove Hitch. I hope the pubs and bars retain their charm and personality whilst embracing the innumerable of beer available. Well worth a visit any time.
Comments