The last knockings in Bridport, and back to the 21st century at the Spoons, where I took my usual art shot.
And had a fourth refill of Flat White.
We couldn’t be bothered to have another pasta in the campervan, so searched options for an early tea. Can’t be hard at 5.30 on a wet Monday in April, can it ?
You’d be surprised (we were). Two micro Thai cafes were closed, in the best micro tradition, so we crossed the road to the Bull, the town’s most austere building.
At the back in the Stable is a separate pizza & cider bar, a format popular on Falmouth Quayside and popular enough here to ensure they couldn’t fit us in for tea. At 5.30pm on a wet Monday in April.
The main restaurant at the Bull let us in, after the usual pretence of checking for free seats. It’s not a place for Proper Pub lovers.
I wonder why they bother with cask. My pint of Pride (NBSS 2.5, dull) was the only one “poured” the hour we were there, and those back bar pumps don’t add much to a sense of tradition, do they ?
Odd music (Joan Baez), good food, fussy service. Should have gone to Dominos. At least there folk drinking Chardonnay don’t clink glasses and go “Cheers !”.
Inadvisably, we fitted one more in. The George looked like your unchanging ’70s Palmers hotel.
And walking inside a smart hotel was like entering the set of “Abigail’s Party on tour“. Flowery dresses, martinis, a pianist playing “Moonlight Sonata” and “A Whiter Shade of Pale“. Really, what more could you ask for on a Monday night out ?
Well,some tasty beer is always nice. But the IPA and 200 were just a little dull. Oh well, as Fleetwood Mac would say.
If anything, what the day in Bridport showed is;
- CAMRA branches like West Dorset are able to pick the pubs with the best beer.
- Palmers beers are quite quaffable but likely to stay a local taste.
- Wetherspoons self-service machines are the greatest invention of the age.
retiredmartin 
Ouch.
Vertical subway tiles are not a good look.
It looks like someone had a few in their shed left over from another job.
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Even the grouting is different.
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Sorry to be a tile bore but that floor is a corker.
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Never had a decent pint in the George.
Not sure about Palmers being a local taste? The locals tend to drink cider and lager. In fact who does drink it?
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If nobody drinks Palmers beers why is the brewery still up and running,surely if nobody drinks it it should have shut down years ago.
I like Palmers beers.
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I liked the Palmers in the two Beer Guide places, but I didn’t see much beer sold, Alan. Odd one.
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I’m not sure? They must be selling it, despite the locals generally drinking anything but cask ale. I like their beers, if, and only if they are on top form, sadly they often aren’t, which is why I suspect the locals avoid it.
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You’re right of course. I meant it’s not a beer that travels across the country like Doom Bar, Landlord and Dark Star (say) have. Whether that’s local taste or the beer not being great is a matter of opinion. I’ve had good Palmers.
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It’s turnover, they send pins to a lot of their pubs
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Personally I don’t like Palmers at all as a rule, but then I come from Hampshire.
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Did any of the local bars have less than 5 beers on?
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Nope. That’s what CAMRA stands for, Scott. A great choice of low-selling real ale.
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Is it really that great a choice? It’s not as though 5-6 beers in any of these bars will be vastly different; it’s not likely you’ll even find a cask stout/porter among them, never mind somethng more exotic.
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Exactly my point. And to my mind, if you want choice you walk across the road to the next pub. It’s not as if towns are dominated by one breweries beers these days.
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Your recent posts would suggest a local stranglehold of Palmers. A brewery I have rarely come across, but whom I seem to have a slightly higher opinion of than most. Although it’s been a few years, time may make me revise my opinion next time I see them.
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I doubt you’d see it outside of Dorset, just as I never see Arkells outside the Swindon corridor,
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Variety has come to mean “here choose from amongst these 25 IPAs”. I mean that literally. In a pub I was in in San Jose, CA, their ale section was 25 IPAs. Some of which tasted exactly the same. There were no dark beers on the menu.
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I had a lovely pint of Palmers Tally Ho in the Hen and Chickens in Birmingham four months ago but it’s a rare sight that far from Bridport.
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Oh well is a fantastic tune …if it stopped at two and a half minutes it would be number one material! Some pubs don’t need to sell cask ale… seriously
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Spot on ! On both points. You can have a very good keg pub (heresy to CAMRA)
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Fine so long as it’s c***t k*g. But anathema if it’s Carling, Guinness and John Smith’s.
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Hmm, mainstream kegs on a “craft wall”. It’s the future…
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If you’re a member of the new CAMKEG.
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Perroni/Guinness/Frontier or Meantime on a white keg wall is common round our way. I sense it’s a style affectation rather than an attempt to sell keg to crafties !
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But it’s an affectation that has come from the world of craft.
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That’s entirely right.
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“Spoons condiment drama”
Not sure why some of them have the salt on the left, while others have it on the right. 🙂
“I wonder why they bother with cask. ”
Sigh, indeed. Sometimes even one pump is one too many. 😦
“But the IPA and 200 were just a little dull.”
Blimey. Two for two. Definitely not the best of evenings.
Ah well, there’s always tomorrow. 🙂
Cheers
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