Brand new Wiper and True brewery and taproom opens

Behind Trinity Centre and sandwiched between Easton and Old Market is a brand-new brewery and taproom.

Wiper and True’s latest site joins the ever-expanding Bristol brewing scene, with copious outdoor seating strewn among flower beds.

There’s an extensive range of beers on offer, but also wine, cocktails and low to no-alcohol options.

Wiper and True have been brewing since 2012 and are well known for their brewery and taproom in St Werburgh’s.

They decided to expand in 2017 and have now opened the doors to a new venue in Old Market.

From Friday, beer fans can enjoy a pint of kaleidoscope, parasol, lemon drop and many more in the new space.

Wiper and True are well known for their beers in Bristol and beyond.

Wiper and True are the latest in a long line of breweries to set up in this area.

When asked about the choice of location, marketing manager Alice Howells said: “It’s hard to find a good central place to put a beer garden and brewery that’s easy to get to, not too far from the centre and has good transport links, so when we found this place we jumped at the opportunity”.

The team at Wiper and True intend this taproom to pave the way for a more inclusive and accessible venue for brewing, eating and drinking.

Alice explained: “Taprooms often get built as an add on to a brewery, so they’re not designed with access in mind. We knew from the start that we wanted to change that; we want everyone to be able to get here and use the whole space. We want them to be able to order drinks at the bar without feeling limited in any way.

“We recognise that we aren’t experts in this area so we would love any feedback on our accessibility”.

The taproom is spacious and bright.

With a capacity of 150 inside and around 250 outside, the venue is hosting jumble sales, yoga brunches and a comedy fundraising event with Belly laughs on Wednesday. If you’re keen to visit sooner rather than later, be sure to check out the craft market there on Sunday.

For beer aficionados, they haven’t started brewing there yet but are planning to in August.

Alice added: “What we’re drinking today was brewed in St Werburgh’s. We’ll start brewing here in August and the kit we’ve got here is a lot more sophisticated, it’s been custom built. It will allow the brew team to hone in on and work on the precision of their recipes.

“It’s no secret that brewing is an energy intensive industry but we’ve designed the new brew kit to minimise water usage and energy consumption. We’ll be working to capture the by-products from brewing too, including CO2 to use in other stages of the brewing process”.

The end of the bar is dropped for increased accessibility.

Drinking beer can be hungry work, but Wiper and True have made sure that visitors will be well catered-to on the food front.

Bristol-based dumpling specialists Eatchu are permanent residents for the next year. Eventually Wiper and True would like to develop a kitchen in-house, but at first they were keen to have something that people know and can get excited about, and that is a bit different from the offering of other taprooms. Eatchu have taken the opportunity to expand their menu and here you can find noodles, rice dishes, salads and Alice’s favourite – crispy deep fried mushrooms.

Alongside Eatchu will be monthly pop ups from other well known street food traders. Jikoni will be bringing the flavours of East Africa to the taproom in August, with others to follow.

Eatchu fans will have the chance to try some new dishes from the well-known traders.

Keen to contribute to the local community, Wiper and True support local charities each month and have an inclusive offering. Alice said: “The local community here is predominately Somali, just off Stapleton road. We’ve created an inclusive drinks offer with lots of low or no alcohol options. We’re offering the space to local community groups to use for free and we’re partnering with local charities too. We’d love to hear from people with ideas about how we can involve the local community.”

There’s no doubt the new Wiper and True taproom will be a hit with Bristol – but one question remains. The brewery is in City Business Park, with access from Easton Road. On the other side of the business park is Stapleton Road, which is also in Easton.

So why have they said it’s in Old Market?

When quizzed on this, Alice added: “Trinity Centre, which is next door, is in Old Market, but Stapleton Road is obviously Easton. Readers – you decide. The jury’s still out on this one.”

The Wiper and True taproom opens at midday on Friday to the public.

All photos: Aaron Gibson

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