Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: Hop Union Brewery, Brislington
“Oh my god, that smells so good,” exclaimed a recent visitor to Hop Union Brewery, whose entrance to their taproom on this particular evening needed to be navigated via the temptations of Fat Dads Kitchen serving deliciously tempting burgers and dirty fries.
“Dirty meaning what?” asked one visitor to the converted American school bus, clearly still learning the ways of street food.
Cars pulled up on Bonville Road just to collect their food orders from Fat Dads and then drove off again, while punters inside had variously come for the beer, the burgers or tonight’s pub quiz.
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On the edge of the sprawling Brislington Trading Estate, Hop Union is the other side of a hedge from Brislington Meadows, where controversy still surrounds the decision to build houses on the land despite promises from City Hall that this would not happen.
New neighbours will mean more customers for Hop Union though, despite the fact that on this recent Thursday evening all the tables inside were taken, with a few staff from next door business Pytch sat on stools around a large wooden barrel.
As you would expect, plenty of Hop Union beers are available – photo: Martin Booth
Hop Union was founded in 2006 but moved to these premises in the middle of the pandemic, refreshing their brand and transforming from a traditional cask beer brewery into something a bit more modern.
“We want to produce all types of beer that are as good as the best in their class,” says their website. “We want to give back to the community as much as we can, we want to unite people in taste. Most importantly, we want people to have fun.”
On draught on Thursday were seven different Hop Union beers in a variety of styles, with all of their bottles and cans also available to drink in at the taproom from Thursday to Saturday or to take home.
“I’ve had four steaks today and eight sausages and I’m still hungry,” a man in a white-shirt said to his companion, putting his beer down to make his way to Fat Dads, asking for the least messy option on the menu in order to protect his shirt, the smells of the burgers still so good, just like the beer here.
Hop Union Brewery, 20 Bonville Road, Brislington, Bristol, BS4 5QH
www.hopunionbrewery.co.uk
Main photo: Martin Booth
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