Pubs and Bars / Pub of the Week
Pub of the Week: Wiper & True taproom
“By 2018, Bristol could be the taphouse capital of the UK,” writes acclaimed beer writer Tim Webb in the recently published Bristol Craft Beer Map.
Webb calls it “visiting the source” and beer somehow tastes that much better when served within view of the vessels in which it has been brewed.
Moor Beer‘s tap in St Phillip’s a short distance from Temple Meads has been setting the standard in the city for several years, and has more recently been joined by Left Handed Giant next to the start of the Bristol & Bath Railway Path as well as splendid new premises to showcase Bristol Beer Factory‘s wares on North Street.
is needed now More than ever
Dawkins and Good Chemistry both hope to open their tap rooms more permanently in the not too distant future, with Croft Ales beginning to host more events at their own tap room on Upper York Street opposite Lakota, including the launch of their new seasonal beers later this month.
As we’ve said on these pages before, Bristol beer drinkers have never had it so good.
And we don’t even have to wait until next year for the next tap room to visit, with Wiper & True of Days Road in St Werburgh’s now opening their brewery doors wide every Saturday.
Wiper & True’s tap room is now open every Saturday
By mid-afternoon on their first day, the benches set up around a trio of trestle tables were full – with more drinkers sat at the brass-topped bar, behind which are half a dozen options on keg.
Every so often, a staff member in a black Wiper & True-branded t-shirt walked from behind the bar to pour a beer directly from a tank, next to shelves of beer to either drink in or take away.
If a glimpse into the brewery isn’t enough, guided tours are run every Saturday from midday which also includes the story so far of Wiper & True – that began on a kitchen stove before becoming a ‘gypsy’ brewery borrowing other brewers’ kits to make their own beer.
That teamwork ethos is still strong, with two of the beers pouring on Saturday collaborations: the 6.8 per cent Kettle Sour with Dugges of Sweden, and the 10 per cent Imperial Milk Stout made with fellow Bristolians Left Handed Giant and Stillwater of Maryland in the USA.
Like at The Old Butcher’s bar on North Street, Wiper & True’s partnership with The Old Bookshop, beers at this taproom are served as two-third pints, with the stronger stuff coming in one-thirds.
So raise your glass to Bristol, for Webb “Britain’s first city of beer”.
Wiper & True, 2-8 York Street, St Werburgh’s, Bristol, BS2 9XT
0117 941 2501
www.wiperandtrue.com/the-tasting-table
Read more: Is this Bristol’s best pub crawl?
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