Bring on the Beer - Pubtober 21: The Three Tuns, Bristol
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Another "must-visit" stopoff on any Bristol session, especially if you're circling back towards the city from taking in the numerous pubs in and around Spike Island, this beautiful bijou boozer is very slightly off the beaten track but not inaccessible by any means, being just a short walk from the city centre in the Hotwells area.
We're lucky that it's still here. It temporarily closed just before Christmas 2019 before reopening under a new owner in the early part of 2020 with huge optimism.....
...and we all know how 2020 turned out.
Fortunately it survived the pandemic and is back welcoming folk through its distinctive arched front door.
As you pass through said arch you get a sense straight away that this is a beer lover's paradise, from the CAMRA magazines and Good Beer Guides stacked up to the selection of beer on the bar.
Offerings include local cask and keg ales such as Bath, New Bristol, Bristol Beer Factory - and even some trans-channel offerings from Mad Dog.
The big draw about the Tuns though has always been its Irish nights for and by the members of the local Hibernian diaspora - live music and singing in the communal Irish tradition. As restrictions have relaxed Monday nights once more have taken on a distinctly Celtic tinge.
This also briefly spawned a Cornish equivalent on Tuesday nights, which is when I first visited to drink Mena Dhu and belt out Trelawney in my Cornwall RFU shirt.
I paid my latest visit in January 2020 just after the reopening and have not yet had a chance to go back since; something I will remedy sooner rather than later. As yet another small-in-stature, big-in-character location, the Tuns is proof that good things don't always have to come in big packages.
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