Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog - The Great Age of Steam

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We’ve been intrigued by the growth of the Head of Steam chain of beer bars for a while*and Phil’s recent post prompted me to go out of my way to drop into the Birmingham branch while traversing the Midlands.

Founded by Tony Brookes in the North East of England in 1995, the original proposition of Head of Steam was that the pubs (with bottled beer, flavoured vodka, and so on) would be near city train stations, occupying railway property. In 1998 there were branches in Newcastle, Huddersfield and at Euston in London.
In 2009 when regional giant Cameron’s took over, with backing from Carlsberg, there were seven pubs in the Head of Steam group. There are now 15 bars, mostly in the Midlands and the North, with more on the way.
Based on my experience in Birmingham, the approach is to try to convince you you’re stepping into an individualistic place with personality and taste, not a Craft Pub Chain Concept. The signs are all ther, though:*distressed and mismatched furniture, walls that’ll give you splinters, but with all the crucial bits kept conveniently wipe-clean.
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There’s an off-the-peg Eclectic Playlist, of course — breathy indie switches to quirky ska and then, inevitably, to Africa by Toto — delivered through a state of the art Hospitality Background Music Solution.
And the food looks like standard pub grub disguised with a sprinkling of kimchi.
Now, all that might sound a little sour but actually I didn’t dislike the place at all.
There was an interesting selection of beer, for starters.
I was also impressed by the very chatty bartender who for all his patter knew when to pitch a recommendation and when to just pour.
As I was on a tight turnaround I only had a couple of small ones — Horizon by the Shiny Brewing Company, which didn’t touch the sides — hazy, refreshing, tart, and bitter; and an imported German lager, ABK, which struck me as pretty decent, too, in a literally nondescript way.
Cameron’s also spent some of the refurb money on ensuring there are plug points at practically every table which in this day and age is a not insignificant factor in deciding where to go for a pint in a strange town.
My first instinct was to say that it isn’t the sort of place I’d generally choose to go again but actually I had to concede that it made a good pit-stop while changing trains, being less than five minutes from New Street.
Then I found myself going a little further: if I lived in Birmingham, I reckon I’d probably end up there quite a bit.
I can imagine it appealing to non-beer-geek friends and family with its cleanness, friendliness, and vast range of drinks.
And I can certainly deal with the whiff of the corporate when there’s a cage of Orval and Westmalle to be enjoyed.
The Great Age of Steam originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog


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