Student Brewer - Craft bars not beers
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No, it's not about Craft or craft beer. Directly.
I'm thinking about the bars. Personally I like good beer, no matter how it gets in the glass. Bottle, keg, cask, direct from the F.V. - as long as the end result tastes good to me I'm happy.
But when it comes to venues, I prefer comfortable, cosy, traditional style. Will the two ever meet? Have they?
The recipe for a craft beer bar at the moment appears to be:
Stripped out large building, preferably ex-industrial
Bare brick wall somewhere
Wooden or flagged floor
Shiny metal
Uncomfortable wooden seating
Half-painted logos
From what I can gather, this is a style that works both sides of the Atlantic. And I'm not knocking the style - the bars I've visiting like this have all been busy when I visit. I haven't been to a lot I'll be the first to admit. But think of any Brewdog bar, Jolly Butchers (one of my favourites but haven't been in nearly a year!), Zero degrees (Cardiff), the new Fire Island in Cardiff.
Not all craft bars are like this - Craft in London is a bit more traditional, but still minimalist.
The Grove Inn, Huddersfield, appears to be what I'm after (only going off photos I've seen on the internet, it's on my to do list though), and the Sheffield Tap has a more traditional style.
I wonder if this minimalistic style is just a faze and will die out, or if it's here to stay. Obviously a pub or bar is a lot more than just how it looks, but can 'craft' survive in a traditional setting. Just because the beer is 'urban' or 'hip' or whatever word the cool kids use, does that mean the bar selling it has to be?
Or can it be sold in a comfortable, traditional style. Are the beers cool enough to sell anywhere, or does the whole package have to be cool?
I'm going to be travelling a lot more this year, getting back into the beer scene so to speak, so hopefully I'll find more examples of both. Until then, any recommendations of places to add to my 'to-do' list are more than welcome.
Cheers!
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