Light at the End of the Tunnel?

 My recent posts may have given the impression that all is doom and gloom with regard to the pub/drinking scene in Digbeth. Whilst it is true that, of the 33 pubs I originally photographed in 1998, only 16 are still going there are quite a few new venues that have opened in recent times!

I discovered this piece of street art on the wall of The Ruin.

 

 

Assuming that the pandemic doesn't wipe them all out, here's a quick run through the 'new' drinking venues in Digbeth (in Pink).

 

Digbeth Works

Describes itself as, "A fusion of a coffee shop, bar and pub; with a comfy, cosy and quirky philosophy." Doesn't look like a place for real ale, but apart from that it looks good - website here.

 

The Berlin Bar

Definitely not my cup of tea, but it apparently is the "first techno bar in the UK". Like many venues in Digbeth it relies on music to draw in the crowds. Find out more here.

 

Stag

Now, this is a new one for me - Bar, Coffee, Barber - whatever will these young people come up with next? Situated in the courtyard within the Custard Factory - website here.

 

Birdie's Bar

Seemingly part of a small chain (there's another one in Liverpool), Birdie's is described as, "an outdoor cocktail bar in the heart of Digbeth's Custard Factory that offers visitors a taste of paradise that will make you think that you're sipping drinks in a tropical hideaway rather than in the centre of Brum!" Looks like it could be fun...but not really my sort of place - website here.

 

Wine Freedom

Yes, you've guessed it - it's a wine bar! But a modern venue situated in an industrial unit and offering, "Natural wine in a language you understand. Less chemicals, cleaner drinking. Authentic wine with a sense of place. Wine the way it’s supposed to be." - website here.

 

Dig Brew

This is Digbeth's own microbrewery which some of us visited on the Proper Pubs Day Out in July 2018 (I watched the first half of England vs Croatia World Cup semi-final, before my ninth pint caught up with me and I had to get a cab home!) It is exactly as you'd expect a microbrewery in an industrial unit to be - website here.

 

Kilder

Describes itself as a Craft Beer Bar and is situated under railway arches close to Moor Street Station. It opened in 2018, but somehow didn't find its way onto our itinerary for that day (despite the good reviews on Trip Advisor!) Website here.

 

Nortons

Although primarily set up as a music venue, it is a family run venture that opens with the line, "Welcome to NOT another Irish Bar!" Unfortunately, it opened shortly before the first lockdown - website here.

 

Hennessey's

Probably the closest to being a 'proper pub' out of this list and has been around for longer as well. No real ale, apparently, but I'm sure that the Carling will be good! Website here.

 

It will be interesting to see how many survive the pandemic, but once it is over there will be other new ventures to take their place/add to the number of venues.

 

It would seem that the future is moving away from traditional pubs and towards venues that have additional attractions over and above just drinks (food, music, games, sport). Much as we 'old codgers' lament the closing of traditional pubs it is still good to see new places opening to 'take up the reins' and keep drinking alive!

From Attic to Infimary (via Alicia's and the Oak)

I'd thought about doing blog posts away from the usual theme and detail some of my other 'adventures' in pub land like proper pub bloggers do...you know who you are...and our trip to Stirchley's newest microbrewery Attic Brew Co seemed to fit the bill perfectly. (...and I even managed a punny title!!)

As I strolled there to meet my friends I couldn't quite work out whether it was closer to me than the British Oak. (It's about 100 yards further, I reckon) The opening hours are typical micro...4 - 10pm on Fridays and 1 - 10pm on Saturdays.

So, on a cool, damp Saturday at 7:30pm this is the scene I came across.

The place was packed and it was standing room only. So, what beers (all craft keg!) did they have on offer...cue picture of typical micropub beer list!

I had the Session IPA, followed by River Street Czech Pilsener and finished off with a pint of the Munich Wheat. I think that between us we had a pint of everything apart from the Confused Brummie. I enjoyed my three pints although I probably wouldn't go for the wheat beer again!

I like the fact that they're not afraid to sell beers from other local microbreweries like Dig Brew and Birmingham Brewing (also in Stirchley!)

It's a family friendly place as there were lots of children there when we arrived and, remarkably for the new micropub on an industrial estate, there were two toilets.

One final shot of the multiplicity of beards on offer and a young Frankie Boyle!

So, then it was off to Alicia's Micro Bakehouse for our evening repast. Before we went inside there was just time to get a shot of the new, larger premises for the Wildcat Tap which is moving to be almost next-door to Alicia's and opposite the British Oak.

Here in Stirchley, we don't bother with mobility scooters when you can have the real thing!

Inside it is quite cosy and was full again (this being our second visit). It is a quirky place in that you have to go to the counter to order both food and drinks which included taking your own beer from the glass fronted fridges. I chose a bottle of Ichnusa, a Sardinian beer that I'd never heard of previously. And very nice it was too.

I know that, at this stage, I should have a picture of at least one of the pizzas...but I don't! Three out of the four of us enjoyed our pizzas (which isn't a bad average, really!) and so we headed out into the damp Stirchley night for the trek to the British Oak. (Actually, we just crossed the Pershore Road!)

 I hadn't noticed how much drizzle had got onto the lens until I downloaded the photos (but this was the best I managed - couldn't possibly have anything to do with the drink, surely!).

Anyway, after taking a cloudy pint of Wainwright back (it tasted OK, but I didn't want to risk it) it was changed without demur for a pint of Wye Valley HPA. I then asked for a pint of something else (don't remember what) which I only managed to down half before I started to feel unwell.

A visit to the loo to release some of the pressure had a temporary effect, but within a few minutes I realised that I didn't have the strength/energy to walk the ¼ mile home. Whilst waiting for the taxi, my friends grew more concerned about my condition, particularly Julie who is a nurse. (I thought I'd be fine after a good sleep and a dump...not necessarily in that order!)

So, an ambulance was called and after being checked over the crew thought it best to take me into the Queen Elizabeth Hospital A&E. At least I got my first ever ride in an ambulance as a patient!

Fortunately, and somewhat amazingly for a Saturday night the A&E wasn't particularly packed out, but it was still going to be a 2½ - 3 hour wait to get assessed. If I'd been on my own, I would probably have checked myself out and gone home, but my friend Tim who accompanied me in the ambulance was adamant that I should stay and get checked out (especially at "my age"!).

I hung around, trying to doze off, but it isn't the most comfoprtable seating. Waking from one of my brief, micro dozes, I looked up to see a nurse standing over me at first not recognising Helen (Julie's daughter) who works in the QE. We had a chat as she was on her break and apparently, the night before there'd been over 100 people there (there are only about 40 seats!) so I was thankful that it was a quiet night.

I was finally seen by a doctor after 3 hours, they couldn't find anything seriously wrong with me and so I was discharged and finally got home at 6:50 am, not quite 12 hours since I'd set out.

At least there weren't the dramas of Citra's heart attack(s) (blogpost here), but it does highlight the perils of getting old.

After a good long sleep (till 4:30 pm) I let everyone know that I was still here and discovered that Julie had also felt quite unwell. The only thing that we'd consumed in common (that was different to our other friends) was the Wheat Beer and she'd only had a half.

So, a slightly more eventful than normal Saturday night out...I'm just hoping that I'll be 'fit' enough for a lunchtime pint (or two) at The Wellington in town on Monday (Today in fact!)

Digbeth in the Daytime - A Crawl Through Birmingham Heritage

This stroll has been reported on by Pub Curmudgeon (here and here) and Retired Martin (here, here and here), so I thought I'd give my interpretation as an unofficial guide to the salubrious side of Birmingham (or Eastside as it is now known!).

Over the years I'd visited every pub on the list, bar one, but it had been a while for most of them.

I arrived at the Wellington (in town) just after 11 am and had my earliest pint for many a long year - for the record it was Citra...and very pleasant it was too.

The Wellington, Bennetts Hill, Birmingham - July 2018

Once we had gathered the bulk of the 'Crawl Crew' we set off for the next pub on the list, The Woodman. It isn't the most straightforward of routes if you're unfamiliar with Birmingham (and with all the building work!) but we found our way there, via the currently defunct Fox & Grapes only to find that The Woodman wasn't open...well, not for another five minutes!

The Woodman, Eastside, Birmingham - July 2018

Inside was pretty much as I remembered, but a bit soulless as it had just opened and there wasn't a lot of atmosphere. I had a pint of something hand-pulled, but not sure what!

Then it was the (very) short stroll to our next destination, the Eagle & Tun.

Eagle & Tun, Eastside, Birmingham - July 2018

This was also pretty much as I remembered and again lacking in an atmosphere so early in the day. I had a pint of Green Duck which wasn't brilliant, but they did offer to change it. Why I declined I just don't know!! I didn't venture into the Off License, but it was reportedly magnificent.

Our next destination, and lunch stop, was a reasonable stroll away which enabled me to get a new picture of Suki10c which had been made over since my last visit in January.

Suki10c, Digbeth, Birmingham - July 2018

This used to be the Spotted Dog (another one!) but was converted to a music venue some years ago.

Our destination was the Big Bull's Head which is a pub I'd never been in.

Big Bull's Head, Digbeth, Birmingham - July 2018

It is a much bigger place than I'd appreciated and actually more interesting as well. Unfortunately, for my companions, there was no cask ale available, but my pint of Carling was very welcome. The food was very good, proper pub grub at a reasonable price.

From now on, my recollections (and photos) become a little more sketchy. We moved on after our sumptuous lunches to The Anchor.

The Anchor, Digbeth, Birmingham - January 2018     © Photo Digital Art

This was pretty much as I remembered and although I did have a pint of cask ale, I don't remember what! The nearest pub was the White Swan, but that didn't open until 4pm so we moved on with the aim of sneaking the Old Crown onto the list.

The Old Crown, Deritend, Birmingham - July 2018

This is Birmingham's oldest pub although the interior is nothing special. A few of us went inside and found that Hobgoblin was the only ale on and everything was being served in plastic glasses in view of the upcoming England game. We decided to give it a miss and move on to the next one on the list.

The Wagon & Horses is a gem of a pub that is a little bit off the beaten track being round the back of The Rainbow (currently closed) and back through the viaduct.

Wagon & Horses, Bordesley, Birmingham - August 2011   © Photo Digital Art

From the outside, it didn't look to have been decorated since 2011; inside we got a friendly welcome and another pint of cask ale that I don't remember the name of! It was here that someone (probably Retired Martin) that we go 'off-piste' and visit The Ruin which was given a good write up by Life After Football (here).

This stroll tested my intimate knowledge of shortcuts through the Custard Factory and if we'd been a couple hours later that route would have been blocked by England fans in an impromptu fan zone being set up under the ubiquitous arches of Digbeth.

The Ruin, Digbeth, Birmingham - July 2018

Inside, The Ruin lived up to its name being completely decorated (or not) in a shabby chic style. Not to everyone's taste, but if they can make a go of it here then good luck to them. For my seventh pint, I had a pint of something 'Hedgehoggy' that gave some money to a hedgehog charity.

Our final destination (on the official tour sheet) was the White Swan.

The White Swan, Digbeth, Birmingham - January 2018   © Photo Digital Art

It was here that I finally succumbed and had a pint of Carling when there were hand-pulled beers on offer. I couldn't face a pint of Banks's Amber Bitter (or whatever it is called these days); almost everyone else rated it as the beer of the day. It was here that the (in)famous Cooking Lager joined us for a pint. As acerbic in real life as in print, but ameliorated by the smile and twinkle in his eye.

That should have been that, but I was persuaded to pay a visit to Dig Brew which is a microbrewery and pub just beyond The Ruin (and so new that I don't have a picture of it!). By this time, the World Cup Semi-Final was imminent, but fortunately, Dig Brew was well set up and I managed to get my ninth pint of the day and a seat with a reasonable view of the screen. My fellow pub crawlers (John and Sheffield Hatter [I think]) left midway through the first half, but I stuck it out to half-time.

That ninth pint finally did for me and so I caught a cab from outside The Ruin and watched the demise of England from the comfort of my own home.

All in all, an excellent day (what I can remember) with great company, interesting beer and some of Birmingham's finest pubs. I look forward to more trips, as and when I can make them.