Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: The Drapers Arms, Gloucester Road
Dave Gorman used to call them Googlewhacks: two words that only appeared together once in one place on the Internet.
This being a micropub, Googling is frowned upon in the Drapers Arms. There’s even a cartoon on one wall above a framed Bass beer mat of free WiFi compared to WiFi-free. One with everybody heads down in their phones. The other a scene of conviviality.
But back to those Googlewhacks – with the beer selection in the Drapers likely to be the only place in the world with this exact combination of ales on tap.
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Currently chalked up on the blackboard is Giggle & Titter and Jail Bird from Parkway of Somerton, Piffle Snocker from Froth Blowers of Birmingham, Writer’s Block from Kettlesmith of Bradford-on-Avon, and Moor’s Stout, brewed only a couple of miles away in the Dings.
Every one of the beers here is poured directly from barrels behind the bar, with each purchase added to a tally on a clipboard.
Each beer at the Drapers is served from barrels behind the bar – photo: Martin Booth
There might not be pumps but the Bass isn’t the only pump clip, which abound on the racing green walls. One cursory glance reveals such delights as Malty McMaltface, Box o’ Frogs, Shagweaver and Parkway’s Christmas special chocolate orange porter, Socks Again!
“Ooh, this is difficult,” said one regular looking at the blackboard before plumping for Writer’s Block.
On a recent Friday evening soon before 6pm, it was standing room only underneath the acoustic cushions on the ceiling and the dried hops accessorised by red fairy lights above the bar.
One new visitor to the Drapers, who was sat under a framed black and white photo of Dave Prowse weightlifting, had not got the memo about no electronic devices, a rule not strictly enforced.
As the sound of laughter and the smell of smoke drifted in from outside, the blackboard continued to be perused by new arrivals. Another Piffle Snocker was added to the tally. Dave Gorman would be proud.
The Drapers Arms is Bristol’s original micropub – photo: Martin Booth
The Drapers Arms, 447 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8TZ
www.thedrapersarms.co.uk
Main photo: Martin Booth
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