Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
Bristol A-Z Pub Crawl: The Victoria, Clifton
A selection of canned non-alcoholic beers from Bath brewery Low Tide were produced for a visitor to the Victoria on a recent Friday afternoon.
After perusing the trio, he chose the Wild Goose Chase – a juicy double dry-hopped pale ale featuring an illustration of a skeletal panda riding a bicycle with a surfboard attached.
He scratched his head, however, when charged £6 for the can; with more head scratching coming in the form of a mathematical conundrum chalked up on one of the blackboards in honour of this being a favourite haunt of maths students from the University of Bristol.
is needed now More than ever
The Victoria is a compact Victorian pub – photo: Martin Booth
On another blackboard is a reminder of the Bristol Best and Bristol Blonde beers brewed by Dawkins until the Easton brewery closed in 2023.
Hand pulls previously occupied by Dawkins beers now feature a variety of cask and keg options from around Bristol, the West Country and further afield, with a sign on the bar informing customers that all craft ale here is served as two-thirds.
On this recent Friday, the cask options included Whakapapa New Zealand pale ale from the Hop Union brewery in Brislington and Yippee Try-Ay, a ‘British IPA’ from Newport’s Tiny Rebel; while on keg, choices included Wonderland session New England IPA from New Bristol Brewery in St Paul’s and Transparent Soul west coast IPA from Left Handed Giant in St Phillip’s.
In one alcove, a number of board games are kept – with Monday being board games night and a pub quiz here on Tuesdays. Opposite the board games is a log fire for winter nights.
Contented chatter filled the pub as the weekend was getting underway with drinkers probably unintentionally obeying one of the pub’s rules written on another blackboard: “No need to shout, it’s only a little pub.”
Look out for a rather racy Queen Victoria on the pub’s sign – photo: Martin Booth
The Victoria, 2 Southleigh Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2BH
Main photo: Martin Booth
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